The next item of business today is consideration of business motion 4474 in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out a revised business programme for today. I would ask any member who wishes to speak against the motion to press their request to speak button now. Monica Lennon has asked to speak. I will call Monica Lennon. I am taking the unusual step of speaking against the business motion. I do so because of the importance of this afternoon's debate on international women's day. I am very supportive of the Government's decision to hold a full debate to mark international women's day. It is certainly appreciated by members across the chamber. However, as was raised in the Parliamentary Bureau meeting this morning, the Government has today decided to make a ministerial statement on the Children and Young People Act, which was only announced late last night. That has delayed in the debate on international women's day being delayed, cut by 20 minutes, and it will not conclude until 5.30 this evening, half an hour later than planned. Labour did not move against the conclusion time in the Parliamentary Bureau meeting this morning, so as to ensure that the debate was not shortened further. However, the irony of changing the time cannot be lost on this chamber. What kind of message has it sent to women who have cared responsibilities when our Parliament decides to delay a debate on this very issue? Labour would like to put it on record that we believe that the ministerial statement on the Children and Young People Act, if it had to be delivered today at all, should have been scheduled for after the debate to mark international women's day. A Parliament truly committed to eradicating gender equality wouldn't operate like this. Colin Jove, you also moved the motion, because I should have asked you earlier. Sorry, I moved the motion. I think that this is a very important debate that we are having this afternoon. All debates that we have in this Parliament are very important. This is the first time that I think that there has been a full Government debate on international women's day in this Parliament, so I am very proud to support the proposal to move decision time to 5.30 to ensure that we protect the time in that debate, have that debate and I move on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau. The question is that motion 4.474, in the name of Joffice Patrick, be agreed. Are we all agreed? We're not agreed, therefore we will move to a vote and we'll have to have a five-minute suspension while we call members to the chamber for a vote. The reason that there was a suspension is that a member has moved against the business motion, therefore I am now going to put the question to the chamber. The question is that the business motion number 4.474, in the name of Joffice Patrick, be agreed. Are we all agreed? We're not agreed, we'll move to a vote and members be cast their votes now. On motion 4.474, the number of votes cast are as follows. There were 79 votes, yes, 0 votes, no, 16 abstentions. The motion is, therefore, agreed, members. On the next point of order, Elaine Smith. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I wonder if, under our standing orders, there's any way that you, as the Presiding Officer, can look at statements being introduced at very short notice to this Parliament, unless they are matters of extreme urgency and taking away time from important debates. I happen to believe... Order. Let the member make her point, please. I happen to believe that the International Women's Day, brought forward by the first time by this Government for debating this chamber in Government time, is an extremely important debate. I don't think that the cries of derision from the chamber, from the SNP benches, do that any justice. I'll be grateful for your consideration of this matter. I assure the member and other members present that this matter, the very point raised by Elaine Smith, was discussed at the Parliamentary Bureau this morning, and I'm sure that we'll be discussed again. I move on to the next item of business, which is topical questions. Topical questions. We'll start with question number one from Neil Findlay. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the resignation of two members of the review group into the use of transvaginal mesh. Cabinet Secretary, Shona Robison. Well, this is a complex issue, and the review has had to carefully consider a wide range of evidence and views. I am aware and concerned about the resignation of two of the review's members, and I hope to meet with them soon to hear their concerns directly. In addition, I plan to meet separately with the chair of the review so that I can discuss these matters with her. I've asked that the chief medical officer attends both meetings. I should say and put on record that I'm grateful to all members involved for their expertise in considerable efforts over the years. The independent review continues its work to produce its final report, and we expect them to publish it this spring. Elaine Holmes and Oliver McElroy are two of the bravest and most honest women that I know. Despite chronic pain and disability as a result of mesh implants, they have put their heart and soul into the review group on the use of mesh in the hope that no other women in Scotland would experience what they and hundreds of other sufferers are going through. They wrote to the review group and copied in the cabinet secretary weeks ago raising concerns and have received no reply. All of them, Elaine, resigned from the review at the weekend because, one, secret meetings have been taking place for the last 10 months from which they were excluded. Two, the draft report that they signed up to in 2015, October 2015, has been fundamentally rewritten and overturned. Three, key information has been removed from the report. Four, critical new evidence has been omitted. Five, there is no mention whatsoever of the reclassification of mesh by the European Union. Does the cabinet secretary agree that, in light of those concerns and many, many, many more, that this review has been completely compromised, and does she agree with Elaine and Oliver that it can be no longer regarded as an independent review? First of all, to put on record my thanks to Oliver McElroy and Elaine Holmes, for having met them on a number of occasions. They have worked very, very hard to raise this issue and have achieved a great deal. Not only in terms of the patient helpline, for example, that was established was no small part due to their campaigning. Also, of course, the fact that the chief medical officer has written to health boards back in 2014 requests that they suspend the procedures pending the independent reviews final report and, indeed, has recently written to every health board seeking assurances that fully informed consent has been sought in every case where the procedure is carried out. It is down to the efforts of all of McElroy and Elaine Holmes that those matters have come about and that those issues have been taken forward. In terms of the review group and the report, Neil Findlay will know, of course, that those are independent from Government. They are dealing with a range of complex issues. Since the interim report was published, there has been additional evidence and reports put into the public domain, which I think we would all accept that the final report would take account of. I think that it is not surprising that some changes have been made. However, having said that, some of the issues that Neil Findlay has raised around some of the accusations and concerns that have been raised is the very reason that I will be meeting with all of McElroy and Elaine Holmes to hear directly from them about their concerns about the process. Going forward, none of us have seen this report. I have not seen the report and I think I would want to reserve judgment to see the report once it is published, but I want to assure Neil Findlay and others that I will listen very carefully, indeed, to the concerns raised by all of McElroy and Elaine Holmes. Neil Findlay. I hope that, as someone who has supported the mesh women throughout this process, I will be able to come along to that meeting with the cabinet secretary when it happens. Mesh is a global scandal. It is one of the biggest class actions in Australian history. Over 100,000 cases are in the US courts, with individual claims going into tens of millions of pounds. In Scotland, it will be the biggest ever action against our NHS, with currently 400 cases lodged. Mesh is permanent, difficult to remove, and, when it goes wrong, it is devastating. So why on earth would any independent review fail to consider all up-to-date information, whether that research is pro or anti-mesh? Well, none of us have seen the report, so I don't think we know whether or not the report has considered all that information, but the reason that I'm meeting with all of McElroy and Elaine Holmes is to hear their concerns about those issues, but also the reason that I'm meeting with the chair is to ask and address some of those issues with her also. In terms of meeting with Neil Findlay, I'm happy to meet with Neil Findlay also to discuss those issues, and, indeed, with any other member who wishes to. What is important once the final report is published is what then comes from that report in terms of guidance to clinicians. Of course, the chief medical officer will be a very key person involved in that, which is why I want her involved in the meetings that I'll be undertaking with Elaine Holmes and all of McElroy and the chair of the review group. I want to reassure all of McElroy and Elaine Holmes that the action that will flow, in addition to the action that is already taken, I want them to be involved in that, and that is something that I will discuss with them when I meet them. Jackson Carlaw. I concur with everything that Neil Findlay has said. Elaine Holmes is a constituent of mine. I'm a local hero at the opening of Parliament last year. The campaign that she and all of McElroy have led through the petitions committee in this Parliament has been quite exemplary in view of the tremendous pain and suffering they've gone through and which they continue to represent on behalf of thousands of women across Scotland. Only a few weeks ago, the First Minister gave me a category assurance that there would be no interference and no whitewash, and yet I have, since the lady's resignation, been contacted from elsewhere within the review group by others who are astonished at the wholesale removal of certain chapters from this report. Cabinet Secretary, the eyes of the world are on Scotland. We are the only Government, the only country undertaking a fundamental review into this procedure. I really have to hope and believe that this report will give justice to the women concerned and will truly still be independent because fundamental questions are currently being asked of whether we can have confidence in that. Cabinet Secretary. To Jackson Carlaw, first of all, in response to Neil Findlay, I absolutely recognise the efforts of all of McElroy and Elaine Holmes. In answer to Neil Findlay, I outline some of the actions that they have already secured because of their campaign and some of the assurances that the chief medical officer and myself gave to the committee on the back of their evidence in their campaign and the very practical things such as the patient helpline that has been established and the chief medical officer's letters to health boards have all really come on the back of the campaign that all of McElroy and Elaine Holmes have undertaken. I want to pay tribute to them. In terms of the First Minister's assurance, there has been absolutely no interference in the review group. I have not seen the report. I have seen the comments and concerns that have come from all of McElroy and Elaine Holmes, and I am concerned about that. That is why I have offered to meet them as quickly as possible to hear in more detail directly from them what their concerns about the process are. As I said to Neil Findlay, what is important at the end of all this is that whatever guidance is given to the NHS and to clinicians, we want to make sure that that is based on the most robust evidence. Of course, I would be really keen, as I said to Neil Findlay, to have the involvement of all of McElroy and Elaine Holmes in taking that forward. I will discuss that with them in more detail when I meet them. Question 2, Murdo Fraser. To ask the Scottish Government what impact the proposed merger between Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life would have on Scotland's economy. Minister Paul Wheelhouse. Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life are two leading firms in Scotland's financial services industry. We welcome the intention to grow the business in Scotland and to build on the expertise and skills of both companies and strengthen Scotland's global reputation for funding asset management. The First Minister has spoken with both the chief executive officer of Aberdeen Asset Management, Martin Gilbert and the chief executive officer of Standard Life, Keith Skiach, yesterday to discuss the proposed merger between the companies. The new company, which will reportedly be the largest fund manager in the UK and would be the largest active asset manager in Europe, will be a key player in Scotland's financial services sector and continue to be a very important contributor to Scotland's wider economy. I warmly welcome confirmation in the joint press release that the combined group will be headquartered in Scotland. We will be engaging with both companies as the merger progresses to discuss their plans for both employment and investment in Scotland in light of anticipated savings that have been set out. I note that the merger is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and following that an integration period will begin. I have also been in contact with both companies and in the event that plans for the merger are confirmed. The Scottish Government stands ready to support the new business and their employees to ensure that what would be a world-class investment group has a bright future and to help the business to grow its activities in Scotland. I think that it is important to reflect that this announcement potentially puts the combined company in a particularly strong position to whether what continues to be a disruptive time for the asset management sector globally. Murdo Fraser. I thank the minister for his response. I agree with him that the proposed merger is an exciting opportunity to create a Scottish-headquartered world-leading investment house that will help to entrench Edinburgh's reputation as a financial centre. That said, the minister will be aware that there are concerns about the employment impacts of the merger from the discussions that have been held by Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life. What timescale would the minister expect there to be announcements about future workforce planning for the new entity? When will the staff be made aware of that? Minister. I recognise the concern that would be in a situation such as this where there is a significant change towards the company. I cannot dictate the timing that would be followed. Clearly, there are regulatory and shareholder interests here that allow internal processes to take place. However, as I mentioned, my original answer would be subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. There would then be an integration period that would involve much more detail work involving the workforce itself. In discussions with Standard Life and with Aberdeen Asset Management it is important to stress that both institutions are trying to create a world-class investment group. They are trying to grow the business and hope that that gives confidence that there has been confirmation of the headquarters being in Scotland. It is of great value to us all in this chamber and I warmly welcome that. In respect to the work of Standard Life I am aware that companies such as Standard Life Investments have been working on reducing their cost-income ratio to record increased profitability but they have also increased employment. It is not necessarily the case that cost reduction leads to a loss of employment. Indeed, it can be positive in terms of increased headcount. The whole has seen growth in its assets, revenues, profit and cash held and also has managed to increase headcount. Clearly, we remain of the view that this could be entirely positive development but we await the decision of shareholders and indeed the regulator. Murdo Fraser. I thank the minister for his response. I am sure that we would all welcome the fact that the headquarters of this new entity will not be based in Edinburgh. How will the Scottish Government ensure that the economic conditions in Edinburgh are right to help to secure the future of this very important new business and the many thousands of jobs that it will support? Minister. Clearly, we are very conscious of the need to try and maintain Scotland's competitiveness as a location and we work very closely with stakeholders in the financial services industry to understand their concerns. Indeed, we are looking for investment to help to underpin growth in the sector so in areas such as financial services we are clearly working on FinTech as a particular area of interest to companies across the sector. I am working very closely with stakeholders to ensure that Scotland remains at the forefront of that particular development of the sector and can capitalise the opportunities. More generally, we are working very closely with Edinburgh City Council, indeed Aberdeen, to make sure that we have a competitive business environment for our financial services industry. Ben Macpherson. Thank you, Presiding Officer, to declare a small interest that I worked for Standard Life in 2002 and 2003. I was pleased to note the assurances from Martin Gilbert of Aberdeen Asset Management that there will be an emphasis on growing the new business and utilising skills within both companies following the completion of the proposed merger. What relevant discussions has the Scottish Government had over the potential for growth and also for further job creation in Scotland's financial services industry and particularly here in Edinburgh? Minister. It is worth stating that both companies have been on record to stress that the merger would be bringing together complementary interests of the two companies, so in large part they are actually complementary to each other. The Scottish Government is working very closely with the sector to promote Scotland as a centre of excellence in financial services and indeed the financial services advisory board in which the First Minister sits alongside myself and the Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Keith Brown, is also a really important forum for us to engage with industry in response also to Murdo Fraser's point that the conditions for the industry are as good as they can be. Scotland is internationally recognised, we believe, as the most important UK financial centre outside London and the south-east and offers a breadth of services including global cuts to the asset servicing, banking, investment management, corporate finance, general life assurance and pensions and so we have a broad base financial sector it's not all locked in one particular aspect or sub sector and the Scottish Government will continue to support the industry in maintaining its real strength and adapting to change. As I said in my original answer I believe that this merger potentially could create a new business which is world class and will be able to be resilient in the face of what can be quite challenging conditions for the financial services industry globally and that indeed it will help perhaps a company to capitalise on any new opportunities that are presented by developments in areas like fintech. Daniel Johnson I echo the previous speaker's comments about the focus on jobs and growth and welcoming the prospect of the new merged entity. The minister's right to point out that this happens within a context of challenge. Indeed, I was a recent visit I was being told that standard life alone has hundreds of thousands of customers in Germany and therefore passporting rights and maintaining access to those customers in Europe remains vitally important. Can the minister provide a description of what representations they have made both the UK Government and the European Commission about maintaining full passporting rights that are required for those retail customers over and above simple equivalence arrangements? Michael Russell I certainly recognise the importance of the issue of passporting. It is something that my colleague Michael Russell has been taking forward in his discussions with UK ministers about the implications of Brexit for the financial services industry. It is worth stressing that Edinburgh, is an area with about 26 per cent of employment in the financial services industry so I am sure it will be of great import to Mr Johnson, Mr McPherson and other members representing Edinburgh. The sector is clearly very important to Scotland as a whole. Its direct contribution to our economy cannot be overstated. Now that the UK Government has made clear its intent to leave the single markets essential, we believe that the UK Government sets out exactly how it intends to protect the financial services industry in the forthcoming negotiations. The Scottish Government will explore differential options as I am sure the member knows in terms of the options for Scotland as considering all possible steps to ensure Scotland's continuing relationship with the EU including seeking an agreement that will ensure Scotland retains single market membership even if the rest of the UK leaves. We are clearly keen to ensure that we engage with UK ministers and make sure they understand the importance of it. I have met Lord Price in my own context to stress the importance of financial services to Scotland and will continue to do so. That concludes topical questions.


