Yes, Mr.

Mayor, Alders Coe and Jones have requested to be excused this evening.

Duly noted.

Next item is the approval of the council proceedings, uh December 3rd minutes, and people may recall at the last meeting we deferred the November 19th minutes.

Uh President McCarthy, would you like to make a motion to approve said minutes?

Yes, I've approved both sets, or excuse me.

I have reviewed both sets of minutes and I move for their approval.

Aye.

Opposed.

That motion carries.

There are no proclamations this evening, so we will go on to public comments.

If the clerk could please read the rules before we begin.

The public comment segment is an opportunity for citizens to speak directly to the common council.

Speakers will limit their remarks to three minutes.

There shall be no dialogue or interaction between the speaker and elected officials or staff.

This time is not intended to be a debate or discussion.

The common council shall not hear personal complaints or attacks against any city employee or elected official or any matter related to an individual claim, citation, appeal, or lawsuit.

Profane, disruptive, threatening, or conduct that otherwise impedes the safe, orderly, and effective conduct of the common council meeting is equally unacceptable during the public comment period as it is during all portion of sitting meetings.

When a group of people representing one viewpoint wishes to address the council, one person shall be appointed the designated speaker for the group.

Candidates for public office may not use this opportunity to campaign for office.

Speakers during the public comment period shall follow all rules of the common council and rulings of the chair, including a decision to terminate the remarks if the speaker does not adhere to these rules.

Public comments shall be limited to ideas or concerns regarding the city of Racine.

There will be one speaker this evening.

Jerry Hueyman, 3608 Wilshire Racine.

You didn't pronounce the name right, but I'm gonna present it anyway.

The reason I came, each of you probably remembered me when I gave a presentation on November 19th.

Uh regarding the Racine was based on a patch.com article, uh ranking 596 villages, towns, and cities and so forth in the state of Racine.

Uh not Racine, Wisconsin.

Uh Racine came in ninth number ninth highest in the state.

And I've got relatives in Apple and Wisconsin.

They came in at 272.

And the reason that I even looked it up was the person was complaining about her taxes up there.

Uh so Appleton has a population on 2023.

I looked up a little better than uh 74,000.

Racine has a population of 76,000.

So it's you know, comparing it's not a small village, whatever, it's the same size about city.

And uh their home is assessed at uh eight at 8,000 more than mine.

Their property taxes are 36 percent less than mine.

They have the same square footage as mine, basically 12 to 1,300 square feet across from their home are mansions and the Fox River.

And mine is you know, her neighborhood behind her and so forth, and the side of her is the same as my size, but it like I say mansions.

In fact, one was recently torn down.

Uh it was 10,000 square feet, and they built about a 25,000 square foot mansion.

I assume their property taxes are higher.

Uh in my neighborhood, all the houses are about 12 to 1,300 square foot.

Uh she lives in a quiet neighborhood.

I live where Pen and Dolan, which the city did nothing about their expansion, they were going to live for about another five years.

Now they're gonna live for about I think another 30 or 40.

But I live where two blocks away, and there's blasts four or five times a week and causes dust, noise, and shaking.

Uh my relative, their property taxes are just a little better than 2700.

And I pay over $4,000.

Same size house, not as good as the neighborhood, and plus fees.

And there is a house about a block east of mine, that same size and so forth, but their assessments are almost 40,000 lower than mine.

So I'm not sure how everything figures out.

Uh I always kind of, you know, I grew up in Appleton, and I always look at which city Applin or Racine is better managed and has lower taxes and better schools, roads, etc.

Done with less taxes.

So what I do do recommend, if I didn't recommend it last time, was that each of you may want to contact or talk to your counterparts in Appleton to find out how they do more with less.

In fact, I kidded her when I called her.

I sent her the link to it and so forth, and I called her, and I told her, I said, You guys are pathetic.

She's what are you talking about?

I swear in the top 10.