I'd like to call to order the first meeting of the 2015-2016 common counsel with a clerk. Please read the quote for today Thank You mayor. I Hope her achievements in life shall be these that we will have fought for what was right and fair That we will have risked for that which mattered that we will have given help to those who are in need That we will have left the earth a better place for what we've done and who we've been Thank you very much Next is a roll call There are 14 present. I'm sorry 14 present Alderman Donahue and Alderman Ben Akron are excused next I'd like to Call on the Sheboygan police departments honor guard for presentation of the national callers. Please stand Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance Indivisible with liberty and justice for all Next I'd like to call on musical group HHT quartet to come and give us a patriotic song And Gentlemen, thank you for joining us tonight Next I'd like to call on Pastor Andy Hopp pastor at Zion evangelical Covenant Church for an invocation Andy also serves as chairman of our police and fire commission and we're grateful to have his help on that group honorable mayor van der steen clerk Richards attorney Adams distinguished members of the Common Council esteemed chiefs and city officials friends family and fellow citizens It is truly a privilege for me to invite you to join me in a prayer of invocation as We give thanks to God for his blessing on our city and ask him to continue to bless us through all of you Let us pray Gracious and almighty God We truly do thank and praise you for it is a wonderful blessing That we can live here in this great city of Sheboygan We have so much to be thankful for and tonight We are especially thankful to you for these men and women who have been elected and appointed To serve all of us who live and work here in Sheboygan Heavenly Father, we ask that you help and guide all who are in these chambers tonight and Through your presence in your power We ask that they always aspire to have the wisdom like Solomon That by your presence, they might truly understand the people the way Moses understood your people and That by your great grace They might be able to have the very character and servant heart of Jesus So that together they might serve us all with humility and in great grace Loving God, we pray that you brought bless and guide each and everyone here and help them to stay always strong in their convictions But also help them to be open to listen and to hear the opinions of others Help them to always desire to speak the truth But to do as you command to speak the truth in love and when there is disagreement dear God and we know there will be We ask that you help them to treat each other with respect and with honor Bless and guide everyone here that they can always remember that they all share the same goal your goal and Purpose and that is to truly Seek what is best for each and every citizen of this great place by a great lake You have blessed everyone here with a great variety of gifts and talents And so we trust and we ask that you continue to bless all of us through these men and women Keep them safe Guard their hearts and minds watch over their health and may they always find the joy in the work They do in serving us Understanding it is for your glory alone in Jesus name. We pray Amen. Thank you very much pastor Hobbit Next we have a new person up here at the head table and I'd like to introduce the new deputy city clerk Meredith de Bruin Meredith next item is the swearing in of the city clerk elect Constitution of the United States And the Constitution of the state of Wisconsin and the Constitution of the state of Wisconsin and we'll faithfully and impartially discharge And we'll faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of city clerk And the next we will swear in the new city attorney elect Charles Adams Okay, raise your hand and repeat after me, please I please state your name I Charles Adams Where that I will support swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States And the Constitution of the state of Wisconsin And we'll faithfully and impartially Faithfully and impartially discharge the duties discharge the duties of the office of city attorney To the best of my ability So help me God And then next we'd like to have our newly elected alderman all come forward, please come behind the desk to be sworn in Swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States And we'll faithfully and impartially Discharge the duties of the office of all the person To the best of my ability The next order of business is to adopt the rules of the Common Council alderman Hammond thank you, mr. Mayor I am moved to adopt the rules of the Common Council second. Thank you for the motion and support. Is there any discussion on the rules? Seeing none all those in favor, please signify by saying aye opposed motion passes Next is the election of the president and vice president of the Common Council Alderman Hammond Thank You mr. Mayor First election of the president of the council I moved that nominations be received from the floor voting to be done by closed ballot And if more than two candidates are nominated the candidate with the lowest number of votes be dropped from the list and balloting to continue Until one candidate receives a majority Second thank you for that motion and support Nominations are then received from the floor and let's see Alderman Carlson. Thank you mr. Mayor I would like to nominate all the person Don Hammond for Thank you very much Alderman Heidemann We need a second on the first one first second Thank You Alderman Bellinger and then we have Alderman Heidemann nominating Alderman Thiel. We need a second on that Thank You Alderman Damro. Okay, we have two candidates on the ballot. Is there any other candidates? Is there any other candidates? Is there any other candidates? Then we'll close the nominations And ballots will be distributed all the persons can you please? Print your name so we can read what you voted Thank you And the council president for the next year is Alderman Don Hammond. Congratulations Don and Bill. Thanks Next is election of the vice president of the Common Council Alderman Hammond Thank you mr. Mayor I move that nominations be received from the floor voting to be done by closed ballot And if there are more than two candidates if more than two candidates are nominated the candidate with the lowest number of Votes be dropped from the list and balloting to continue until one candidate receives a majority second Thank you for the motion in second Alderman Carlson, thank you mr. Mayor. I'd like to nominate all the person Maryland on you Thank you very much Alderman Hammond Alderman Vanderweel Okay, that's a second. Are there any other nominations Alderman Hammond? Thank you mr. Mayor I'd like to nominate all the person John Bellinger second. Thank you very much and Alderman born as a second. Are there any other nominations? Except the motion to close so moved. Thank you for that motion in support We will distribute the ballots The Common Council vice president for the next term is Alderman John Bellinger. Congratulations Congratulations John. Thank you Next to move on to the election of the representative on the city planning commission Representative in the board of contrast your examiners and two representatives on the capital improvements commission Alderman Hammond Thank You mr. Mayor. Do we want to do them all together start with please do them all together All right I move that nominations be received from the floor voting to be done by open ballot and if more than two candidates are Nominated the candidate with the lowest number of votes be dropped from the list and balloting to continue until one candidate receives a majority Okay nominations are open then for the Planning Commission member Alderman Bellinger. I mean Alderman born. Did you have yes? Thank you mayor I'd like to nominate Alderman John Bellinger for the city plan commission second Thank you for that motion and support. Are there any other nominations for the planning Commission? Alderman Lissard, yes, I'd like to nominate Brian. Okay. Thank you for that motion and support and the nomination Are there any other nominations? Alderman Lissard got you okay, I didn't take a motion to close nominations for city plan Okay, we'll distribute the ballots and the results are in Alderman Bellinger Congratulations on the position Next move on to the board of contract examiners are there any nominations for the board of contract examiners Alderman Hammond Thank You mr. Mayor. I move to nominate all the persons Susie Lissard. Thank you for that motion in second Is there any other nominations for board of contract examiners? Are they another nominations other than the other nominations? Alderman Hammond, thank you, mr. Mayor Move to close the nominations and direct the city clerk to cast unanimous ballot for Susie Lissard Second. Thank you for that motion and support all in favor signify by saying aye. Aye Motion passes Congratulations Alderman Lissard. Next we'll have nominations for two representatives on the capital improvements Commission nominations are open Alderman Hammond, thank you again mr. Mayor. I move to nominate all the person Bill Thiel for capital improvements second Thank you for that nomination Are there any other nominations? Alderman Heidemann Thank you very much for that nomination in second are there any other nominations Are there any other nominations? Are there any other nominations? Alderman Hammond, thank you again mr. Mayor I move to close nominations and direct the city clerk to cast unanimous ballot for all the person