News

CA: California cities’ outsourcing plans face uncertainty

Cash-strapped California cities will think twice about outsourcing work to companies to cut costs after a state court blocked one city’s ambitious plan to hand several services to the private sector. The state’s Supreme Court last month backed an appeals court decision against the City of Costa Mesa’s outsourcing plan, which garnered national attention when a city worker jumped to his death from the roof of the city hall after being fired.  Reuters

PA:  Anti-gambling lawmaker says privatizing Pennsylvania Lottery ‘will create more questions than answers’

A key anti-gambling legislator has cautioned Gov. Tom Corbett against accepting a bid from a British firm to manage the $3.5 billion Pennsylvania Lottery without addressing lawmakers’ concerns. Rep. Paul Clymer, R-Bucks, said in a letter to the Republican governor on Thursday that he is concerned that Camelot Global Services will usher in a gambling expansion that could hurt families, and added that such a gambling expansion requires lawmakers’ approval.  PennLive

IL: Chicago Clinches Title For Nation’s Highest Parking Meter Rates

For Chicago motorists, the start of 2013 brings the fifth consecutive year of parking meter rate increases, further ensuring the Windy City retains its title for the nation’s most expensive meters. Just four years ago, most parking meters were just a paltry 25 cents per hour. On Jan. 1, downtown parking meters will jump 75 cents an hour, moving from the current $5.75 per hour to $6.50 per hour…. In December 2008, the Chicago City Council approved a privatization deal put together by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley which leased the city’s metered parking spaces to a private firm for $1.16 billion dollars.   DNAinfo

IL: Emanuel Moves Forward With Midway Privatization

Emanuel cited the parking meter deal as Exhibit A for why and how a possible deal to privatize “the world’s busiest square mile” will be different this time. Chicagoist

LA: Analysis: LSU getting out of the hospital business

The Board of Supervisors has agreed to privatize operations of its public hospitals in New Orleans, Houma and Lafayette, including the $1 billion New Orleans hospital under construction with state and federal money dedicated after Hurricane Katrina…. The governor chose the privatization path without talking to lawmakers, LSU hospital officials or health care leaders.  NECN

DE: State chamber of commerce supports Wilmington port privatization

The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce supports a plan to privatize thestate-owned Port of Wilmington. Rich Heffron with the DSCC tells WDEL-AM that privatizing all or part of the port is necessary to complete a project to build a pier and cargo-handling facilities on the Delaware River. Newsworks.org

Privatization or Public Education?

Helen Ladd and her husband Edward Fiske are distinguished observers of American Education. Ladd is a Professor of Economics at Duke University. Fiske was education editor of the anew York Times. Together they describe a fork in the road for our nation’s public school system. Will we continue towards free-market privatization or will we revitalize public education? This is what they see ahead as the risks in the privatization agenda. DianeRavitchBlog

 

News

PA: Corbett may hold hearings on privatizing the state lottery

Gov. Tom Corbett says he is considering holding public hearings on his administration’s effort to hire a British firm to manage the state lottery.  Pittsburgh Post Gazette

PA: Corbett discloses trips paid by businessman

Tom Corbett has recently disclosed that he took trips in 2011 worth more than $2,300 that were paid for by a Pennsylvania businessman who gave generously to Corbett’s campaign and serves on Corbett’s privatization council. The Herald-Mail

IL: Emanuel moves ahead on Midway privatization, aldermen not so sure

Mayor Rahm Emanuel moved ahead Thursday on testing the privatization market for Midway Airport — with a 40-year lease, profit-sharing for taxpayers and safeguards against consumer price-gouging — but there’s political turbulence ahead. Aldermen are still gun-shy about the steep schedule of rate increases tied to controversial deals that privatized 36,000 city parking meters and the Chicago Skyway.  Chicago Sun Times

SC: Anderson County to privatize inmate health

The county which is located along the Georgia border, has decided to turn in the responsibility of its inmates to Southern Health for a yearly payment of $574,860. Reports suggest it will save the county $20,000 in annual savings. Under the arrangement physician visits would be cut in half although the jail would have nurses on duty 24 hours a day.  Bizjournals.com