explaining why countries have births of growth and other countries don't have births of growth and then why some countries have growth that persists like Korea and Singapore and other countries like Brazil have births of growth. Brazil was growing as fast as Korea was from 65 to 80 but then Brazil had zero growth from 80 to 2000 whereas Korea continued on. So it's the dynamics of growth that are the interesting puzzle. The economics doesn't yet have a good explanation for it. We have a pretty good explanation for why countries, some countries are rich and some countries are poor but we don't have a lot of explanation for how the dynamics of that work out. Now part of my solution or proposed solution is that economists think a lot in terms of rules. What are the, they often use the phrase what are the rules of the game? Well, my sort of basic metaphor with a deals world versus a rules world is rules happen when you have a referee who enforces the rules. What you really have and what in some sense we mean by weak institutions is that people don't follow the rules. That what is available say to one firm in Ghana is not available to every firm in Ghana but it's a specific deal cut with a specific firm that may happen because of personal connections between the politicians or regulators involved in the specific firm and hence I have empirical evidence basically showing that the difference in regulatory compliance costs of firms in the same country is wider than the difference in regulatory costs on average across countries. So it's not really where you are that matters, it's who you are. And once you're in a deals world you have a completely different dynamic so often times in rules world countries we think of the private sector and the government and we think there's a dynamic in which the private sector wants better rules for the private sector and the government might have regulatory interests and the politics are between the private sector and the government. But in a world of weak institutions businesses actually have vertically integrated industry meaning you have politicians and businessmen in bed together and the dynamic isn't between private sector and government. It's a dynamic between insiders in private sector and government and outsiders to private sector or government which is outsiders in the private sector but not in government and outsiders of people not in government and it's that insider outside that is what happens in the deals world and in that world the dynamics of capitalism are completely different because it's all about who is inside versus who's outside rather than there being a neutral transparent good set of rules for all. Resources of aid need to be more directed to the ecosystem and less to the plants. So to pick up on metaphor that Michael Wilcock was using about planning a sunflower versus planning an oak tree. The difficulty is that in the projectized world of aid too often you focus on which seed should I plant whereas what really the aid business should be in it is creating the ecosystem in which the plants that will flourish can flourish. Now to some extent this is why the what works versus what could work. I think in some sense there's been too much emphasis on what works with the assumption that if we have what works in one place in one time in one sector the what could work, what's scalable, what's transferable are all easy. We just take what does work in one environment and we replicate it around the world. So it's the over replication of innovations that's in part the problem. Now partly what we're working on is what we call what's the scope for positive deviation. Let's say you have an idea of something that might work in your context in Mozambique, in Vietnam, in Ghana, in South Sudan, in some place and it doesn't look like what has worked elsewhere. Right now I think the aid environment is doing harm by assuming that what could work has to look a lot like what does work in other places and doesn't create enough space for innovation. So in order to create rules to provide strict accountability to taxpayers from the aid giving countries we create tight conditions about how that aid should be used that are actually too tight and we choke off the space for innovation. So rather than asking the question what could work and be scalable here we skip from what works to what's transferable and we assume that the scale one could work are all solved. So what I would work on most is creating an ecosystem we were comfortable with into which we could rely on positive deviation. Now one of the way that ecosystem would work is we would be more rigorous about performance targets and less rigorous about process targets. So right now a huge amount of expenditure of aid is into process compliance. Did you procure the thing? And the way that the procedure specified should you procure the thing? Not did the thing work? Not was it the cheapest thing? But we have faith in the process requirements leading to the performance requirements that's unjustified by the evidence. So if we could set up the performance requirements then we could let up on the process requirements because we'd say we don't care how you procured it if it works for the purposes that we've agreed upon and it works. So a lot of the metrics on performance is where the aid industry could have been much more helpful with its expertise and yet hasn't been. And so I would put a lot more emphasis on to what extent are the efforts of the donor community help creating an ecosystem for positive deviation, meaning positive innovation that could be tested then scaled and replicable in the countries that it's in, which is basically coming to some sort of set of performance. Are we satisfied that the performance metrics against which innovations are judged are right? If those are right then we could unleash the power of innovation into that ecosystem. And specifically on the issue of capability traps, the first thing it could do is do no harm. And it's not yet meeting that standard because one of the things that we point out that helps reinforce capability traps which are organizations that persist and persist with budget and legitimacy in spite of lack of performance. They do so by adopting what we call, a term we borrow from sociologists of organization called isomorphic mimicry, which is they pretend to look like something and they get by with the pretense. So when I teach this in class as I say, okay, how many of you have ever been to a country where the police are corrupt? Everyone raises their hand. Everybody's been in a country where policemen are corrupt. Then I say, how many of you have ever been in a country where the policemen don't wear uniforms? And no one raises their hand. Well, policemen, they wear uniforms. That's what policemen do. And then you realize, well, that's isomorphic mimicry. These police forces, often which are corrupt, not in fact enforcing the law, if anything, they're not just institutional mimicry, but a term I just heard the other day, institutional mockery. They make a mockery of justice, but yet they still wear uniforms. Why? Well, because just the wearing of the uniforms and having the organogram makes them the police force. They are, in fact, a police force. And so in some ways, they fill the institutional ecosystem niche of law enforcement without actually being functional. Now, I think in a lot of domains, the donor community has fallen for isomorphic mimicry and in fact reinforced it by continuing to channel money into organizations on the premise that those organizations continually look like they're developing, they've managed to prevent in some sense space for positive deviation from emerging in which those ineffective practices are challenged. And that can lead to a capability trap where you have low capability. And in the interest of building higher capability, you reinforce the trap of lower capability. So I think, and again, just their example, upper example where the development business is not new. People have been at the idea of building the capability of these newly emergent states, particularly in the countries that were decolonialized in the post-World War II period. There were ideas and notions about how one would build the capability of the state that you might have forgiven us for having those ideas in 1962, but it's 2012 will be in a week or two. That's a long time to have had the same set of ideas that aren't working. So if in 2012 countries that have been independent since 1950, since 1960 still haven't acquired capability, we have to step back and say, something must have been deeply wronged with how we were thinking about our theory of change or else we would have had more success. So I think on this score, being willing to step back, revisit and admit you might have been deeply wrong about your theory of change, can maybe get us off the donor community being part of the actively doing harm and perpetuating capability traps. It's much harder to say when we look at isomorphic mimicry, we call that a technique