Jim Born and all the person Bill Thiel. Thank you for that motion and support all those in favor Please signify by saying aye. Aye Opposed motion passes Now we'll have a short recess for the election of the committee of the whole chairman Different view isn't it Mike Alright, we'll start out. We'll open the floor to nominations all the person Carlson I move that nominations be received from the floor voting to be done by open ballot And if more than two candidates are nominated the candidate with the lowest number of votes be dropped from the list and balloting to continue Until one candidate receives a majority Is there a second? All right nominations are open Let's see all the person bellinger Motion in multiple seconds any other nominations from the floor Any other nominations from the floor Going three times all the person Carlson Thank You chairman. I moved to close nominations and direct the city attorney to Cassie unanimous ballot for Daryl Carlson Is there a second there's motion in multiple seconds again all those in favor say aye post Chair votes. I carries Thank you. It's fun up here Okay, well we'll reconvene and ask for the council president to report on the election or the committee the whole chair person a big surprise Congratulations other person Carlson Next we'd like to call in the council president for a message for the year Good evening everybody. I Would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and gratitude First to the great people of the 7th district for their vote and opportunity to serve this great city to my fellow council members who elected Elected me to serve as president as Before my commitment to you is to continue to represent this body with honor vision and And with the city's best interest in heart and mind To the city staff your tireless effort your tireless and often under-appreciated work Has helped move Sheboygan forward and will be instrument instrumental to the future success of Sheboygan Please know that your efforts are appreciated To attorney McLean is he here? Nope I'll take the joke out then I Appreciate your advice and friendship. You've been a great resource for this body and for me I wish you the best in retirement and look forward to having a beer as non-elected officials someday To my wife and kids who I believe Are watching at home and hope my kids have their homework done That's what happens when you do these on a train on the way here since 2010 since 2010 They have supported my efforts often at great inconvenience You see I have this character flaw like many of you There requires me to give my all into everything I do They have tolerated the many meetings which have taken me away from dinner playtime and Evening in school events with almost no complaints I'm proud of them for what they have dealt with The good and the bad and assure them that soon The only chamber I will be frequently frequenting on Monday nights is our living room Last year has been a transformation has been trans has been transformational for Sheboygan now. We'll get back on track From economic development to community initiatives the efforts of the past year will positively impact Sheboygan for generations to come Despite the rhetoric of a few of the past couple months the city has much to be proud of While the community as a whole may not always see the successes. I assure you there have been many Revitalization of Erie Avenue with our partners at Habitat for Humanity this effort has begun to re-energize a neighborhood looking for a reason to be proud again Tourism continues to strengthen in fact 2014 in in fact 2014 generated the highest level of room tax collections in the city's history Additionally, we submitted and had approved the marine sanctuary proposal to NOAA Creation implementation of a master plan for our downtown with our partners from the bid Harper Center bid improvement district This plan recognizes our changing demographics and addresses key needs including housing for young professionals and Necessity to have vibrant arts culture and entertainment district to attract and retain a quality workforce To that end redevelopment efforts for the former Boston store We saw the vision of what our downtown could be and this body took action See by seizing the opportunity to acquire this property when the Boston store vacated Contrary to some this effort is not for the 1% of the community. This benefit this vision will benefit all We'll provide green space in our downtown We'll provide increased tax base We'll provide amenities and housing for the changing gender graphics of our workforce and Help promote the downtown's vision as a place for arts culture entertainment and entertainment for all citizens and visitors alike New development is happening all around us Although we can't take credit for all of it. It demonstrates It does demonstrate that our business community believes in Sheboygan as a great place for business Just look around acuity poly fab Nemac a lion energy and several others in various stages of the process 2015 once again, we'll provide another opportunity to show off Sheboygan when we host the 2015 PGA championship At whistling straights in August for non-gulfers This major is one of the most widely watched tournaments of the golf season and can boost the status of the area on a national and international stage However, I recognize that all is not rosy The city faces challenges as well workforce development continues to be an issue Many of our great employers would like to expand. However, there's just not enough qualified labor to meet that demand This could hopefully won't result in our employers looking elsewhere to grow and expand There are several initiatives ongoing to address this issue Including leaders from the city school district LTC the chamber SCEDC and our business community Harsh winters continue to wreak havoc on our roads and bridges over the last several years We have continued to make Fixes make to continue to make fixing our roads a priority Have a plan to do so and have made progress last year DPW completed over 80 different road projects and invested over a million dollars in street sanitary and sidewalk reconstruction However, we recognize that there's more to be done Our budget will continue to be a challenge However, we are making strides there as well Over time we are leveraging federal and state monies to make each city dollar go further from capital improvements to economic development We are working with our business with business and developers along with our partners at the SCEDC to encourage new development and expansion to grow our tax base We continue to lower our debt which reduces our interest payments. In fact at 35 million We are at the lowest level since 1992 These challenges did not develop overnight know where they be fixed overnight over together will continue to implement strategies to address them Over the lot over the year. This body has been vocally criticized by a few on topics such as armory development aurora development and the Boston store redevelopment to name a few and while I welcome and appreciate constructive input from the community unfortunately Unfortunately, many of you have been subjected to conduct that I can only consider shameful from name-calling to outright threats These people proudly brag on Facebook and social media about their antics believing that others will be impressed. I assure you That is not the case There is no place in the public discourse of this great city for this type of conduct and I would suggest to those That believe this to be appropriate to run for office Put yourself in the shoes of these fine citizens who have essentially Volunteered their time to make this community a great place to live work and play with an eye to its cherished history and a vision for the future Theodore Roosevelt once said and knows that know me well No, this is my favorite quote. It is not the critic who counts Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles Or where the doer of deeds could have done better The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood Who strives valiantly who airs who come short again and again? Because there's no effort without air or shortcoming But who does actually strive? To do the deeds who knows great enthusiasm the great devotions who spends himself in a worthy cause Who at the best knows knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and Who at worst if he fails? At least fails why daring greatly So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat Ladies and gentlemen of the council I give each of you credit for entering that arena for little or no personal gain Just a desire to see your community grow and prosper We may not always agree the debate will be rigorous, but please know that I'm proud And honored to be in the arena with you. Thank you. Thank you very much Alderman Hammond Next we'll move on to the committee of the whole chairpersons message Alderman Carlson, this is a different view from up here I do want to thank the residents of the third district. This will be my third term here in the city council I'm quite humbled to be here for this long. I also want to thank my fellow fellow all the persons past and current We've got a good group here So I want to thank the city staff Chad, Jim, the mayor, Sue, The new city attorney and the former city attorney to name a few we've got a really great staff here They work really hard to do the great things that are going on in the city and last but not least my family As with Alderman Hammond, our families make a lot of sacrifices, especially those of us with little kids I've got two little girls and they're they're always