Plain Talk: Privatization is no panacea

When a government official or a bureaucrat does something foolish or wastes valuable resources or unnecessarily spends taxpayers’ money, there are news stories about it. When defense contracts come in way over budget, it makes the news. When a government official holds a meeting at a lavish resort, it hits the press, as it should. With rare exceptions, they can’t hide their mistakes or misdeeds. That’s not usually the case in private business. Although the mistakes are just as rampant, just as wasteful, just as irresponsible, it’s much easier to sweep the problem under the rug without anyone except the insiders knowing about it. There is no free press serving as a watchdog on private business, as is its function with government. Capital Times

 

News

PA: Challenges to lottery privatization plan add up for Corbett

With challenges mounting to the proposed privatization of the Pennsylvania Lottery’s management, Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration is trying to counter negative publicity and make the case that a British firm’s $34 billion bid is the best option to satisfy growing demand for state services for the elderly.  Tribune-Review

PA: Editorial: Why the rush on Pa. lottery privatization?

It would be understandable to push privatization of the lottery if Pennsylvania had been doing a poor job managing it. There are certainly things government does not do well. This newspaper has been critical of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. But by just about any measure, our state’s lottery is pretty good.  The Patriot-News

IN: Indiana’s rocky road to welfare reform

In 2006, Gov. Mitch Daniels privatized the management of the welfare-benefits system with a project led by IBM….It was, by Daniels’s own admission, a failure. Critics accused him of ignoring the lessons of a failed privatization effort in Texas. People were wrongly denied benefits and documents were lost, according to a lawsuit the state filed against IBM. Daniels canceled the IBM contract in 2009…. This July, a Marion County judge awarded $52 million to compensate IBM for cancellation of the contract, castigating the state for “misguided government policy” and IBM for “overzealous corporate ambition.” In an interview, Daniels said the current, revised system – a public-private hybrid – is a success.  Reuters

NC: Toll road pits saving time versus spending money

The completion of North Carolina’s first toll road means area drivers have to balance the cost of driving on the new highway against a savings in time and money, officials say. WRAL.com

 

 

News

WA: State privatizing more driver testing

The Washington Department of Licensing says more schools and training programs will take over driver testing next year. Drivers who pass the test go to a state office for their license. The Legislature outsourced the testing to reduce wait lines.  KOMO

NY: County employees’ union launches campaign to keep Maplewood nursing home

The union representing Saratoga County employees vowed Tuesday to actively campaign to keep Maplewood Manor as a county-owned nursing home…. Assalian said the union wants residents of Saratoga County to seriously consider the effects of the privatization.  The Saratogian

Can Public Education as We Know it Survive?

By and large Americans have found ways to strike a balance between these two objectives. Public schools have served as engines of upward mobility for millions of individuals, including waves of immigrants, while driving economic growth by providing an educated workforce. By emphasizing private interests almost entirely at the expense of public ones, the private vision, with millions of dollars behind it, threatens to undermine this historical balance.  Huffington Post

News

PA: Lawsuit filed over effort to privatize Pa. lottery

State employees union and seven Democratic lawmakers filed a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court on Monday seeking to stop the state from privatizing the management of the lottery, saying Republican Gov. Tom Corbett doesn’t have the authority to make such a move…. The lawsuit claims the Lottery Act of 1971 doesn’t give the governor the right to privatize the lottery without approval from the Legislature.  Yorkdispatch.com

FL: Scott names insider as Florida prison secretary

…. Another judge last year ruled the Legislature improperly tried to privatize entire prisons in South Florida through the state budget. The Senate then rejected a stand-alone bill to accomplish the same thing. “I’m all for doing things in ways that we can do them cheaper,” Crews said. “What I’m not willing to do is to sacrifice the safety and security of our officers or the inmates.” He said he didn’t want to speculate on whether privatizing entire prisons throughout a region would imperil safety and security.  San Francisco Chronicle

MD: Speed Camera Company Admits 5.2 Percent Error Rates

Over the past two decades, advocates have argued the main advantage of a speed camera is that the machines never lies. …In Baltimore, Maryland last week a leading speed camera vendor made the unprecedented admission that the technology frequently lies, but obvious examples of false readings slipped through the process due to “human error.”  Photocopy giant Xerox, which recently acquired Affiliated Computer Services, has been rocked by accusations that motorists who diligently observed the speed limit were nonetheless receiving photo radar tickets in the mail. Xerox had no choice but to conduct a review under heavy pressure from local politicians.  TheNewspaper.com

