The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Finance task force OK'd
Schreiber to finalize committee members in March
By Dan DuChene, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 15, 2007
Fulfilling a campaign promise to make long-range plans for Ypsilanti's fiscal security, Mayor Paul Schreiber had the Ypsilanti 2020 Task Force approved at the Feb. 6 City Council meeting.
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Council members unanimously approved the 11-member committee during the meeting. Schreiber said he now has to choose the members of the task force.
Schreiber hopes to get the list of members approved by City Council in March.
"I have a list right now," Schreiber said. "I keep writing people's names down."
He said he wants a group that represents a wide cross-section of Ypsilanti's population. Schreiber will be pulling possible task force members from existing talent in the city, from experts in historic preservation to people involved in regional planning.
Schreiber said the group will be relatively autonomous and independent, but will make reports to City Council.
The purpose of the committee, Schreiber said, will be similar to that of the Blue Ribbon Finance Commission, which was established in 2004, when Cheryl Farmer was mayor. The Blue Ribbon Finance Committee made long-range plans and recommendations about the city's financial situation.
After the committee is established, the group will make quarterly reports to council until a final report is submitted when the task force convenes in June 2008.
City Council approved examining the issues of supplementing state funding, spurring business development downtown, affordable transportation options, partnering with local educational institutions and expanding affordable regional recreations as some specific goals for the group.
"(Specific agenda items) are really going to be up to the committee," Schreiber said.
The issue of the city income tax, an item several council members expect on a ballot this year, is something Schreiber said the committee would have to consider.
With or without an income tax, the task force needs to plan for either future of the city.
"The committee would have to plan for both alternatives," Schreiber said.
Schreiber announced his intentions to establish the Ypsilanti 2020 Task Force in July last year, as he was campaigning for the Democratic seat in Ypsilanti's mayoral race.
"While campaigning door-to-door it is clear that a chief concern of voters is our city's looming deficit," Schreiber said in a previous press release.
"So many people have asked me, 'What can I do to help?' that it quickly became obvious to me that we need to create a better way for the entire community to become more involved in helping the city through its current crisis."
The current model of the task force has changed since Schreiber first announced the idea. The committee was to come up with five innovative and practical ideas within Schreiber's first 100 days in office.
The group's final report now isn't due until next summer.
"I don't think 100 days is long enough," he said.
Schreiber said the group will have to do a lot research and he wants to provide adequate time for that to happen.
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