wondering How long meetings are gonna last so it's not always easy I'm gonna start with a quote that we actually just voted It was part of the document that we voted on tonight as part of our rules And I think made me short of foreign policy or military policy This quote is pretty much spot-on when it comes to city government and the quote goes as follows I think local government is the hardest job in the country because it is the one thing to be at the federal level Where you can talk about grand thoughts talk about things in policy terms and encourage legislation that channels your decision-making into certain goals It is another thing to pick up the garbage to plow the snow to sweep the street and to make sure your signal lights are working Local government is really hard. That is where the rubber meets the road and is much harder than the federal government a quote by Pauline a Schneider and I think that's pretty spot-on we make every decision we make here in these chambers affects somebody in this town Individually and every single thing we do and I think it's pretty important. I think people take that for granted We have some challenges ahead of us in the next few weeks and months But more importantly we have the opportunity to make significant improvements to our city and I for a woman looking for it Hence the reason why I'm back for a third term We've got great leadership in place both in the mayor's office and in the city administrator's office and As well as our reelected president and our new vice president in addition We've added a few new I'll be familiar faces to our council. Welcome Eldon and Job I'm excited for what we're going to be able to accomplish over the next year I implore everyone to stay engaged and informed on the issues that will be coming before us and be active in our discussions We've got a diverse group of individuals with all sorts of skill sets and I know it will keep us moving in the right direction Let's make it a point to continue looking downrange at the bigger picture at the greater good for the city of Sheboygan Once again, we've got a lot of good things happen happening and we need to continue that trend To keep it short. I'll show my philosophy on the committee of the whole meetings as with other person Donahue I do not believe we should just have meetings to have meetings Committee of the whole is only going to be used to discuss pertinent issues issues such as the budget and long-term planning Once again, I look forward to that. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the vice president for the past three years I believe and thank you for the opportunity to be the committee of the whole chairman. Thank you Thank you very much Alderman Carlson Next we'll go on to the public forum city clerk right first on our list this evening is Debbie Ronke is Debbie here Second on our list. How about Michelle? Michelle Calwards All right, Bob you're up Bob can you state your name and home address, please certainly? My name is Bob. Heck. I live at 1720 Elm Avenue here in Sheboygan You will have five minutes or you I was kind of expecting to have a few more minutes to gather my thoughts But here I am so that's fine No, no problem at all you can't help it people don't come and use this opportunity I first want to start out by thanking all the members of the Common Council for the service you provide this city I've lived in this community for 55 of the 60 years. I've been on this earth and I will be honest. I've never been real involved in city government March 16th was the first time I ever entered this room never been to a common council meeting before And I think everyone knows what got me here And that was the issue that we've all been talking to death in this community right now and that's the field of dreams But I've gained an appreciation for the jobs all of you do whether you agree with my position or you don't you're here to serve you're stepping up to the plate and You're doing a very selfless thing and I appreciate that. I mean that sincerely and I look forward to I've spoken to the mayor and Looks like I'm gonna have an opportunity to be part of a committee As a citizen and I appreciate that opportunity too My wife has pointed out to me that it's often actually better to go and do something than just talk about doing something And so I appreciate that opportunity I wanted to talk a little bit tonight if I could About the Milwaukee Brewers and Miller Park and a man named George P. Tack in 1995 George P. Tack was a state senator representing Racine and Kenosha areas and at that time they were debating The construction of Miller Park and the financing of Miller Park in the state Senate and Everyone pretty much knew that without Miller Park the Brewers were gonna leave, Milwaukee and Yet it was a very politically contentious issue and it was debated in the state Senate they took a vote Mr. P. Tack voted no because The residents in Racine County in his district did not want to be subjected to a one-tenth of one percent stadium tax or a sales tax And so he stuck with his constituents views and There was more debate and they took another vote and once again, Mr. P. Tack voted no and Yet the supporters of the stadium continued and the debate went on into the night and They looked for ways for mr. P. Tack So that he could vote yes, which he wanted to do But he wanted to represent his constituents also but in the end in the very early morning hours of October 6th 1995 George P. Tack in a moment of what I would call both political courage and clarity Saw what needed to be done. He changed his vote and he voted yes To build Miller Park and that stadium stands Today as his legacy and I don't know how many people think about it when I go to Miller Park I think of George P. Tack now in the interest of full disclosure that vote cost George P. Tack his Senate seat He paid a political price, but he's never regretted the vote he made Now we have a we're not building Miller Park here in Chevrore again But we are trying to build a surgical center within the city limits and we are trying to Put together a athletic complex in the south side We're trying to do something good for this community. I think everybody wants to do something good for this community The proposal on the table that a roars put forth involves millions of dollars For the citizens of this community and it's not tax dollars. It's private money It's two and a half million dollars for the Schwerging area school district It's two point two three three million dollars toward the boots and complex its Tax revenue there are estimates two hundred thousand three hundred thousand dollars a year But there's significant tax revenue connected with building this facility within city limits and Aurora has been clear that without the rezoning vote that you're going to be making on April 29th They're going to leave the city limits and locate somewhere outside of the city limits. I Want all of you in this room. I realize that Based on the Sheboygan Press article. I read there's 11 votes or 11 People leaning toward yes or yes, and we need one more and I would like to urge Everyone in this room those committed to vote. Yes, and those who are still thinking about what they're going to do To have a George P tag moment and To say that you're going to vote for what's good for this community What's good for the community as a whole Even if that means it's going to upset some people even in your own districts. Thank you very much. Thank you Bob Next I have Catherine. It's Catherine here pull up. I know Gerald's here Gerald it's your turn And Gerald can I have your name and full address, please my name is Gerald Closterer I live at 1638 Division Avenue Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Thanks, and you will have five minutes. I've lived on that street for over 30 years I Back out of my street. I'm back in out of my rather when I'm back out of my driveway I'm back in into holes that are three to four inches deep that have sharp Concrete that have black top popping out which I have on the desk over there That I just picked up today After the city had come and cleaned up what I had already cleaned up now I don't think the the council over the past years or prior Console has done anything for our inner structure in our city My cars are going the heck My wife's new Subaru has rattles in because of that street There's basins that are sticking up cement is broken away from them the patches have broken away So I think you need to concentrate on our inner structure a lot better than you have in the past Now I might you alderman and older ladies Excuse me. I'm not I'm kind of nervous up here. I think Maybe you people can fix this because prior ones have not mares You have not taken and you have not done that job for the citizens of Sheboygan and as far as That bald diamond what is it going to cost us to relocate all these Facilities and these two different areas That's going to cost taxpayers money for roads and inner structure That stuff could be paid On put into our streets and as far as this act 10 Is hurting the city I'm going to go to The depression on city workers down at city hall We had one person take his life Because of the Nile of workmen's comp There has to be a better job done you affected somebody's family Act 10 is hurting this city in our state You need to talk to the mr. Walker about it. What's happening in the city of Sheboygan. Thank you Thank you Gerald That's it for public form Thank you very much Next is the mayor's appointments You'll find those documents before you tonight Pursuant to section 277 and missful code standing committee assignments are made by the mayor on