MA: Massachusetts Virtual Academy Students Falling Behind

Students at a privately operated online school that is costing Massachusetts taxpayers almost $2.5 million a year are falling far behind other students in the state based on their assessment-test scores, and half of them are quitting during the academic year or failing to return the next year….. Twenty-five percent dropped out last year, and, each fall, another 20 to 30 percent do not come back. The results come at a time when legislators are considering allowing up to 10 online schools to operate across the state, which could enroll as many as 19,000 students. New England Center for Investigative Reporting

New USDA rule would speed poultry-processing lines, worrying inspectors

The proposed rule would allow companies to speed up production lines from 35 birds per minute per inspector to 175 per minute, a five-fold increase. It also would cut hundreds of federal inspector jobs and turn over much of the responsibility for spotting defective or diseased birds to plant employees…. He and other union officials say his health troubles underscore the urgency of their longtime fight against the USDA’s proposed rule, which they believe will make chicken less safe for consumers by semi-privatizing poultry inspection.   Kansas City Star

113th Congress to tackle transportation priorities

Lawmakers will tackle a long-delayed water resources bill, navigate rail issues ignored last session and consider another attempt to privatize the oft-maligned Amtrak. Politico

 

News

VA:  Controversy surrounds Va. plan to build $1.4 billion toll road

…. The traffic projections — so low that the state got no takers when it twice tried to sell the project to investors in exchange for toll revenue — have leaders from some more heavily traveled parts of the state fuming. “It is absolutely criminal that this amount of money would be spent on a worthless road carrying 5,500 cars a day,” said Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), noting that the Dulles Toll Road carries about 100,000 vehicles a day. “I have subdivision streets that carry more traffic than this.” …..[A] private company will be paid to design and build the road. The state hopes to sign a final agreement with Ferrovial Agroman and American Infrastructure — operating as the consortium 460 Mobility Partners — in the next week. Design and right-of-way work would begin in 2013 and construction in 2014. The road would open in 2018. Washington Post

OH: Bill would limit outsourcing for state-funded projects

State Representative Denise Driehaus (D – Cincinnati) and State Representative Connie Pillich (D – Cincinnati) testified today to gain support for their “Hire Ohio” legislation, House Bill 342. By creating “Hire Ohio” provisions to limit outsourcing for state-funded projects, HB 342 encourages projects to be located in Ohio, utilizing Ohio workers, and creating new jobs that would otherwise go to different states and countries. HB 342 will strengthen working and middle class families by keeping them employed and bringing jobs back to Ohio instead of being outsourced.  The Cincinnati Herald

CA: Santa Ana will consider privatizing at zoo

The financially struggling city will seek proposals early next year for a private entity to take over Santa Ana Zoo operations. Orange County Register

PA:  Union members and senior citizens organize to sound off against outsourcing lottery

A newly formed coalition of union members and senior citizens are launching a Protect Our Lottery campaign to keep the operation of 41-year-old Pennsylvania Lottery in state hands. “Seniors across the state are concerned about Gov. Corbett’s risky scheme to privatize management of the lottery – and rightly so. There have been no public hearings. Lawmakers in both parties are frustrated because they don’t have all the facts so they can make an informed decision,” said Jean Friday, President of the PA Alliance for Retired Americans, in a news release.  “The Corbett administration owes it to every Pennsylvanian to open this process up and allow the public and our elected lawmakers to participate.”  Patriot-News

PA: Opinion: Lucrative lottery doesn’t need a fix

I’m no fan of the lottery; I see it as a regressive tax on the poor. But love it or loathe it, the lottery is a model of efficiency and transparency. “We’re a pretty good barometer of complaints,” Auditor General Jack Wagner said of his office. “We get virtually no complaints about the lottery.” Asked state Treasurer Rob McCord: “If it’s not broke, why fix it?”  Yet that is precisely what the Corbett administration hopes to do, and very soon. The governor wants to privatize the lottery by awarding a lengthy, potentially lucrative contract to the only company that offered a bid: Camelot Global Services, a British multinational owned….Why does the governor want to do that? Because Camelot promises to double lottery profits by 2033. Philadelphia Inquirer