of successful failure. So at this stage, we're much better at saying, what are the techniques that people are using to perpetuate this than necessarily describing the deep causes? Any social science researcher in these days of you use the word reasons, we're very nervous because you're applying, we understand the whole causal model, right? I think there are lots of reasons in which the configuration of politics and power have led the state to want to appear to be making progress on issues where they don't for either internal or intrinsic reasons have a deep interest in performing and isomorphic mimicry has been a technique they have used to achieve their objectives. So they haven't in fact had the objective of making sure every child is learning. They've had the objective of making sure every child was in school, which is a very different thing. That they have managed to succeed in their objectives at hiring teachers and building buildings without pursuing education by creating an environment in which isomorphic mimicry can be used that look, we have a building, kids are wearing uniforms, the desks look like desks and no one's asking the question, is there learning going on inside this building? So the reasons why they've wanted to do that is a complex political story. We've been so far more focused on the technique. How is it they did this, right? It's really amazing. How is it that you managed to build schools for 50 years and never once measured learning? How did you do that? Well, that's what we're explaining first of all. Now, the objective going beyond that is what I call isomorphic mimicry is a type of camouflage. It's looking like one thing when you're really not there. So the next stage of our research is how to sabotage the camouflage. How do you unmask and delegitimize essentially isomorphic mimicry as an organizational survival strategy in favor of forcing them to adopt a performance strategy results well to some extent because I do have research going back. So I think there are two basic explanations for it. One, which there are some new results by researchers, Eric Hineschek and Ludger Wosman from Germany that suggests when they try and decompose the effect between schooling, the number of years kids sat in a building and learning, they actually find very strong growth effects of learning, but they find that there's very little correlation between schooling and learning because the variance across countries and the amount of learning per year of schooling just varies enormously. So like micro research I've been doing, I've been looking at what I call learning profiles, which is if you just look at what children know, what you find, just very recent research that I've done on a variety of data sets from India, I find that if you take some very simple question like can they do an arithmetic operation of division, only about 9% of kids learn how to do that in an entire year of schooling. So in second grade, 20% of kids can do it and let's round it to 10 because it makes it easy. In third grade, only 30% of kids can do it. In fourth grade, only 40% of kids can do it. So the pace at which they're acquiring this skill you would think well division, you should learn that in second grade so it should go from 20% to 100% know how to do it in third grade. Well that's not what's really happening. What's really happening is that there are these very flat learning profiles such that even by seventh and eighth grade, only about half the kids, well of course in this example, where would I have been, but anyway, by eighth grade, it's still only a small fraction master evenly very rudimentary what we think of as second or third grade skills. So that happens in some countries. In other countries, there's actually very rapid learning progression. So if you compare two countries, eighth grade, but then put them on an equivalent learning basis, actually the eighth grade schooling is only three years of education. Whereas in this country, eight years of schooling is eight years of education. So the first thing, unambiguously, that's gotta be important. It's gotta be important not just years of schooling and Hanyu Shagin was, and I think they're starting to put some reasonably good numbers on this, although it's very difficult, because in the interest of isomorphic mimicry, most schooling systems of the world have consistently refused to measure their performance. So it's actually hard to put numbers on learning, whereas it's easy to put numbers on what they've been doing for the mimicry side, which is building schools and hiring teachers and progressing kids through grades. Very, very hard to put numbers on learning because they were too smart to allow themselves to be tested. I mean, so now that is part of the explanation. I can't, that isn't all of the explanation. I think the second half of the explanation is the labor market into which the newly educated children went. In many countries, what happened was that the far and away most attractive thing from a private point of view to do with an education was to go into the government. Now, that's not a terrible thing because what you find is the best and the brightest emerging from the system of education in Taiwan and Korea, Japan went into the government. But the best and brightest went into the government in Nigeria, and the best and the brightest went into the government in Cote d'Ivoire. Matter of fact, in the 1990s, 80% of every individual with a junior high school degree or more was working in the government in Cote d'Ivoire. So then you have to ask yourself the question, how productive do I think the government in Cote d'Ivoire was? If it was productive, like it was in Taiwan and Korea, that wasn't such a terrible thing because they provided needed public goods. If, on the other hand, you educated a huge population, most of them went to work in a government and that government was corrupt and dysfunctional, then it's not that surprising that what you found was that when Cote d'Ivoire could sort of afford the government that it had through commodity earnings, it all worked well. Kids got educated, the government hired them, paid them nice wages. Once the commodity shock happened in Cote d'Ivoire, Cote d'Ivoire had no, completely lack of robustness of its economy, so it started going downhill and it just basically had no way of stop going downhill. So what you find is lots of countries in the world where Cote d'Ivoire, Venezuela, Jamaica, lots of countries where education stocks go up, growth is going up, growth tapers off and starts to fall and education stocks continue. So there's this divergence. That can't be explained by learning because it's not like kids stopped learning less and less. That is explained by the structure of the labor market and you've got a mismatch. Then at Broadway in Finland, so examples close to home, where learning isn't the issue, prior to the end of the Soviet empire, the countries of Eastern Europe actually had higher education stocks and higher learning stocks than Southern Europe. So for instance, at one point in the early 1990s, Czechoslovakia had much higher levels of schooling and much higher levels of measured learning performance in Spain, but had half the GDP per capita because they were working in an unproductive system. So the second answer to the solution is if you educate children, put them into a system in which their education is devoted to unproductive work, you're gonna eventually, it will be revealed that if there was no tight correlation between schooling and sort of productivity gaps. One is how to create this organizational and systemic learning environment. I actually have a group of students that's founded a brand new consulting firm, just the four of them, but on providing organizations feedback loops. So a lot of what's happening out there is organizations want to do things and they want to do things better, but they don't actually know how to measure their performance, measure what the space of what they can do differently is and feed that back in their performance. So for instance, an example of an organization that does this well is Profim in India, it's an NGO that's been working on education issues. And they have a very tight feedback loop. They go out, they try things at scale, but they build learning into what they're doing and then they have a pretty sophisticated notion of what they can do differently. Do we do the training here, do we do it there, do we do it these people, do we do it those people, do we do literacy camps in the summer, do we do literacy program in the school year? And they're always doing multiple things in parallel, but they have performance feedback loops so that then when they say gee, it worked here but it didn't work there, then they think through why. So I think this notion of we're in an active search for relevant solutions and we need to use data feedback into that, how you do that in a way that organizations actually learn from it is a very exciting research area. The second which has nothing to