april 21st and subject to confirmation by the full council on april 27th The code further states that the mayor's responsibility is to make appointments that will best serve the interest of the city of Sheboygan To assist me in that process I asked all of you to rank your committee preferences And I made every effort to take those preferences into consideration for the standing committee appointments I've prepared tonight and present for your consideration This list under the missful code each older person shall be appointed to at least one committee But not more than two standing committees In addition to the list of appointments for the standing committees I've shared the committee preference spreadsheet with the rankings of all the older persons I'm happy to report that 11 of the 15 older persons received their first choice for a committee appointment Three of the 15 older persons have received their second choice And uh one received a third choice I trust that you as common council members will agree that these assignments and elections Held held tonight in the positions for the city of Sheboygan and it positions us for successful Council year in the coming year And those appointments will lie over until our meeting on the 27th Chuck, would you please proceed to the honorable members of the common council? I hereby submit the following appointments for your confirmation To finance committee don hammond chairman julie koth vice chairman daryl carlson Maryland donahue eldenberg public protection and safety daryl carlson chairman michael damro vice chairman john bellinger bill field Susan lasard public works john bellinger chairman bill field vice chairman jim boran brian bidders joe jose Salaries and grievances maryland donahue chairman joe heidemann vice chairman julie koth don hammond jim boran And law and licensing jody vander wheel chairman susan lasard vice chairman david van akron mark herman and eldenberg Thank you very much those will lie over until the 27th Additionally, there are various appointments to the other boards and committees as well. I'm not going to read all of those And then one more honorable members of the common council I hereby submit the following appointments for your consideration Larry samet to be considered for the appointment to the board of police and fire commissioners to fill the unexpired term of val schultz Whose term expires april 25 2016 and todd wolf to be considered for appointment to the city plan commission to fill the unexpired term of jose arrajo Whose term expires april 27 2017 Okay, thank you Well, it's great to be here with all of you tonight as we start a new council year there's a lot of enthusiasm and And we we look for many Great things to happen in sheboygan A lot of people are talking about the progress that we've had and i'm proud and enthusiastic about sheboygan's future Millions of dollars in construction are is currently underway and people are starting to really notice the face of sheboygan is changing Acuity polyfab, plenco, nemac, sacral polymers, and a lion energy are all working on plant and office expansions Beccanal industries will is soon going to be break ground on a manufacturing plant on the southwest side of sheboygan And we're looking forward to that The city has always had a strong manufacturing base of employment. In fact, recently the bureau of labor certificate Bureau of labor statistics identified sheboygan for the high percentage of the population that is employed in manufacturing We have 33.1 of our population of adult residents employed in manufacturing And that's tied for the third highest percentage in the nation of any city It's quite a quite an accomplishment Over the last year sheboygan's unemployment rate has dropped from 6.4 percent down to 4.8 percent And new data is due tomorrow and i'm looking for further improvement in those numbers This year the sheboygan this year in sheboygan county. There were over 1,900 more employees earning paychecks than last year across sheboygan county There are 1,333 manufacturing jobs that are currently open Manufacturers are looking for more skilled workers than are currently available And the city is working with our partners on the sheboygan county economic development corporation and the sheboygan chamber of commerce To address this workforce development challenge The sheboygan area at school district has also stepped up and responded They work with mere area manufacturers to develop curriculum to train students for future manufacturing jobs That are needed by the workers of tomorrow There are ambitious plans there to establish the red raider manufacturing And start students on a path to be trained for manufacturing positions this will be done at both north and south highs in the future With these partnerships sheboygan is poised To to be and stay one of the strongest economies in wisconsin And ltc has also opened new facilities to retrain workers that want to gain the skills to fill the available manufacturing positions Our downtown and harbour center is reestablishing itself is the heart of our great city We work with business owners to in this area to draft a master plan to guide the future development in this area These efforts have seen great cooperation the john michael kohler art center the mead library the wild pac And the above and beyond children's museum Are the cultural attractions that draw the majority of the traffic into the center of this business district Once their dining offices hospitality and shopping are the additional attractions that makes this mixed use development work We have enhanced the connectivity with new wayfinding signage for the motorists and the pedestrians And added the harbour center express to provide good traffic circulation This area will soon be going through a rebranding and remarketing campaign Look forward for more flowers and banners to enhance the looks in the downtown harbour center The city planning has been meeting with developers to find the best development to replace the buildings on the old boston store site But until that happens, we will use this area to To host a new series of concerts every thursday night from late june to early september They really want to make sheboygan's downtown the place to be on thursday nights this season It was great news to recently hear of the purchase of memorial mall by meyer foods We look forward to working with this company as they revitalize the retail attractions and add their store to this mall On the south side strip mall. We are also happy to see a new sears appliance and hardware store locate And we also have a new business that's taking over the furniture store on the east side of the street the dowhouse dance studio The urie avenue corridor is the entrance to our city and it's also getting a facelift with new businesses like the cvs store Remodeled dominoes and additions along with current businesses We'll again make this one of the busiest corners in sheboygan Heading east on eerie avenue. You can see the progress on the Habitat housing replacement project that's spirited spirited by habitat for humanity lakeside City planning has partnered with them to revitalize this block in the gateway neighborhood Two homes are almost done and four more will soon be built This will give this block an amazing transformation Other projects are pending in this neighborhood because of the investment and the change of this partnership And making the the gateway corridor a real gateway to our city To again look for better neighborhoods city planning continues to offer training to landlords The next training session is going to be held at the quarry At the jc park quarry view center on tuesday april 28th from 5 30 to 9 If anyone is still interested their spots open to participate and they can register with city development We want sheboygan to be the safest city The policy of the sheboygan police department that have produced significant decrease in crime over the years The department has promoted a neighborhood focused to policing They're prioritizing their response and dealing with the most important calls on a more timely basis All calls are addressed, but some will be followed up on By neighborhood assigned officers a few days later Chief domigalski reported at the staff meeting today that part one crime stats for the first quarter of 2015 Are down from 280 last year to 220 Reportable crimes this year. This is a 20 drop in crimes during this period If these numbers continue to hold up through the rest of the year We have a chance to see the crime statistics in sheboygan drop by 40 percent over the last five to six years Just an amazing change hats off to the chief and his department The police department recently had all officers participate in crisis intervention training to allow them to better deal with offenders who have been repeating um interactions with law enforcement because of these policies and efforts sheboygan is a safer city This last year we reviewed and renewed the contract with the sheboygan county chamber of commerce to manage Our tourism program the tourism marketing continues to be successful and the room taxes have been increasing every year And with the pga championship coming to sheboygan this benefit will put us on a national and worldwide exposure Tourism also has steered the efforts to develop an application to be designated as a no-a-marine sanctuary We've worked with port washington two rivers manned walk the state historical association and the governor's office To enhance this app applications approval potential The application has gone through the first step Six steps of evaluation and now has been included on the inventory list