CA: Ill-Conceived Southern California Toll Roads Struggle to Survive

Twelve years after the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) unsuccessfully begged the state to buy its beleaguered private toll road system, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer is launching an inquiry into whether they are financially viable. Bonds used to build the roads through Southern California’s San Joaquin Hills have been downgraded by Wall Street to junk, and those for the Foothill-Eastern corridor to a notch above. Multiple waves of refinancing have increased their cost and delayed a final payoff by a decade. The tolls have tripled and the roads are vastly underused.  AllGov

LA: Southeast La. Hospital privatization approved

The Times-Picayune reports the board approved the privatization plan Wednesday with a rare split vote after hospital employees and advocates begged commission members to reject the proposal to protect the jobs of those currently working there. Opelousas Daily World

 

 

News

OH: Gov Kasich decides against leasing or selling Ohio Turnpike

Gov. John Kasich has dumped a controversial idea of privatizing the Ohio Turnpike as a way to raise money for needed highway and bridge projects. The Republican governor instead unveiled a plan Thursday to generate up to $3 billion by borrowing against future tolls on the 241-mile highway that runs across northern Ohio…. The state might have given up some money by keeping control of the turnpike, Kasich said, but it’s too valuable of an asset to lease. Many elected officials who serve areas along the turnpike, including Summit County Executive Russ Pry, had panned the prospect of privatization. They predicted higher tolls and motorists abandoning the highway to use local roads.  Beacon Journal

WV: Opinion: Privitization is not optimal for government

Privatization of government functions is held as the gold standard of efficiency and economy even though there is little evidence to support this pernicious myth. Indeed as the cost of public services becomes more expensive, one can look at the record of advocates ignoring the corporate overhead and profits and the inefficiencies in corporate America when touting privatization as the answer to all government service problems.  Martinsburg Journal

CA: OC Officials Angry Over Toll Road Audit

Orange County toll road supporters lashed out at environmentalists Wednesday, accusing them of trying to block expansion of Orange County toll roads by convincing state officials to review the health of the projects’ bonds.  VoiceofOC

PA: EDITORIAL: Why the rush to privatize state lotteries?

Privatizing the marketing and management of the lotteries may prove to be a good investment for the states, but there are red flags flapping in the breeze. Lehighvalleylive.com

NH: Discovery center layoffs mark change to privatization

The staff of nine full-time workers and 25 part-timers at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center have been told they will be laid off at the start of the new year, with a chance for some to return once the facility switches from a state-run attraction to one that is privately funded.…Built 23 years ago as a tribute to Christa McAuliffe, the Concord High School teacher killed when the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986, it had received an annual $800,000 payment toward its $1.9 million budget. Concord Monitor

2012 policy report card: Transportation forecast

House Republicans in particular are expected to take another run at privatizing Amtrak, likely as part of the reauthorization – even though they had to pull back from an earlier attempt after a significant backlash. Politico

Eugene Robinson: A cliff and a GOP asleep at wheel

A smart GOP would acknowledge the fact that Americans simply don’t want to privatize everything, which means we need new ideas about how to pay for what we want. San Gabriel Valley Tribune

 

News

NJ: Bill would require Legislature approval of lottery privatization

“The proposal to privatize, without public explanation, one of our most profitable and well-run assets is troubling,” said Assembly Budget Chair Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus), who introduced the legislation, in a statement. “The Christie administration appears ready to forfeit substantial long-term revenue for a one-shot payment that will also hurt small-business owners and risk vital programs for our students, veterans and the disabled. More oversight is clearly needed.”  NJBIZ

CA: Council votes to seek private Convention Center manager

Opposing the privatization were council members Richard Alarcon and Paul Koretz, who wants to see if the new governance structure will bring about positive changes to the center. Los Angeles Times

CA: San Francisco Parks: Supervisor Wants More Transparency

In recent years, there’s been a growing outcry among some San Francisco residents about the expanding number of private events being held in the city’s public parks. Enter Supervisor John Avalos, who is now taking steps to potentially put a curb on this practice. At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Avalos introduced a bill that would require the city’s Recreation and Parks Department to hold a public informational hearing for any event that occupies more than 25 percent of a given park and runs for longer than 48 hours.  Huffington Post