do with anything I'm doing I think is the question of entrepreneurship and how you facilitate entrepreneurship, how you promote entrepreneurship. I think one of the sort of global crises is in some sense the global crisis of the legitimacy of capitalism and part of the crisis is the sense that the game is rigged and that we're really not living in opportunity societies, we're really living in deal societies where the few have access to preferred deals and the rest of us are just, the rest are just sort of at the mercy of the deals and trying to fill in the niches as best we can. Now the reality would be a real opportunity society would be in a society in which well the metaphor I use from learning Latin America is every child in every neighborhood of Brazil believes that if they're the best soccer player they'll play on the Brazilian national team and when they're out playing the game in the worst favela or the most remote rural area when they score a goal they imagine that I could be on the Brazilian national team. The question is do they feel the same way about Brazilian capitalism? When they look around do they think if I work hard, if I have new ideas, if I do my best do I have the same opportunity to be at the top of the economics in the way that they have faith in the sports and the answer is probably not because that's not in fact the way capitalism is currently structured. So there's a lack of faith in entrepreneurship because we don't have mechanisms of reaching out and making entrepreneurship really translate into an opportunity society. And that's a combination of how regulatory happens is a combination of how firms are able to form and expand. It's a combination of financing. It's a matter of sort of education and what people see as education instrumental too. On all those dimensions I don't think we have anything like the right answers of how you really create a society that both is and appears to be a society that really unleashes the energy of everybody through entrepreneurship. So I think that's a really interesting research area.


back at me I don't know what happened guess we weren't meant to be I know we had problems you could fix them but we got tired there's nothing left to do but to say goodbye and try to move on I wish that I was up guys welcome to trending reviews so pretty excited today this is my new car this is the Volvo XC90 it's the D5R design edition so I wanted to go for a little bigger SUV a 7 seater for larger families so I just wanted to see how this performs as a family car so I picked it up but let me go ahead give you a bit of an overview and see how it is right so I've got this in white and I just wanted to give you a little bit of a feature overview it comes with these awesome Xenon LED headlights which I think is a really good design I think there are better designs out there my Vela has a little bit of a better LED design for the headlights but nonetheless I do like that it's got the nice little trims here and you've got the fog lights there at the bottom the whole bumper the front I just think the mesh on the grille the Volvo sign coming across like that it just it stands out and I think it really looks unique so this comes with a 20 inch diamond cut matte black wheels which I think look really awesome I can feel the texture they don't feel very metallic it's more of a matte black soft kind of feeling so it really stands out and what that's one thing I really like about the car now I really like the really long brake lights it's got a really cool design you can see the V5 the XC90 logo is there and you've got the windscreen wiper on most SUVs I've had the windscreen wipers are hidden and they come down from the top but this one is visible nonetheless it looks really good and you can see the dual exhaust as well it just makes it a little bit more sporty so the R design is more of a sportier model off the family car so that's one of the reasons why I went to pick it up but mainly it's to see the performance the interior and actually how I can fit all of my family members in there so let's go ahead and take a look inside so in the interior cabin you've got leather upholstery all around I've got the sports leather seats which look really awesome so these are made in Sweden you've got the little Swedish flag there they feel really good inside the backrest of the driver's seat you have a lumbar support as well so if you wanted to you can adjust that and get the backrest to come out from inside the back part of this seat and make yourself feel a little bit more comfortable whilst driving obviously you've got the power control to move it backwards forwards the backrest you can tilt as well the one thing I like about it which is common in most cars nowadays especially new cars is the memory buttons you can adjust the seats and assign a memory so that it adjusts back to that same position if it goes out of position at any time for more than that you can actually adjust the positions of the passenger seat from the driver's side so if for any reason if you'd like to adjust that if someone's moved out of position instead of you moving over and reaching to the sides to move the seats backwards and forwards you can choose an option from the screen and it will adjust the seat on the passenger side using your controls from the driver's side in addition both the passenger and the driver's seats are heated and you also have the heated steering wheels so when you come out in winter mornings you'll heat up your seat as the first thing but also you'll feel that the steering wheel is very cold on your hands so you can actually heat this up to the same amount you heat up your seats and I think that's a really cool feature to have as well the car also comes with something called clean zone system now what that does it prevents any pollution or pollen to come in through the outside and filters it through the air control system so all of the air that's coming in into the car is clean air and that's particularly useful for people that have allergies so if you've got hay fever or you suffer from any other type of pollution allergy then filtered air is something that you really need and this car will definitely give you that you also have the front and rear heated windscreens so you can clear off any of the frost in winter mornings or any mist that you get then it just clears it up straight away you also have the heated side mirrors as well so you always have visibility at all times now in terms of the side mirrors you also have a blind spot indicator which I think is really useful so it lights up sort of a blood orange color to let you know that there's a car coming on that side of your car it prevents you from swerving into lanes for things that you can't see through the mirror so it's a really good safety feature to have this car also comes with rear parking sensors with camera and the front parking sensors as well now the camera at the back I think is one of the best quality cameras I've seen on a rear parking camera so it's very high definition quality it's very visible at night time as well and I feel like it's a lot better than the camera on my villa so looking at the central compartment system you can see that you've got the main compartment here quite a lot of storage space you can fit a lot of things in there you also have a USB charging port one port at the moment so you'll be able to charge your phone on the go you also have a compartment here if you pull this back you can fit all of your bottles it's quite a large space there's about three spaces for different bottles and then you also have a little compartment there at the front maybe to hold your phone or put a few keys or whatever you'd like to just put there they press that to close that you pull this forward to bring that in there so this is the start engine button so you just twist it to the right it will start and when you're ready to turn it off you twist it to the right again and it will turn off you also have a drive mode slider here so you press it once to bring up the options and you have between four different options to cover various different driving styles so you can do that by using this and I'll be covering this in my upcoming video so keep an eye out for that then you also have the gear stick here you have the button right at the front you can put it back once into reverse or neutral and then finally into drive so if you wanted to put it into more of a sporty mode then you can do that using the drive mode wheel now it comes with sort of a iPad looking screen here this is a 12.3 inch TFT display now you've got various options you've got your navigation there at top you have your DAB radio you got your phone for Bluetooth pairing and then you also have some information about your car now if you swipe to the right you have various different car functions that you can select so obviously when the car is on and you're driving you can do various different things so you have your lane assist your park assist sport mode you can do automatic start stop