for future marine sanctuary sites On may 9th. There's an a day of activities planned at the spaceport in sheboygan to draw attention and provide information on the marine sanctuary project Jeff gray who is the director of the marine sanctuary in thunder bay Will be presenting a story of the alpina experience how they went through the process of forming the The group there and they had a couple of referendum votes on it And now they have a very successful operation that brings over a hundred thousand visitors to their community every year Steve radovan and avid wreck diver Will present a video and commentary of shipwrecks that he's found in lake michigan And ellen brody the regional NOAA representative from the sanctuary division Will also make a presentation to the chamber of commerce friday forum at the elks club at noon Early this year the sustainable sheboygan task force in the city began an education effort to encourage more recycling in the city According to the epa 34 percent of municipal solid waste that's generated in 2012 was recycled In 2014 sheboygan only recycled 23 three percent of the waste that was generated in sheboygan We've got some work to do and we hope that this education campaign Will increase the reuse and recycling in sheboygan A new brochure was developed to show residents what they can to help Increase sheboygan's recycling and the water department is mailed a brochure to every residents in the city So that it's and it's also available on our city website Tonight i've highlighted some of the recent achievements by different departments I'd like to give the highest praise to all of our department heads and their staff who provide excellent services to our sheboygan residents Our vision of the future is to have more effective and efficient government that serves the residents and the businesses of our community With teamwork and communication at city hall and between our staff and elected officials We can continue to be successful It means having open discussion active debates and some compromise to make sheboygan prosper I look forward to working with all of you to make this Happen in the coming year and thank you again for all your service to the city Okay, next we'll go on to reports of officers item 2.1 is An aroh by the chief of police submitting the quarterly report for activities in the period commencing 115 through 315 that will be referred to the public protection and safety committee Under resolutions 3.1 is a resolution by alderman hamman requesting that the mayor reactivate various special committees for the 2015 2016 council year alderman hamman. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. I move the resolution be put upon its passage Thank you for that motion and support Is there any discussion Seeing none all those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. Aye opposed Motion passes Items 3.2 and 3.3 will be referred to the finance committee And item 4.1 will be referred to the finance committee also And we're up to number five alderman hamman. Thank you. Mr. Mayor move to adjourn This is my second or last one. So i'm going to hold out for a second Second Thank you for that motion and support all those in favor of adjournment, please signify by saying aye. Aye opposed Passes stand adjourned


The next item of business is a statement by Angela Constance on medication-assisted treatment standards. The minister will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Angela Constance up to 10 minutes, please minister. Every life loss to drugs is as tragic as it is unacceptable. I offer my condolences to everyone who has felt this loss and my continuing determination to turn the tide of this public health emergency. Families and people with real life experience of drug and alcohol problems tell me that, at the very heart of our national mission, there must be a commitment to change and accountability at all levels from the front line to national leaders, and I agree. That is why Public Health Scotland has published today's comprehensive benchmarking report on the implementation of the medication-assisted treatment standard. I will spend little time on the areas where progress has been made, welcome though this is. I want to make clear to Parliament that, overall, the pace and the scale of change is neither good enough nor quick enough. The medication-assisted treatment standards published in May 2021 are designed to give clear criteria and principles to help care providers, and those who will benefit from services understand what must be an offer to support people in their mat treatment and in recovery. Those are not standards that should be considered as nice to have or nice to do. My view is unequivocal. They must be delivered. Those standards are a demonstration of our commitment to a whole system approach to care and are fundamental to our rights-based approach in Scotland. In recognition of the ambitious challenge that I set local areas through our national mission, we are providing more than £10 million funding per year for local areas to implement the standards. We established the MATS implementation support team to provide consistent support across the country. We are providing more practical and financial support than ever before. The Public Health Scotland report for the first time gives us an area-by-area breakdown of where each ADP is on implementing the standards, with a particular in-depth focus on the key standards 1 to 5. Those are the standards on same-day treatment, informed choice of treatment, a certificate outreach, harm reduction support alongside treatment and making sure treatment lasts as long as people want it. The report also summarises on MATS standards 6010. There is less data available on those standards, which rely more on experiential feedback from people and services. Of the 145 indicators, 26 have not been implemented, 25 have been implemented in full and 94 are partially implemented. That shows that standards are being embedded and implemented on the ground, particularly in relation to informed choice, proactively identifying those at risk, harm reduction and keeping people in treatment. In many cases, the service standards are in place within an area, but not consistently across the whole area for all people. What I am most concerned about is the lack of progress against MATS standards 1. All of those standards are crucially important and connected, but access to same-day treatment is life-saving. In that regard, borders that I visited recently stand out as a beacon for what can be achieved. My challenge to other areas is simple. If borders can do it, why can't you? The report includes eight detailed recommendations and some actions that are already being taken, as well as achieving implementation of the original standards themselves. We can't stand still there. The standards will have to be developed to be more bespoken to young people, to women and for custodial settings. The recommendations call for immediate improvement in plans to set out how each local area will achieve full implementation. Those are being developed with ADPs right now and will be published in August. I cannot stress enough how vital it is that ADPs fully implement the MATS standards. In particular, standard 1 on same-day treatment. We all want people to have the right to treatment, but that will be for nothing if the services are not in place. That is why I am today using powers of direction available to Scottish ministers under the Public Bodies Joint Working Act 2014 to compel local partners to implement those standards. This ministerial direction has been issued to all health boards, integration authorities and local authorities, spelling out what must be achieved and the oversight arrangements that I am putting in place to hold local leaders to account for implementing the MATS standards fully. The Scottish Government, this Parliament and most importantly of all communities require a whole systems response across these three partners. Oversight of that will now be through the following measures. Improvement plans on implementing the standards will be required in all areas. We will require them to be signed off by all chief executives and chief officers. Those improvement plans will be informed by the local assessments being published in August to supplement the benchmarking report. The chief executives and chief officers will have shared and visible responsibility for delivering the MATS standards and will identify one senior leader to take responsibility for driving the changes necessary and reporting on progress. Most will be expected to deliver quarterly reports in progress. However, areas of particular concern where drug deaths are particularly high and today's report shows that MATS standard 1 on same day treatment has not been delivered, those reports will be monthly. The new oversight arrangements that I am putting in place will also strengthen accountability to communities through the involvement of lived and living experience in the quarterly or monthly reporting that is now required. If necessary, we may also consider further powers to intervene through the implementation of the national care service, which will introduce a more formal, single framework of accountability. I will provide Parliament with regular updates of the progress of this implementation and its oversight. I do not want to give the impression that there has been no progress made. Some areas are clearly on that journey, such as East South and North Ayrshire. In West Lothian, where I visited today, the Change, Grow, Live, Recovery service in Bathgate, which is part of the West Lothian drug and alcohol services, offers