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Plusquellic gives council advisory group's ideas for scholarship proposal
By Carl Chancellor
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Jul 29, 2008
The mayor's controversial college scholarship plan, pegged to leasing the city sewer system, became clearer at Monday night's Akron City Council meeting.
Mayor Don Plusquellic presented council members with the findings of his Akron Scholarship Plan advisory group, giving details of a proposed long-term lease of the Akron sanitary sewer system. The group also looked at the college scholarship plan, which would be funded with the estimated $200 million in proceeds from a lease.
The scholarship money would provide support for graduates of Akron's high schools to attend the University of Akron or an Akron technical or trade school. Parochial school graduates who live in the city as well as graduates of an Akron Public Schools-sponsored charter school also would be eligible to participate.
Those graduates would have until the age of 25 to take advantage of the tuition assistance. And those who are members of the military would have even longer.
The scholarship program would be administered in partnership with Akron Public Schools, UA, the Akron Community Foundation and the city.
In its endorsement, the advisory board said that it ''enthusiastically'' supported the mayor's scholarship plan, provided certain safeguards are in place.
They include:
• The city retains ownership of the sewer system.
• There is a sewer rate cap.
• Operating and customer service standards are established.
• Environmental protection and compliance laws are followed.
• There is employment protection for city sewer workers.
• Net lease proceeds are used only to fund a scholarship program.
• There is frequent and timely communication between city and the lessee.
• The lease provides sufficient up-front net proceeds to fully fund the scholarship program.
Plusquellic told council that leasing the sewers ''is a good trade-off, to have something where we can take the value and provide opportunity for our kids. . . . If we don't provide our kids this opportunity, shame on us.''
Before the mayor's remarks, Jack Sombati, a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and Citizens to Save Our Sewers and Water, said leasing the sewer system to a private company would have ''a negative impact on the citizens of Akron for decades.''
Sombati and about a dozen SOS members at the meeting were expecting council to vote on placing on the November ballot the group's proposed charter amendment to require that any action to sell or lease a public utility be approved by voters first.
''We are extremely disappointed to find council will not be taking action on the citizen initiative tonight, even though the petitions were deemed sufficient by the board of elections,'' Sombati said.
The Summit County elections board verified Monday that the group had far more than the required number of signatures of registered voters on its petitions.
The group needed 2,339 signatures, while 3,986 out of 5,716 were found to be valid, said Marijean Donofrio, the board's director.
The city must evaluate the petitions to see whether there are any other flaws, such as incorrect circulator statements or missing signatures, Donofrio said.
The deadline for putting issues on the November ballot is Aug. 21.
The mayor also plans to put his scholarship plan to the voters in November. He repeated his willingness Monday night to debate the lease proposal and let the voters decide its fate.
''People are going to have a vote, but they are going to be informed. . . . We believe we can do this in a safe, reliable, low-cost way that controls costs, that controls rates and, if we can do that, then that is a good trade off,'' Plusquellic said.
To meet the deadline to place the issues on the ballot, council, which doesn't have another scheduled meeting until Sept. 8, will have to meet in special session.
If both issues appear on the same ballot, approval of both would not affect the sewer lease measure because the SOS amendment would not be retroactive.
Carl Chancellor can be reached at 330-996-3725 or cchancellor@thebeaconjournal.com.
Beacon Journal staff writer Stephanie Warsmith contributed to this report.
The mayor's controversial college scholarship plan, pegged to leasing the city sewer system, became clearer at Monday night's Akron City Council meeting.
Get the full article here.
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