so if you're at traffic light then the car will turn off temporarily until you start driving again and then you could also give yourself a distant alert so it beeps every time you're getting close to a vehicle ahead of you but usually people keep that off and there's various other options that you can go through which I'll cover in a separate video then you also have different applications that you can use so if you wanted to use maybe some music off of a USB you can do that by selecting the USB option you can switch to Bluetooth mode and then connect your iPod or your iPhone and then also read your messages check various different things but then you also have the option to download stuff as well to install applications on this screen so I think that's pretty cool you also have a split climate control so the left side and the right side you'll be able to select whichever climate settings you want for the driver or the passenger and then you also be able to select your heated seats or heating steering wheel from here as well in terms of the audio system it comes with sensors connect which has 10 speakers giving a total of 330 watt power in the car which I think is pretty awesome and it does give you some good sound so if I just put capsule London on here for the radio just play a little bit that is a really good sound I think it just it vibrates throughout the whole car and I for me personally I think that's just really important to have in any car is a really good speaker system and this car definitely gives you that it also comes with a full-screen display here for your speedometer so all of your system settings the alerts the navigation or the traffic information all appear on this screen here which I think is really good and finally the car comes with keyless entry and keyless drive so you'll never have to take the key out of your pocket so just as long as you're close to the car you just literally tap the square indent here on the door handles it will unlock the car and then you'll be able to open it up you'll also be able to open up the boot as well using a sensor so I'll quickly show you that now so the sensor for the boot is not quite in the middle it's slightly to the left so all you do is do a little kick and the boot show now just to give you some storage space idea of how big the boot is come and have a look now as you can see the boot is huge there's tons of space to put loads of equipment suitcases whatever you need to you can if you have a dog or a pet you can fit them in the back as well plenty of space to do that now it does come with two extra seats which you can pull out and use as a seven-seater so I will show you an example of that as well but just to quickly look you have some space here for your spare wheel so underneath here is the extra wheel you can put other equipment inside this compartment here as well if you need to this side you have your first aid kit right in there as well and then on the ends there you have your compartments for your water bottles or any other storage spaces for when you lift up the back two seats and they see I've got the two seats up in the back and there's still plenty of storage space to put all of your items and equipment there as well and just to give you an idea of how much space there is in this car plenty of leg room here and it's just so much space you've got lighting underneath the seats as well just to see the floor you've got a little mesh compartment here that you can just put all of your items maybe some drinks papers whatever this seat is also adjustable so that one thing I really like about it is you can adjust all of the back seats so you have a handle and a lever underneath you can push that forward to give more space to the people at the back if you have some there now you can just push it back and likewise you can do the same for these other ones also you have a little raised bump in the middle it's not a huge one but nonetheless is there so you have to be aware for people sitting in the middle seat you also have a little compartment that comes out from here you can put a few things in there just press the button and you've got a couple of drink holders there but you can just use this generally for an armrest if you'd like to as well now I'm going to show you what it's like to sit in the back and how much space you have so what I'll do is I'll just put this seat down so you can have a look at the back and I'll just go to the back from this side now as you can see from here all you need to do is pull the lever from here and it pushes the seat forward like that very easy and you just hop in close the door pull this back and you're in I've got plenty of leg room a little bit but if these seats were to move forward because there's so much space in the front I'll still have plenty of space here so I've got my compartment holders got the storage space here at the back as well put my drinks in there and plenty of leg room I've got the seat belt sections here it's pretty easy to get back out as well so I'll just pull that lever push the seat forward it doesn't fall back and I'm ready to go alright guys I hope you like that quick run through of my car here if there's any other questions you'd like to know about the Volvo XC90 then do drop a comment below otherwise I'll leave all the relevant links in the description box below hope to subscribe I've got a lot more videos coming out on this car and its capability performance driving so keep an eye out for that other than that I will catch you guys next time take care


meeting of the 2015-2016 Common Council to Order. Would the clerk please call the roll for the meeting? She in present. Alderman Boren, Jose Heidemann, and Carlson are excused. And next, we'd like to ask you to read the quote for the day. Oh, thank you. Happiness is not the absence of problems. It's the ability to deal with them. Thank you very much. Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Next item on the agenda is the approval of minutes from our last meeting. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to approve. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Is there any discussion on the minutes? Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Next, move on to resignations, city attorney. There is one resignation from Pamela Butler Channel, resigning from the bid board, and she provides a letter explaining her reasons and thanking people for the opportunity to be on the board. Thank you. Alderman Hammond. Move to accept and file. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. All those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Next, we'll go on to mayor's appointments, city attorney. There are three. The first from the mayor to the honorable members of the Common Council, hereby submit the following appointments for your confirmation, Roman Drawn, to be considered for appointment to the mayor's international committee and the sustainable Sheboygan Task Force to fill the unexpired positions formerly held by Elden Berg, whose terms expire on 4-18-16. Another one from the mayor, honorable members of the Common Council, hereby submit the following appointment for your confirmation, Jennifer Conrardy, to be considered for appointment to the sustainable Sheboygan Task Force to fill the unexpired position of Heather Cleveland, whose term expires on 4-25-16. And the third one from the mayor, honorable members of the Common Council, hereby submit the following appointment for your consideration, Rick Scroggins, business owner, to be considered for appointment to the business improvement district to fill the unexpired term of Pamela Butler-Channel, whose term expires 12-31-16. Thank you. Those appointments will lie over. Next, I'd like to call on Chad Pellecek, our development director for a presentation on the National Marine Sanctuary application. Chad? Got this new handy-dandy mic. Is it working? It is. Look at this. And it's wireless. It's like we can walk around the room now. So what we wanted to do is give you a little update on where we are today with the National Marine Sanctuary Project. Some of you have heard about this. Some of you newer folks on the council may have not. So we're just going to run through a little bit. And then at the end, I have a little video to show. So next slide. So what is the National Marine Sanctuary? And I'm not going to read this to you, but this has been in the news for a while about really designating shipwrecks in Lake Michigan as part of a sanctuary through the program of NOAA, which is a National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. It's a federal agency that has these sanctuaries all over. And it's really a historic district in the water where it preserves something. In this case, in this region, it'll be shipwrecks. And I'll show a little bit more about that. But this is their official designation. They're official definition up there. And you can see what it is. So it's pretty detailed. But it's really all over the US and Canada and Hawaii. It's really