Grown-up music fans may consider this summer’s Lollapalooza tour, with its rumored lineup of Lady Gaga, Green Day and Soundgarden, to be 2010’s hottest ticket, but the preschool set has its own superstar tour to look forward to.
Nickelodeon and Broadway Across America have teamed-up to present “Storytime Live!” a stage show that unites Dora the Explorer, The Wonder Pets!, The Backyardigans, Kai-lan and hosts Moose A. Moose and Zee. The show will stop at Toledo’s Stranahan Theater at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 and 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Feb. 23.

Laura Dadap

The 70-city tour is described as a stage performance that “takes kids and their families on brand-new adventures, from leaping into Fairytale Land with Dora and Sleeping Boots, journeying through Filthingham with The Backyardigans, hopping into Wonderland with the Wonder Pets! or jumping on clouds with Kai-lan and the Monkey King.”
In anticipation of the show, Dora will be at Imagination Station from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and at Books-A-Million in Levis Commons from 2 to 3 p.m. on Feb. 20.
Two of the shows actors, Peej Mele, who plays host Moose A. Moose, and Laura Dadap, who portrays Kai-lan, took a break from rehearsals Feb. 12 to speak by phone with Toledo Free Press from a York, Pa., coffee shop. Both young actors have appeared in several regional theater productions, and were excited about embarking on their first national tour.
Toledo Free Press: Kai-lan is a pioneering character for Chinese culture, much like Dora was for Hispanic culture. Moose is the main teacher on Nick Jr. How familiar were you with the impact of these characters when you took the role?
Laura Dadap: I have a lot of little friends who love Kai-lan, friends’ kids who are so excited to see it. This format is like a rock concert that brings all the kids’ favorites together. You can’t make an exact replica of what you see on TV, but it’s close. Chinese was my first language, so I know how authentic the show is with the Mandarin language and culture. My grandmother loves that I am using my Chinese skills.
Peej Mele: I am starting to realize how big a star Moose is. Kids just jump up and down for him. Moose is a wonderful, unique character. The role is exciting and funny for kids and parents. They do a great job with the songs.
TFP: It must be a physical challenge, acting, dancing and singing as you work through the choreography with actors in full costume and the puppets.
Dadap: We are very aware of their presence; a lot of the actors communicate through their voices and body language. It is amazing how intricate the costumes are. My parents say I’ve been singing since I came out of the womb, so this is my love.
Mele: Most of the animal characters are wearing suits perfectly adapted from the cartoons; the engineering is amazing. It’s not as overwhelming as one would think, because it’s so well choreographed. As actors, we assimilate into the characters and it becomes real while we are on stage.

Peej Mele

TFP: Kai-lan is a preschool age girl. How do you inhabit that on stage and still play to parents in the audience?
Dadap: There’s something in the show for everyone. This is important, because it will be the first many of these kids have seen any kind of theater, and we want to inspire them to go again. We are careful to be real with the kids; we don’t talk down to them. Parents know we are trying to respect the kids.
TFP: How are you getting along with Zee? Any diva action backstage from The Wonder Pets! or The Backyardigans?
Mele: Working with Zee is like being on ‘Sesame Street.’ The puppets really take on a life of their own and are wonderfully expressive. I love being onstage with Zee. All the characters get along well.
Dadap: Everyone in the show has been wonderful. There haven’t been any backstage issues; we all know the mission is for the kids.

Tickets for “Storytime Live!” in Toledo can be purchased by calling (419) 474-1333, visiting the Stranahan Theater Box Office or ordering online at the Web site www.ticketmaster.com.