NY: Officials consider privatization of LIPA

State officials examining how to restructure the Long Island Power Authority in the wake of superstorm Sandy are considering options that include selling the local electric grid to a private company and greatly reducing LIPA’s role. Newsday

NH: Prison Privatization Proposal Seems Doomed in New Hampshire

A long-discussed proposal to privatize prisons in New Hampshire appears to be on its last legs due to changes in the state’s political landscape after November’s election.  Correctional News

MT: Guest column: School privatization reduces choice

In recent public policy discussions regarding the use of public funds to pay for private education in Montana, there are critical facts that are lost in the details. Using public funds for private education essentially makes “private” education now “public,” only without the accountability, rights and choices made available to the public when interacting with their existing public schools.  The Bozeman Daily Chronicle

NC: Wake planners seek green light on ‘red route’ study for toll road           

Wake County officials voted Wednesday to ask state legislators to repeal a law that prohibits transportation planners from even studying a potential toll road path through Garner. WRAL.com ‎

How Sandy Might Tweak Today’s High-Speed Rail Privatization Hearing

The hearing continues a series of grillings GOP lawmakers have been giving to Amtrak in a push to reduce the subsidies the national rail network relies on each year. Other witnesses on the docket include a DOT rep, an American Enterprise Institute Scholar and a Morgan Stanley managing director. The 15 word hearing title obscures the topic, so it’s pasted way down below in this post, but rest assured the conversation will cover privatization of high-speed rail along the Northeast Corridor. Transportation Nation

News

CA: New UC logo: A sad sign for higher education

The University of California’s rebranding shows the institution as a start-up hub not a place of learning. U.C. recently unveiled their new logo.…But as Bady notes, the intentions behind the image update had little to do with pleasing university students and staff, but rather aimed to appeal to the California governor and big tech corporations for funding by presenting the academic institution as a hub for the area’s start-up scene. “They really are trying to rebrand the university to resemble a flavor-of-the-month startup,” wrote Bady.   Salon.com

CA: Orange County toll roads under review by California

When it opened during the 1990s, Orange County’s $2.4-billion tollway system was touted as an innovative way to build public highways without taxpayer money…. But far fewer people are using the turnpikes than officials predicted, which means the highways generate far less revenue than expected to retire their debts.  There have long been questions about the long-term financial viability of the San Joaquin Hills and Foothill-Eastern corridors. But those concerns have now heightened, and a government oversight panel chaired by state Treasurer Bill Lockyer has launched a formal inquiry into whether the roads can cover mounting interest payments to private investors who purchased tollway bonds. Los Angeles Times

PA: When Foundations Go Bad

Money talks. And sometimes money buys contracts with companies that have an agenda to privatize our public schools. That appears to be the case with Philadelphia’s prominent William Penn Foundation: last week parents in that city accused the venerable foundation of contracting with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to develop a plan to close dozens of public schools while opening many more charter schools. They charge the foundation and consulting company with essentially acting as lobbyists to influence policy decisions in the School District of Philadelphia. Here’s why we should care in the rest of Pennsylvania when good foundations go bad. Yinzencation.com

IN: Editorial: Just how good was that Indiana Toll Road deal?

Indiana has gotten a lot of infrastructure work done with the $3.8 billion it got for leasing the Indiana Toll Road to a private concessionaire, so it has to be conceded there were big benefits to the deal. But did those benefits outweigh the costs in lost revenues to Hoosiers? News Sentinel

OH: State Officials Approve $142,000 For Marketing Controversial Ohio Turnpike Privatization Plan

State officials have approved $2.85 million to study a controversial proposal to lease the Ohio Turnpike. Now, Watchdog 10 has discovered that a chunk of that money will be used for marketing. According to a state contract with consultant KMPG, its subcontractor, Columbus-based Fahlgren-Mortine is approved 5 percent of the total contract. That comes to about  $142,500 for marketing. Watchdog 10 attended a meeting the Governor had with reporters to ask the spending is a wise use of tax dollars. A spokeswoman for Gov. John Kasich answered instead. Connie Wehrkamp said that the money is an appropriate use of tax dollars.  10TV.com