same-day treatment, so has implemented MATS 1. However, I know that this change has made a huge difference to those being supported there. However, the challenge ahead for West Lothian and other areas is to scale that level of service up across the whole council area. There are innovations being taken forward by ADPs and local partnerships to help address drug deaths. One that I know is of interest to the chamber is the potential use of safer drug consumption facilities. I have been clear before that we would support work to try and make these facilities available within the constraints and limits of the currently reserved drugs law. Glasgow Health and Social Care partnership has been developing such a proposal for some time. It has engaged extensively and I thank them for their work. Following detailed partnership working between the Scottish Government, Glasgow Health and Social Care partnership, Police Scotland and the Crown Office, details of a new service specification have been developed and shared with the Crown Office. The specification that seeks to meet the parameters set out in the Lord Advocate statement on 3 November will now be considered by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. If appropriate, it will then be referred to the Lord Advocate for consideration of any related statement of prosecution policy. Improving services and embedding standards requires having the necessary workforce in place. That is why the majority of £10 million per year funding is targeted on recruiting more than 100 additional staff to be able to offer services that meet the MAT standards. That increase in staff is part of our national mission planning for further workforce recruitment and development. I intend to return to Parliament in the autumn to set out our plan to expand and upskill the workforce. Over this summer, we will be drawing on the experience of people at the heart of workforce policy as part of the expert group to help to develop and implement the planning necessary. Those standards are not an optional extra. They are essential to getting more people more quickly into the protection of life-saving treatment. I pay tribute to local leaders, families and those with lived and living experience and the voluntary sector who have worked together to deliver demonstrable change on the ground where it matters the most. I thank the MAT standards implementation team for their continuing hands-on support working alongside local areas and Public Health Scotland for their vital report. MAT standards are about delivering faster, more responsive services, but they are also about changing hearts and minds and tackling stigma and discrimination. MAT standards are empowering people to demand the treatment that they deserve. There is no going back, and we can now only go forward. We all need to dig deep to do the hard miles ahead, and all senior leaders within and outside Government must pick up the pace and deliver a public health response to this public health emergency and do it now. The minister will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 28 minutes for questions, after which we will move on to the next item of business. It would be helpful if those members who would wish to ask a question were to press the request-to-speak buttons now, and I call Sue Webber. I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement and acknowledge some of the challenging comments that she has laid bare into the chamber today on progress with the standards. Today's statement does lay bare the damning truth that this critical target has been missed. Drug-related deaths are Scotland's national shame, yet once again, this Government's actions have fallen short and families continue to be let down. Despite setting a target last year to ensure that the MAT standards would be fully embedded across the country by April 2022, the report shows that the target was nothing more than a pipe dream. Just 17 per cent of the standards have been fully implemented and, shamefully, MAT standard 1 has only been implemented in one ADP area, the borders. That is a 97 per cent failure rate. What is the new recommendation from Public Health Scotland to push back the target by a year and water it down? The new recommendation is that only half the standards are to be implemented by April 2023 with only partial implementation for the others. Across Scotland, there has been unwarranted variation in the implementation of those standards, and there could be no clearer illustration of that than the drug-related death statistics released last week, which showed welcome declines in Glasgow, whilst masking increases in Edinburgh, Fife, Dumfries and Galloway. What urgent steps is the Government taking to close the postcode lottery and what support will the minister offer those ADPs that have fallen so far behind? I thank Ms Webber for her questions. The support by Public Health Scotland does not pull its punches, it does not mince its words and nor will I. I will state again that progress is not good enough and it is not fast enough. Obviously, there are responsibilities within Government, but there are also responsibilities that lay in the shoulders of those out with Government, and, of course, I have announced today immediate action around issuing letters of ministerial direction, which are not asking. I have announced the importance of improvement plans and the reporting oversight arrangements that will now be in place and, in some instances, those reporting arrangements will be monthly. That is about driving up faster progress and also the consistency of progress. What the Public Health Scotland report shows is that some areas, despite the challenge and environment that everybody is working in, have been successful either in implementing changes or have been well on that journey. We all need to pick up the pace because people across Scotland deserve a consistency of service. I am well aware of the commitments that I have made as a Government minister, and I am well aware of what I said should have happened with those statements. However, I am going to continue to set the very highest standards with the very highest of expectations, and I will continue to provide both financial and practical support. I will continue to be accountable to this Parliament, and I will continue to do everything that I can to overcome each and every challenge that gets in our way to overcome difficulties, because we have a national mission that is about saving and improving lives. Some of our people are dying, and we have to remember each and every day that these deaths are preventable. I thank the minister for advance sight of the statement. The number of deaths from drugs in Scotland remains too high, and more than 11,000 people have died over the past 14 years at 11,000 preventable deaths. The publication of the benchmarking report today is welcome, but I am afraid that its content is not. It is a disaster. A year ago, the minister talked about embedding and implementing the MAT standards within a year, and 18 months ago, the First Minister said that there would be rapid implementation. Those claims are now in tatters. A year later, we have seen an abject lack of delivery against what was promised. That is a flagship policy that is now in disarray. It is appalling that, after the promises made, only one ADP is fully delivering, same day prescribing, while almost 60 per cent are making no progress. While the minister talks of players to compelled delivery, she still has to take responsibility for the difficulties that are still being identified by the sector. Concern from ADPs about insufficient funding to deliver a burnt-out workforce and a lack of staff. Can we really have confidence that standards 1 through 5 will be implemented by next June, when progress in the past year has been so slow? How can the minister give an implementation date of 2025 for standards 6 to 10? That is unacceptable. The level of detail in the first benchmark and report means that there is no hide-and-place either for national leaders or local leaders. That is why we will continue to invest £10 million per annum, most of which will support the workforce. The recommendations in the report are public health Scotland's recommendations, and they are recommendations that public health Scotland has published prior to my announcement today on the immediate action that we are taking in and around ministerial direction. I, for one, will want to see much quicker progress. I will, of course, be reporting back to this Parliament and also making sure that we follow the 67 per cent increase investment according to Audit Scotland that has been secured since 2014-15 till now as a result of this national mission. Public health Scotland was very clear about the role of leadership, not just at a national level. I am not asking people to do something that I will not do myself, but it was very clear that we needed that whole systems approach and that we needed these leadership right across the public sector, from NHS boards, from local authorities and from integrated authorities in particular. Each and every one of us now has to step up to the plate. I have announced immediate action that will take place today. Once we have seen the improvement assessments and improvement plans, I will certainly be coming back to Parliament later on the year to provide further updates. I call Stuart McMillan to be followed by Sandra Scohani. The match standards emphasise a multi-pronged approach to treatment and residential rehabilitation as one potential course for support in the work to ensure that match standards are met, whether they will also be oversight on ADPs' efforts to increase access to residential rehab. There is already oversight from the Government through an evaluation and monitoring programme of our investment in residential rehab. There has been an uplift to ADPs of £20 million. There is a portion of that that is specifically allocated, identified for residential rehab placements and crucially aftercare. When I reported to Parliament two statements ago, I confirmed that 326 placements had been funded through ADPs in the first nine months of last year. There are figures available on this area by area. Mr McMillan will be able to, of course, check on the progress that has been made by Inverclyde because one of the purpose of us publishing, gathering and publishing more data than ever before is so that MSPs in this Parliament can be scrutinising what is happening in their own areas as well as scrutinising the Government.  