The board of directors for Wake Up Youth Inc., a nonprofit crisis prevention and intervention program for at-risk women and girls, voted on Feb. 11 to close its doors.
“It’s really hard in today’s economy to get fundraising,” said Paula Brown, board president. “It was a hard decision we really believe in the mission. The trafficking of women and children is major in Toledo.”
The board’s decision to close follows the resignation of EleSondra DeRomano, executive director, for personal reasons, Brown said.
DeRomano led the street outreach and was out from 11p.m. to 5 a.m. in the areas where women were most at risk, Brown said. Wake Up Youth Inc. has notified its partners, Toledo Community Foundation and Shared Hope International of the closing.
“It’s a perfect storm right now. In this particular case some leadership issues facilitated by some financial issues,” said Keith Burwell, president of the Toledo Community Foundation. “We have a problem in Toledo with our nonprofits in the sense we have the nonprofit infrastructure that equals Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, but a population base that is much smaller. We’ve been asking people to support something that is much larger. We’ve gotten away with it in the good times but now when times are tough it’s harder.”
Brown did not know the annual operating budget for the nonprofit. A I-990, a tax form, for the organization in 2004 listed total assets as zero.
Bell to speak at Haiti benefit
Kids Unlimited is hosting a Haiti Relief Benefit from noon to 7 p.m. Feb. 20 at Englewood Peace Academy, 1120 Horace St. near the corner of Bancroft and Detroit Avenue. Guest speakers include Toledo Mayor Mike Bell, along with live music, step shows and concession stands. All proceeds from the event will go to the earthquake relief effort in Haiti, according to a news release. For information, call program coordinator Chantel Clariett at (901) 275-7979.
‘Heroes of Diversity’
The Toledo Area Human Resources Association (TAHRA) is hosting the  fifth annual Diversity Symposium, “Heroes of Diversity,” on March 5.
“The goal of our program is to raise awareness of diversity and promote diversity initiatives in the workplace and community,” said Elizabeth Bergman, TAHRA diversity chair. “Our presenters and emcee will offer a fresh perspective on current diversity issues that human resources professionals face.”
The symposium will feature keynote speaker Victor Antonio, discussing new diversity perspectives.  Two additional speakers, Mark Butler and Linda Mansour, will discuss diversity in the workplace and seeing beyond someone’s religion.
The event is geared towards human resource professionals but is open to everyone, Bergman said.
The event will take place 7:30 a.m. to noon at the Pinnacle, 1772 Indian Wood Circle. Registration fees are $75 for TAHRA members, $90 for nonmembers and $50 for students. Discounted rates are available if registered before Feb. 26.
Visit www.toledoshrm.org for more.
‘Prime Time Live 2010’
Hope Church and the Oregon Area Pastors Fellowship are hosting Prime Time Live 2010, a community event for seniors, Feb. 26 and Feb. 27.
“There is value in letting seniors know they are still appreciated. They need to know they are still an important part of our community,” said Thom Sneed, Hope Church administrative pastor.
Prime Time Live 2010 will feature three different events at Hope Church, 5650 Starr Ave.
“I think sometimes we’re the forgotten era. There are a lot of things going on for teens and the youth,” said Betty Metz, 64, member of the steering committee. “This whole weekend centered around and planned for 50, nice to know someone is planning things that would interest and entertain us.”
On Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. Hope Church will host a dinner and comedy theater with the Covenant Players Drama Group. The event is open for individuals ages 50 and up and is free of charge.
On Feb. 27 a health and wellness fair will be held at 1 p.m. The event will host more than 20 exhibitors and will feature two breakout sessions with doctors discussing common health problems seniors face. At 4 p.m. the same day, a concert featuring Kate Jordan & Soul Venture and Sojourner Quartet, will take place. The Sojourner Quartet is southern style gospel music and Kate Jordan &Soul Venture is more new age and contemporary, Jordan said. Tickets for the concert are $5 and can be purchased at the door or ahead of time at WPOS radio station, Lifeway and Family Christian bookstore or Hope Church. Reservations for the evening should be made in advance by contacting (419) 724-HOPE.

It has been one year since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the “stimulus bill,”  was signed into law and area Congress members think there is still work to be done.
The bill granted $787 billion in spending throughout the United States to jump-start the economy and create jobs.  Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-Toledo) voted to pass the bill, while Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) voted against it.
According to recovery.gov, Ohio has been awarded approximately $6.4 billion in funding for loans, grants and contracts. The state has received about $1.7 billion, as of Feb.17.