protecting different things. Some areas it protects coral reefs. Other areas, it's wildlife. In this particular area, it'll be shipwrecks. Next slide. So here's a map of the National Marine Sanctuaries that are out there. There's 14 of them. What I want to do is highlight the one on the top right corner. Thunder Bay, Michigan is in El Pina, which is about 150 miles north of Detroit. On Lake Huron, it is the only National Marine Sanctuary in the Great Lake system. So should we be fortunate enough to make it through the process, we would be the second one for the Great Lakes. Otherwise, you can see the majority of them are on the oceans. Next slide. So why a sanctuary here? The map on the right, I know it's hard to read. But those are all shipwrecks that have either been identified or suspected in this region. So back in about the early to late 90s, the Historical Society finished a study, Wisconsin Historical Society finished a study of the entire coastline and documented all of the known and suspected shipwrecks. And they came up with what they're calling mid-lake region from Two Rivers to Port Washington. So Two Rivers, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and Port Washington. In that area, there was 14 intact shipwrecks. You can see 137 vehicle losses, 34 of the wrecks are known, and 12 sites. And now there's actually a few more that are suspected. Next slide. So in this region, 15 of those shipwrecks are on the National Register of Historic Places. There are some of the oldest wrecks in this area, dating back to 1813. There's a variety of vessels. There's some barges and some actual schooners that have sailed this area. And then the area has the most intact shipwrecks. So what you can see is these two pictures on the bottom. The one on the right is northeast off of Sheboygan. It's the galley nipper between here and Cleveland. And that's what it looks like today. It's almost like it had just been sailing and dropped to the bottom. The mass and everything is up in the air. That sank in 1833. The one on the right is the Hedy Tetter. This is southeast of Sheboygan. And it's sitting in about 110 feet of water. And you can see what its condition is. So they're pretty much intact. And Door County prides themselves as the shipwreck capital of the world. If you were to be a diver in Door County, you wouldn't see what you see here. You would see parts and pieces of a boat. Here you see the entire shipwreck. Next slide. So the NOAA had a process where prior to this, they would designate areas to become national marine sanctuaries. And under that process, it was either an act of Congress or the president declaring an area on national sanctuary. So what they've done is they changed their process and made it to a community nomination process. In our allowing areas that feel they have enough significance to apply and self-nominate themselves. So you can see here that their first step is community builds a nomination. You can see the partners there. Three counties, four cities, and a couple state agencies that helped with it. They submit the application to NOAA and Governor Walker submitted on behalf of the state in October of 2014. NOAA does an initial review. They take a closer look and make sure it meets all their minimum requirements. And then the nomination is accepted. And the nomination is added to what they're calling an inventory listing. And then the last step is the future Sanctuary designation. That's the step where we are today. We've made it through all of the entire review process. And now we're just waiting for the president to sign off on a publishing in the federal register. Next slide. So where are we today? NOAA has decided to pursue either Wisconsin or Maryland. They've received, I think, four or five applications from around the country, Wisconsin being one of them. They haven't decided yet if they're going to proceed with Wisconsin or Maryland. We're hoping that at the later part of fall they'll make that designation. Our contacts at NOAA, out of the Ann Arbor office, have been very optimistic that they feel Wisconsin had a very good application. There was about 200 support letters from all different kinds of agencies that signed off on it. Recently, the mayor had worked with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Initiative, which is made up of 100 and some mayors in the United States and Canada. They supported it, so it's got huge support. And I think that's good for us. They've really liked the process and the application that came in, so we're hoping that we're chosen over Maryland to proceed. Once that's done, NOAA publishes an intent in the federal register, and then they start an environmental impact statement, which could take up to a year to do it to make sure that there's no significant environmental impacts as part of that. So as we roll this out, we're looking at where do we see ourselves going? I think this is another asset.  This is another marketing asset for us from our tourism, promotion, and development side of things. So we've really looked at ourselves and said, where do we see ourselves? And we've got some great companies here that have done a lot of robotics in different kinds of higher technology in their manufacturing processes. We've got some technology stuff. We've got spaceport, rockets for schools, all of that stuff. So we're working on a concept called Fresh Coast Sheboygan that would look at marketing all of those kind of new fresh technological ideas in this community. And this could, in the future, be a potential marketing campaign on the tourism side once the How Do You Sheboygan is done. So we're kind of looking at leveraging this as we move forward. This is real in its infant stages. But to try to give a better understanding of this, we put together a short little video with tourism and a guy from Milwaukee. So I'll turn it over if you can look at the screen. We should be ready to roll. Known as the Spirit on the Lake, Sheboygan, Wisconsin graces the coastline of the planet's largest surface freshwater system. The community's coastal lifestyle embraces waterfront exploration and adventure, making Sheboygan a much-desired, balanced life destination to live, work, learn, and play. Presently, there are 14 national marine sanctuaries dating from 1975. Located in the center of a proposed freshwater national marine sanctuary, Sheboygan's freshwater coast is positioned to become an epicenter of discovery and innovation. Our community has always been bonded with the Great Lakes with a rich heritage of maritime activity and natural resource recreation. We are poised to move forward in response to the decreasing global concern with freshwater resource management and conservation. Sheboygan's South Pier has become a premier Midwest destination for innovative startups. The future science and technology exploratorium will feature interactive exhibits demonstrating what is and what could be. Our multinational companies have made notable advances in robotics, production, and research and development. Immersed in this culture of science, technology, and creation, next generation inventors can thrive. Space travel evolved from nautical science. Space for Sheboygan, with the embedded NASA Space Lab, affords travelers a space-inspired journey. A new science-on-the-spear exhibit promotes consciousness of nature's systems, while the annual Rockets for Schools is the largest rocket launching program for students in the Midwest. We are a community where children can have the ultimate freshwater sailing experience. The Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan exists to make this experience possible for present and future generations. Our thriving Scuba community probes the depths for numerous shipwrecks suspended in clear freshwater, bringing the past alive to journeys of exploration. Our community offers truly endless possibilities for residents and visitors to engage in freshwater experiences from science and technology to education, recreation, and exploration. The Sheboygan Fresh Coast is our community, and now is the time to establish its direction for future generations. Thank you. So if that's pretty much where we are today, we're working on some leveraging and some long-range planning for this science and technology piece, and you'll hear more to come as we kind of lay out a plan and figure out where we're going to be for the future. So if there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer those. Otherwise, thank you. Chad, thank you so much for sharing the story about these projects you're working on. Next, we'll move on to public forum. None this evening. OK. Next is Mayor's announcements. I have a couple of presentations this evening. The first one, I'd like to ask Jerry Weninger, the commander of the VFW post-1230, and Faye Sipple, the president of the Auxiliary, to step up and join me. This is a proclamation from the mayor's office, whereas since its founding, the United States has fought numerous wars and military actions, and tens and thousands of