Overall, nearly three quarters of alcohol and drug partnerships were unable to provide documented policies, guidelines and standard operating procedures sufficient to demonstrate full and consistent implementation of the MAT standards. Shockingly, no data was provided for 14 per cent of standards. Let me quote directly from the report. There is a risk that, as a result of the systems to collect numerical and experimental information not being set up, data for improvement work is not available and the improvement cannot take place. Over a year after the standards were drafted, it is shocking that there is still no standardised method of data collection and improvement work cannot take place because these systems have not been set up. Why? As the Minister knows, standardisation of data collection is key to knowing what is going on across Scotland. Did we not know, and what work is the Government undertaking to correct these identified laws? The point that Mr Gohan makes about data is certainly not misting me, I can assure him of that, but, despite the difficulties or the frustrations that Public Health Scotland has faced here in terms of the data, nonetheless, it has, for the first time, produced a benchmarking report that, to be blunt, is a watch and all assessment of what is happening in every ADP, local authority and health board area. I make the point that data is important because we are not just relying on self-reports here. There is a range of work on-going within and outwith Government to strengthen the data, and some of that is around days, some of it is around announcements that I made at the end of last year around the drug-related death database and data linkages and some of other studies that are taking place in emergency departments as well, helping us with quicker warning systems about what is happening on the ground. The real point about data that really strikes me in this report is that, in many areas, people still need to get with the programme about the role and the importance of experiential data because we can collect people's operational policies, they are very important, we can collect the numbers and the data, that is also important, but I will tell you what else is important is the experience that is folk in the ground, so local areas need to be speaking to local people about their experience on the ground of what services are and aren't meeting their needs. Before I call the next speaker, I would just point out that we have eight members who wish to ask a question. I would like to take all eight, but we must therefore have shorter questions and shorter answers. I call Audrey Nicol, to be followed by Paul Sweeney. The creation of a national care service may provide opportunities to give greater statutory oversight to ADPs in the delivery of match standards. Now that a national care service bill has been introduced, can the minister outline what steps will be taken to determine if greater statutory powers are needed in this area? I suppose that there is a bit of a twin-track approach here. There is the work that is going on in and around the national care service. I am a proponent of a national care service. I want drug and alcohol services in the national care service because I think that it is really important that we have a single framework of accountability and I think that the national care service could be a really important vehicle in terms of delivering person-centred care and providing joined up services. It is not good enough for folk to be bouncing about between services, whether that is addiction or mental health services. Of course, the work that we are doing in and around MATE in terms of the local assessments on the improvements that need to be made that will be published in August, and when we get into the quarterly or monthly reporting cycles that are now required of all agencies, that will certainly feed in to the work that we are doing to build a national care service that will help to ensure that we end the postcode lottery and can deliver consistency of care to people afflicted with drug and alcohol problems. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome the news that there has been some progress on what has been done on overdose prevention centres. The minister and I whole-heartedly agree that they are desperately needed, particularly in a city like Glasgow, with my member's bill-out consultation at present. However, what Glasgow also needs is full implementation of those MATE standards that the Government has committed to. I find it appalling that Glasgow, a city with the highest drug death rate in Scotland, has not fully implemented a single MATE standard by this target date. I accept that the minister is standing here today saying that this is not good enough, but what exactly is the minister and this Government doing to turn it around? Every time we miss this target, more people are dying and no amount of warm words will fix that. I would have thought that I have demonstrated to Mr Sweeney that I am prepared to do the hard miles when it comes to issues such as safer drug consumption rooms. We have worked steadfastly and that decision will now be taken elsewhere, and that work will now be scrutinised elsewhere. However, I have also demonstrated in my statement today not just warm words but tough words of action. We will dig deep and do the hard miles. When it comes to implementing MATE standards, I am not asking and I am not taking no for an answer. I thank the minister for her statement. I know that she would be disappointed that she has had to take the measures that were announced in her statement today. However, there is excellent work taking place across Scotland that we should not lose sight of. Just last week, I visited the Lockheed hub in my constituency. The hub is supported by significant Scottish Government funding via Cora to deliver the five-tier recovery programme that is aligned with the MATE standards. Can I invite the minister to join me on a visit to the hub? Can the minister provide an update on the range of support that is being provided to Dundee to fully implement the MATE standards? Can she say anything on discussions about potential provision of drug checking and heroin-assisted treatment in the city? There is a lot in that question, but if I can say to Mr FitzPatrick that I am no stranger to the good city of Dundee, I very much look forward to an invitation to visit the Lockheed community hub or, indeed, anywhere else where members would like to invite me to. I have engaged with the Dundee commission. I have engaged with the Dundee partnership. My officials continue to be in discussions with the Dundee partnership. Through the miss team, we have provided programme management support to assist with the implementation of MATE standards. We are funding work in primary care, which relates to MATE standards 7. We have been in discussions with Dundee and other areas of Scotland in and around the provision of heroin-assisted treatment. We need to turn interests into commitments in some of those initiatives and others, but I very much look forward to continuing to support the good city of Dundee. I also know that there is work under way to establish a pilot drug-checking facility. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. The minister knows that she and I share a lot of common ground on this, and I want her to succeed. I am disappointed by this statement. I am disappointed by the explanations given. I say that because she is doing exactly what she has criticised others for in the past, and that is blaming staff. I say that also because yesterday a whistleblower approached my party to say that the reason that many of the MATE standards have not been delivered or that data is accurately collated is because the Scottish Government money only made money available to achieve them very, very recently. I ask the minister to tell Parliament right now when that money was released. I have been to this chamber a number of times to outline action on a range of issues, and I have also verbally written a number of times in the chamber, given the assurance that, as I have continuity of funding, that continuity of funding is also passed on to ADPs and front-line services. We have also delivered five-year funding opportunities for the voluntary sector. Where there are blockages in the system, I can assure Mr Cole-Hamilton that I will get in and about it and unblock those blockages. I am sure that people have, because I certainly recall signing off letters confirming funding, so people should have received those, and if they are not, I will certainly go and check that. My final point to Mr Cole-Hamilton is that I am not digging out staff here. I am not digging out front-line workers. If I can just quote from the Public Health Scotland