Bob Latta

Congressman Latta said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed too quickly by Congress and has failed to create jobs. President Barack Obama promised the unemployment rate would not rise to more than 8 percent if the bill was passed, but the unemployment rate reached 19 percent nationally, Latta said.
“A lot of the money flowed to the state instead of helping to create jobs. States used the funding to balance their budget,” Latta said. “This money did not do anything it was supposed to do. They raced it through, they spent the money and now we’re in a situation that they can’t give us an accurate figure if they’ve created jobs or if they’ve saved jobs.”
With interest, the stimulus bill is costing the American people more than $1.2 trillion, Latta said.
“We have a situation out there that the money is gone and now we’re stuck having to figure out how we’re going to pay this back,” he said.
Kaptur said while the bill didn’t address the problems in the economy, it helped the United States from falling further apart: “Nationally, we have saved or created 2 million and 2.4 million jobs. Is it sufficient? No. Did it help us from falling further into the recession? Absolutely.”
Kaptur said stimulus money helped the district, which has unemployment rates above the national average, by providing unemployment checks and funding COBRA. The stimulus bill included funding $250 to senior citizens for cost of living, the first-time home buyer tax credit and maintained Medicaid, she said.
The stimulus also assisted with “lifeline programs,” by maintaining police, firefighters and teachers. In Toledo it helped rehire approximately three dozen police officers, Kaptur said.
Kaptur, however, criticizes the administration for  not addressing the true problem that caused this recession; Wall Street irresponsibility and the housing crisis.
“Their programs in housing and banking aren’t working. Across the country there is a huge down draft on what the stimulus can do as a result,” she said.
The banks inflated the housing market and took risky investments. When they failed, the government bailed them out, Kaptur said. The banks need to be held responsible for the role they played, she said.
Additionally, banks have stopped lending to small business and small businesses can’t grow and create jobs, she said.
Kaptur has proposed a bill in the house, H.R.4377  Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2009, that would hold banks accountable for their actions and prevent events like those of 2008 from happening again.

Marcy Kaptur

2011 budget
Both Kaptur and Latta are on the House Committee on the Budget.  During March, April and May the committee will be creating guidelines and financial budgets for agencies for the 2011 fiscal year.
President Obama presented the committee a $3.6 trillion budget with $1.6 trillion in deficits, a number Latta found alarming, he said
“This thing has spiraled out of control and folks need to step back and say you can’t keep spending money like this,” he said.
If things continue on the track they are going it is possible to be $25 trillion in the hole by 2020, Latta said. The government continues to spend to get out of the recession, while they should be creating atmospheres where small and big businesses can grow and put people back to work,  he said.
“We need to run the federal government like you do a household. You don’t spend it if you don’t have it,” Latta said.
The government is spending too much, borrowing too much, taxing too  much and regulating too much, he said. All of these things spell “impending doom” for businesses in the United States.
Kaptur said under Obama, the interest paid on debts is a smaller percentage of  the gross domestic product than under Bush, but thinks America should eliminate its foreign debt.
“America was founded on the idea of independence, not dependence. With our foreign loans, we are no longer independent,” Kaptur said.
The budget vote will happen in May.