Americans, including the great many from Wisconsin, were captured and were missing in action. And whereas many American prisoners of war were subjected to brutal and inhumane treatment by their enemy captors in violation of international codes and customs for the treatment of prisoners of war, and many such prisoners of war died while in captivity. And whereas the people of the city of Sheboygan recognized the sacrifices of all American prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action and their families are deserving of a special tribute. I now therefore, Mike Van der Steen, mayor of the city of Sheboygan, hereby proclaim the week of September 13th through the 19th of 2015 POW-MIA Recognition Week in the city of Sheboygan and call upon citizens of our city to join with me in observing this week with appropriate remembrance and activities, signed on the 8th day of September, Mike Van der Steen. The next proclamation is in conjunction with action by the Public Works Committee and naming a new person to the Sheboygan music Wall of Fame, which is located on the Fountain Park Band Shell. There hasn't been a nomination to that Hall of Fame or Wall of Fame since 2007. So I issue this proclamation, whereas since the 1950s, Darrell Mann has been an inspiration and supporter of Sheboygan County musicians, and whereas as a drummer, band leader, entertainment visionary, booking agent, concert promoter, music store owner, production and lighting company owner, and designer, graphic brand designer, Darrell has played it all, booked it all, and supplied the venues for performances with equipment to make it happen. And whereas performing throughout the United States and booking Sheboygan musical groups throughout the country, Darrell helped to build respect for the Sheboygan area musicians that made them able to perform everywhere. And whereas Darrell's unique concepts led to major lighting and sound designs being built in clubs around the country, designing disco dance clubs and traditional nightclub designs, as well as building the entire interactive experience as artistic designs have been admired worldwide. Whereas during his career in entertainment, Darrell Mann also played a very prominent role in the development of the Sheboygan Riverfront. He opened the first two businesses on the Riverfront, the Harbor Inn and Classics Bar. I now therefore, Mike Van Der Stee, Mayor of the City of Sheboygan, do hereby recognize and congratulate Darrell Mann and present his proclamation to commemorate his selection to the Sheboygan Music Hall of Fame and extend to him our deepest appreciation of all of his talented and dedicated work and wish him the best in all of his future endeavors. Darrell, now this award will be represented to Darrell on Thursday night during the taste of Sheboygan and will also that evening unveil the new name on the wall of fame. You have to excuse my suit and tie. I didn't know this was gonna be a big deal like this. Those are very kind words. Try to live up to it. I just wanna thank you, everybody, and as you can tell, I'm on a very good public speaker because I forgot my teleprompter at home. Anyway, when my son walked in, I thought, ah, he's gonna send me to a home. So with that, I'm gonna exit stage left. Okay, next we'll move on to the consent agenda. I'll include items two point through through 2.24, Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to accept and file all reports of officers accepting to adopt all reports of committees, put all resolutions, ordinances, and substitute ordinances upon their passage. Second. Thank you for the emotion and support. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll for passage. 13 ayes. Motion passes. Next section is communications. Items 3.1 and 3.2 will be referred to various committees and the reports of officers. Item 4.1 is an arrow by the city planning commission who has referred arrow number 106 to 1415 by the city clerk submitting a communication from Mau and Associates requesting a vacation of a 15 foot water main easement on a piece of property on the Bowman Drive and recommends approval of the arrow. Alderman Bellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Move to file. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Items 4.2 through 4.12 will be referred to various committees. Under resolutions, items 5.1 and 5.2 also be referred to various committees. Item 5.3 will lie over. Items 4.5 through 5.7 will be referred to various committees. Will be referred to various committees. Under reports of committees. Item 6.1 is an RC by law and licensing to who is referred pursuant to RO number 79 of 1415 by the city clerk. License applications for the period ending December 31st of 2015 and June 30th of 2017 and recommends that the beverage operator license number 7782 be denied based on his record of violations related to the licensed activity. His record is a repeat law offender and his failure to cooperate with the committee. Alderman Vanderwill. Thank you, Mayor. I move that the RC be accepted and adopted. Second. Thank you for that motion and support under discussion. Is Ben Heyman here this evening? He is not. We had invited him two times and he did not show either time. Thank you very much. Any other discussion? Seeing none will the clerk please call the roll for passage. 13 ayes. Motion passes. Item 6.2 through 6.6 will be referred. Alderman Bellinger. Alderman Carlson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm looking at September 28th for a committee of the whole meeting so we can take up the proposed wheel tax and I think most likely the budget. So the 28th it'll be after finance and salaries and grievances. Thank you. Thank you. And then we'll move on to ordinances. 71 through 79 again will be referred to various committees under section eight matters laid over. 8.1 is in our own number 104 of 1415 by the city clerk submitting and amending the petition for direct annexation by unanimous approval pursuant to section 66.0217 parentheses two of the Wisconsin statutes for Wagner excavating. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to accept and file. Second. Thank you for that motion and supporters. Are there any discussion on that item? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Next we'll move on to 8.2 which is in our own number 101 of 1415 by the city planning commission to whom was referred general ordinance number 11 of 1516, RO number 76 of 1516 and RO number 92 of 1516 being a petition for direct annexation of the Wagner excavating properties, LLC Alderman Bellinger. Thank you, Mayor. I move to accept and file and pass the substitute ordinance. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll for passage? 13 ayes. Motion passes. Item 8.3 is ordinance number, resolution number 64 of 1516 by Alderman Donahue, Warren Hammond, Koth and Heidemann adopting certain changes to the city's medical benefits plan and dental benefit plan effective for calendar 2016 coverage and establishing the monthly premium equivalent rates effective for January 2016 coverage and thereafter. Alderman Donahue. Thank you, Mayor. I move that the resolution be put upon its passage. Second. Thank you for that motion and support. Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the roll? 13 ayes. Motion passes. Next we'll go on to other items, other matters rather received after the agenda was published, city attorney. 9.1 is a report of officer by the city clerk submitting various license applications for the period ending December 31st, 2015 and June 30th, 2017. Now to be referred to the law and licensing committee. 9.2 is a report of officer from the city clerk submitting a communication from the state of Wisconsin Department of Corrections on behalf of state inmate Brian K. Johnston requesting a waiver from the sex offender residency restrictions in order to be placed either 930A Michigan Avenue or 1123 slash 1125 North 14th Street depending on availability. That'll be referred to the Public Protection and Safety Committee. 9.3 is an RO from the city clerk submitting a communication from Alex Kaufman requesting a waiver from the sex offender residency restrictions in order to live at 1734 North 11th Street. That also be referred to the Public Protection and Safety Committee. Next we'll move on to section 10 calling for a possible closed session. Alderman Hammond. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I moved to convene in closed session under the exemption provided in section 1985.1E Wisconsin Statutes for the purpose of deliberating the possible sale of public property for competitive and bargaining reasons require a closed session related to the former Shukrit property and the former Boston Store property. Second. Thank you for that motion. Will the clerk please call the roll for a closed session. 13 ayes. Motion passes. I just want to alert the viewing public that we may go back into open session after the closed session. We'll see how things go. We'll take a short recess and reconvene in about five minutes. Thank you.