report, it talks about commitment and senior leadership from health and social care partnerships will be necessary. It is necessary to allocate resources that are required for successful implementation. I know the money that I am putting out the door, and I am determined to follow that money to make sure that it gets to the front line, and it does not sit in reserves anywhere. There is no point in putting savings away for a rainy day—this is more than a rainy day—and money that is allocated by this Government needs to be committed and spent. I have four more members who wish to ask a question. I will not get all of them in unless we now have succinct questions and succinct answers. I call Jenny Mintwood to be followed by Jolene Mackay. Can the minister outline the next step that she understands that the Crown Office and the Lord Advocate will undertake to consider the proposals for a safer consumption facility? If I can be brief and dismissment of what is further information, I am happy to discuss it with, but those proposals are now with the Crown Office, and it is for the Crown Office to submit those to the Lord Advocate. It is somewhat inappropriate for me to comment any further than that, other than to thank partners, Police Scotland, the Glasgow Partnership and, indeed, my officials and as well as Crown Office officials who have worked very hard to get a specification together and have worked to meet the outline of what would be required when the Lord Advocate attended the Justice Committee on 3 November last year. The Scottish Drugs Forum has highlighted that stigma is still acting as a barrier to people accessing mat. It causes people to present later for treatment and means that they are often not being as fully supported as they might be. What action will the minister take to tackle this and ensure that no-one is prevented from accessing mat due to stigma? Will she consider requiring mandatory stigma training for all staff working in ADPs? I know that there is an organisation called Reach Advocacy that has provided training to 15 ADP areas. That is about taking a human rights approach. It is about mat standards. It is about tackling stigma. Ms Mackay is absolutely correct to say that stigma is a barrier to treatment, but some of the work that is required to implement in full, particularly mat standards 1 to 5, is crucial in tackling those attitudes of discrimination and stigma. Ms Mackay will be aware of the work that the Government has done to date and in and around our stigma campaign. Some of that will figure in our workforce plans that we bring forward in the months ahead. Deputy Presiding Officer and Minister, I apologise for my lateness today. Can the minister outline what urgent action the Scottish Government is taking to address workforce shortages among ADPs? I have a very important point that Ms White raises. For the first time a few months ago this year, we published the first-ever survey of the drug and alcohol workforce that gives the size and shape of that workforce. It is about 3,500 full-time equivalents. It also begins to unpick some of the issues in and around recruitment, training and retention. We also need to do the work in terms of supporting the welfare of staff. I will be, as I intimated on my statement, be coming back to chamber with a fuller detail of the plans to be undertaken. Of course, it is important to note that the much of the £10 million per annum that is going into the implementation of mat standards is to recruit staff.


Memorial Day looks a lot different this year than it has in the past. Our current state of affairs and the protective measures implemented across the country to stop the spread of COVID-19 have forced us to think creatively to ensure we pay a proper tribute to our fallen. We're not in our local communities taking part in remembrance ceremonies, watching parades, or enjoying barbecues with our families. But we can still honor our brothers and sisters who are no longer here with us to enjoy the freedoms they serve to defend. Here, we have tributes from friends and families, including photos and words of remembrance to the DAV Honorwal Mosaic alongside special testimonials from some very special people you might recognize. This year may look different, but today is a somber day of reflection, a time to remember those men and women who helped deliver our freedoms and who never got the chance to step off the battlefield. We are, I think, in some ways, fortunate to have a single year where, as a nation, our heads are not turned the other way, heeding distractions instead of remembering the significance of what the day means to those who sacrificed, those who served alongside them, and those families who survived them. Behind it all, Memorial Day is about the selfless sacrifice of American heroes who raise their right hands to say, It is I who will defend America. And if needed, I shall give my life and her defense. That debt has been paid time and again in the name of all Americans, so that we may continue to enjoy life's most treasured moments each and every day. And for too many American families, the absence of a loved one is a pain that lasts a lifetime. After nearly two decades of bloodshed in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and now parts of Africa, we have to be concerned that our citizens may have become somewhat numb to war, but make no mistake about it. Americans are still fighting and giving their lives so that freedom will ring. There were 22 Americans killed in Afghanistan last year, but 22 is just a number, a figure. It doesn't begin to describe the individuals who could no longer speak for themselves. It's up to us to keep their memory alive. Army Sergeant James Johnston, an explosive-ordnance disposal soldier, was one of those 22.  We remember and honor you, Sergeant Johnston, today and every day. Thank you. It's up to us to keep the memories of these selfless heroes alive. Heroes like Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, who in 2019 became the first female sailor killed in the battle against the Islamic State. She perished in a suicide attack in northern Syria. A New York native, Kent was due to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology when she was sent on her fifth combat deployment. We honor and remember you, Senior Chief Kent, today and every day. Thank you. We are all duty bound to remember our fallen, to tell their stories, and to care for their families who need our support when struck by unfathomable loss. Today is for them, too. We remember your sacrifice. We honor it, and we offer our humble thanks. The men and women who answered Freedom's Call are remarkable people. They train as a team and sometimes fight like a family, but they have each other's back no matter how dire the straits. So, let's be sure we have their backs. It's especially important during this time of isolation and uncertainty that we honor the legacy of those lost by caring for those just left behind. Sometimes just sitting down to engage with a veteran or their family member to talk can go a long way. Call. Email. Reach out online. No matter how, keep connecting. I encourage all of you to find ways to involve yourself in caring for those who bear physical, emotional, and psychological scars of war. Take the time, not just for Memorial Day, but every day, to take a moment to remember our fallen. For those who never left the battlefields, we must hold them up in our hometowns and honor their memories. We can do that from anywhere, whether we're able to by traditional ceremonies or from our own front yards. We owe it to our fallen heroes. We owe it to their mothers, their fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, and friends. Today and every day, we honor the heroes who gave their all for our freedom. Check out some of the heartfelt messages we've received. We may be alone, but we are alone together. Thank you.


The Surface Navy Association finished its annual national symposium in Arlington, Virginia, January 17th. The symposium's theme of answering all bells, people, technology and innovation started with Vice Admiral Tom Coatman who spoke on future challenges for sailors. The resources have gone down, so I can't tell you whether we're gotten to that point and started tipping over, but I will tell you that we're getting closer to it. Despite the fact that we're pretty thinly resourced, and I'll talk about that a little bit later on, we're doing the job that we have been called upon by the combatant commanders to do. Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, Mike Stevens discussed his take on leadership with the initiative of zeroing in on excellence. This is something that is meant not to distract from or add to existing individual roles and responsibilities, but more so it's about providing a sturdy framework around which we can build strong, durable readiness for the fleet. The symposium also highlighted fiscal challenges the military currently faces. Admiral William Gortney explained what this means for the future of the Navy. We've never had enough money, right, but we've had plenty of money to do our job. It's not going to be that way over the next 10 years. History shows us that coming out of every major conflict, there's a 27 to 32 percent reduction in the DOD budget, and this goes all the way back to the Revolutionary War. The symposium ended with the Navy's focus areas from the second half. We are and we will continue to be, regardless of what happens, we will continue to be the finest and most formidable expeditionary fighting force the world has ever known. From the Defense of Media Activity, I'm Petty Officer Matthew Halls.