The UT College of Engineering’s Spring 2010 Career Expo will match engineering students seeking cooperative internships with participating companies Feb. 24.
The Spring 2010 Career Expo will be held from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Nitschke Hall on the main campus. The semi-annual event is conducted by the Career Management Center for the College of Engineering. Another Career Expo will be held Sept. 29.
The Career Expo is open to UT College of Engineering students seeking co-op positions and alumni looking for full-time positions. More than 9,530 students have participated in the co-op program since it was initiated in 1999 with 932 students involved in 2009.
More than 40 companies will participate in the Spring Career Expo, including major corporations such as General Electric, Kimberly Clark, Sunoco, Marathon Oil, Cooper Tire & Rubber, DTE Energy, First Energy and local firms such as SSOE, Inc. and Plastic Technologies, Inc.
All engineering students at UT are required to complete a minimum of three semesters of co-op education work experience for a bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Engineering Technology. One-hundred percent of engineering undergrads graduate with at least one year of co-op experience.
“The program gives students an opportunity to learn about companies in their field while getting paid for the work and the firms have a chance to check out engineering students,” said Vickie Kuntz, director of the Career Management Center for the College of Engineering.
“Many firms hire co-op students full time after graduation. Choosing to employ a co-op allows a business to select from a well-prepared pool of employees,” Kuntz said.
The students usually begin the co-op work in the spring or summer semester of their sophomore year. Once they start with a firm, they continue to rotate working there for one semester and going to school for a semester until they graduate, said Kuntz.
Jaryd Motsinger, a UT sophomore from Bowling Green studying civil engineering, is looking forward to his first career day. He hopes to land a co-op position with a company to gain some experience in structural design and project management, his main areas of interest.
“It’s a good opportunity for me to get some hands-on experience and boost my confidence,” said Motsinger.
He is interested in possible co-op opportunities with First Energy Corp., SSOE Inc. in Toledo and Marathon Oil in Findlay but would consider others. He said he would even go to Dubai if he had the opportunity because there is so much construction happening there.
The co-op positions are not limited to the Toledo area or Northwest Ohio. UT students have worked with hundreds of companies in 40 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and 34 foreign countries.

Dave Dravecky’s life story is composed of all the things that would make a great Hollywood movie. The former major league baseball pitcher has experienced it all in his 54 years on this earth.
“I have been on quite an amazing journey throughout my life,” Dravecky said, from his home in Denver, Colo. “It is my hope that my experiences will bring comfort and peace to those going through rocky times in their lives.”
In 1988, Dravecky was a talented left-handed pitcher with the San Francisco Giants. But in October of that year, doctors discovered Dravecky had a tumor on his deltoid muscle in his left arm. Many medical experts felt that the southpaw’s playing days were over.
“When you hear that you have cancer, you are faced with such a different range of emotions,” he said. “I was confronted with my mortality at the age of 32, and it makes you realize you aren’t invincible anymore.”
Despite the doctors’ grim prognosis, Dravecky was determined to try and continue to play baseball, a game he has loved ever since he was a boy in Youngstown, Ohio.

