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<br /> <br />Councilmember Allen stated he would support the creation of special fund for elections and an increase in <br />2021. <br /> <br />Mayor Johnson indicated she would like the budget adjusted in 2021 to account for the $45,000 needed for <br />elections. <br /> <br />Councilmember Allen supported this recommendation. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jacobsen explained he would like further information about the accounting for these dollars <br />prior to making this decision. He feared the dollars would be spent elsewhere and would not be set aside for <br />elections. <br /> <br />Councilmember Fynewever stated she had the same vain of thinking as Councilmember Jacobsen, but noted <br />she could reluctantly support the matter at this time. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dunsworth reported she was not in favor of adding additional expenses to the 2021 budget. <br /> <br />Massopust stated he would like the Council to keep elections at $0 for 2021 as this would allow him the time <br />he needed to explore the relationship the City has with the County for elections and further assessments and <br />discussions could be held next year regarding election expenditures. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jacobsen supported the Council moving forward in this manner. <br /> <br />Councilmember Fynewever agreed. <br /> <br />Mayor Johnson encouraged staff to then hold off on funding elections in 2021. <br /> <br />Councilmember Fynewever discussed the allocation of funding for the half-year Diversity Director position. <br />She questioned if the Assistant City Manager and Diversity Director position could be meshed together. <br /> <br />Mayor Johnson stated after speaking about this matter with Massopust she understood it would be difficult for <br />the City to hire someone with both City Manager and diversity/inclusion skills. She if the position were to be <br />combined the individual would be hired for their diversity and inclusion skills and then would act as an <br />assistant to the City Manager on occasion. <br /> <br />Councilmember Fynewever stated she appreciated the information. She indicated she would like the Diversity <br />Director position to be in step with the other directors within the City. Massopust commented the goal of this <br />budget was to have a low property tax increase due to COVID. He explained this has led to personnel changes. <br />He understood the Council wants staff to focus on diversity and inclusion. He indicated this position can be <br />both of these things where the individual was a member of the leadership team and meets with directors to <br />ensure policies and procedures are being viewed through a lens of diversity and inclusion. He stated this was <br />the direction he would like to move forward with at this time. <br /> <br />Councilmember Allen asked if staff had any projections from Ramsey County and how these numbers might <br />impact the City’s budget. Davitt discussed the projections she had received from the County and reported <br />home sales in New Brighton were strong and noted unemployment in some suburbs was on the decline. She <br />commented her only concern going into 2021 was pending petitions. She noted residential property values <br />should remain as is, but noted commercial/retail property values may go down slightly. <br /> <br />