OH: PG Giving Out Parking “Tickets” To Try To Kill Parking Privatization

Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, who gave out bananas to try to get Chiquita to stay in Cincinnati, tomorrow plans a press conference in Clifton to urge residents to contact City Hall and express their displeasure with City Manager Milton Dohoney’s parking proposal. The manager wants to contract the parking system out to a private company for at least $40 million up front plus annual lease payments for 30 years. He used $21 million of the parking money to help fill the $34 million deficit. Sittenfeld, with community leaders, will pass out “tickets” to put on cars that tell drivers how to let City Hall know they don’t like Dohoney’s plan.  Cincinnati.com

Lawmaker calls for suspending privatization of airport screening operations

The top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee wants the Obama administration to halt privatization of airport security screening operations until the costs and any benefits can be determined.  Washington Post

When government does things better than private enterprise

The government’s scale and ability to look beyond narrow self-interest make its involvement in many programs the smart choice. Medicare is a prime example.Los Angeles Times

 

News

IN: New study says Indiana Toll Road lease bad deal

The Indiana Toll Road lease may have paid off in the short term, but a new study concludes it’s a bad deal for taxpayers in the long run….John Gilmour, a government professor at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., says the state took an upfront payment at the cost of millions of dollars in revenue from rising toll rates that would have gone into the state treasury in later years.  Daily Reporter

WI: Wisconsin Study: Report Cards Favor Advantaged, Publics Outperform Charters

A new study by Wisconsin Forward Institute finds that the state report cards reflect the economic advantage and disadvantage of students. Schools that serve the poorest students get lowest grades. Schools that serve the most advantaged students get highest grades. The study also concluded that students in Wisconsin’s public schools out-perform students in Wisconsin charter schools. DianeRavitch

NJ: Questioning privatization of state lottery – editorial

The Christie administration seems to be in a rush to privatize the management of the New Jersey Lottery. We say — not so fast. There are still many unanswered questions and the whole process needs to be more transparent. Why make the switch? As some state lawmakers and lottery experts have said, a state could consider monetizing its lottery if the government wasn’t performing the operation efficiently. But by all accounts, the New Jersey lottery is profitable and well-run. Vineland Daily Journal

OH: Parking Wars: Neighborhoods fight parking privatization plan

Cincinnati’s plan to lease some of its garages, lots and all of its 57-hundred meters is meeting resistance and outright opposition. Detractors of the plan said it could also mean no more free nights and weekends and could affect more than just downtown. Hyde Park Square proprietors are also getting edgy about the move. They said they don’t want jacked-up rates ruining their holiday motto of “Don’t get Malled, Free Valet Parking.” “If these things are so profitable that a private company wants this whole thing, then why aren’t we properly managing these and taking advantage of the profits that are right there?” Rogers said.   WLWT

NE: Video: Privatizing child welfare: Is it working?

Three years into an overhaul of Nebraska’s child welfare system, an agency in charge of privatizing services is urging lawmakers to allow them to continue serving the state’s most vulnerable children.  KETV TV

MI: Detroit Tries To Stave Off State Takeover Of Finances

If the mayor and City Council cannot agree on a plan to reduce the city’s budget deficit, state officials are poised to take away their power and assume total control over Detroit’s finances…. At a recent council meeting, Marine Corps veteran David Malikun-Muqaribu is among an overflow crowd in the hallway outside chambers, shut out from discussions over privatizing 80 percent of Detroit’s water department. “I spent a year in Iraq and I did tours overseas in other theaters, and I’m genuinely blown away to see that I wasted four years of my life to defend democracy only to come back to the city that I’m from to see democracy totally eviscerated,” he says. No matter who ultimately controls the city’s finances, one thing all sides agree on is that massive cuts to Detroit’s programs and services are coming — even if the city eventually files for bankruptcy protection.  NPR

TX: Possible Toll Road for Hunt County

North Texas residents may soon travel between Hunt County and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex via a new toll road. The Greenville City Council is being asked to back the creation of the private toll road, which would initially stretch from Greenville to Lavon and eventually to the President George Bush Turnpike. The Council is scheduled to consider approving a resolution in support of the project during Tuesday’s regular session, starting at 6 p.m. in the Municipal Building.  KETR