Dave Dravecky

“I couldn’t allow myself not to try and come back,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself always wondering whether or not I could have pitched again.”
On Aug. 10, 1989, just ten months after doctors had discovered his tumor, Dravecky made a highly publicized return to the major leagues, and he began pitching for the Giants again. He pitched eight solid innings in his first game back, and helped the Giants defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3.
“There were so many people who helped me get to that day in 1989,” Dravecky said. “It was such a cool thing, and with God’s help, I was able to do an amazing thing.”
However, just five days later in Montreal, Dravecky’s comeback came to a heart breaking end. While facing the Expos, the southpaw broke his left arm, while throwing a fastball to former player Tim Raines. Dravecky collapsed on the field in agonizing pain.
“I remember lying on the ground and being in tremendous pain, and I almost went into shock,” he said. “As I began to collect my thoughts, all I could remember was my teammate, Bob Nepper’s words replaying in my head. He told me that it wasn’t my comeback that was the miracle, but the position that God had put me in, so that I could spread his love and message to the rest of the world because of my comeback. Bob’s words have really defined what my wife Jan and I have done with the rest of our lives.”
Dravecky’s arm and shoulder had to be amputated in 1991, but that has not stopped him from sharing his story as a motivational speaker.
“I have felt that by sharing my story, it gives others comfort and hope, and that is my way of paying it forward to those who are in need,” Dravecky said.
It is largely that message that led the Make-A-Wish foundation of Northwest Ohio to select Dravecky as  its keynote speaker for the 16th annual Celebrity Sports Auction to take place Feb. 24 at the SeaGate Convention Centre in Downtown Toledo.
“Having Dave Dravecky as our keynote speaker is exciting and sobering,” said Eric Slough, Executive Director, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northwest Ohio. “His experiences with hope, perseverance and realizing dreams are very similar to what our wish children experience on a daily basis.”
Dravecky is excited to come to the Glass City to share his inspirational story and help raise money for such a special cause.
“I am honored and privileged to help the foundation to make a wish come true for a family that is suffering,” Dravecky said. “The foundation’s mission is such a great cause, and anything that I can do to help encourage the community to see the value in an organization that works hard at putting a smile on a person’s face in their hour of need is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Huntington Bank has made a commitment to infuse $360 million into the Toledo and Northwest Ohio economy through loans to small businesses in the next three years.
“The ability for small businesses to access credit is vital for economic recovery and the future vitality of our region,” said Sharon Speyer, Northwest Ohio regional president for Huntington Bank.
“We have made a commitment to help small businesses grow and directly create jobs in our community that will have a positive impact on the economy in Northwest Ohio.”
The bank will provide loans averaging $150,000 to as many as 2,500 small businesses with working capital to expand, add employees, or invest in new equipment to jump start their success and the economy.
“Huntington has made small business lending a top priority,” Speyer said, confirming the bank’s current ranking as the top Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in Ohio.
The small business program is part of a major $4 billion initiative involving all of Hungtinton’s markets in several states. It is a result of the bank’s strong partnership with the SBA, according to James Phares, vice president of business banking at Huntington.
“It allows us to offer clients more favorable terms and help their cash flow,” Phares said.
Aktion Associates Inc. of Maumee is one local company that already has benefited from Huntington’s SBA loan program. The company received a $1.8 million loan from the SBA through Huntington, closing in January after a process in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Aktion needed capital for some acquisitions, a partner retiring and the mortgage renewal on the building it owns and occupies, said Scott Irwin, president of Aktion Associates.
The firm’s five-year term on the building with Fifth Third Bank was due to expire.
“With the current banking situation, our years of profitability and cash flow, we had limited conventional banking options,” Irwin said.
“We talked to several banks about funding and received offers from Huntington and Fifth Third. Huntington packaged everything in a SBA loan for 20 years that cost significantly less,” Irwin said.
“We considered all options, conventional and SBA, and put together the best package to give the client what works best for them,” said Matt Kerr, a business banker at Huntington who was involved in the process.
Aktion had no previous experience working with the SBA before becoming involved with Huntington.
Irwin said the firm learned a lot in the process, primarily that SBA funds come through the bank, but are guaranteed by the federal government. The process paperwork and ongoing reporting was no different than conventional banking.
“We got through the process quickly working closely with Jeffrey Banks and a team from Huntington,” Irwin said.
Banks is vice president and senior SBA product specialist at the bank’s Cleveland office.
President Obama’s stimulus package eliminated the SBA fee for guaranteeing the loan, making it more cash-flow friendly and saving substantially for the company, Irwin said.
The loan will allow Aktion to maintain its full staff of 75 associates and employees, to grow its business and possibly add five or six people in 2010, according to Irwin.
“We took 100 percent of our banking to Huntington in the fourth quarter of 2009 after years with Fifth Third Bank,” Irwin said. “We had a good banking relationship with Fifth Third and had no intention of changing banks before this process.”

Dear Councilman McNamara:

Tom Waniewski has announced his candidacy for the State Senate seat you seek. Before he had even launched his campaign, you launched the following attack on him:

“Tom Waniewski is a friend and I respect his service. But as one more member of the Senate’s obstructionist Republican majority, he’d be just another vote for the status quo. I’m running to take on the big special interests and fight for the priorities of middle class families. That’s the kind of strong leadership I’ll bring to Columbus.”

Some friendship and respect! Do you regard friends as deserving insult should they dare stand in your way? Evidently, yes. Your press release suggests that you want to be considered a friend to the voters of Toledo; yet in it you insult us even more egregiously than you did Councilman Waniewski..

I know what you meant by the “status quo” line. But, since you as a Democrat want to replace a Democrat incumbent who is part of a network of Democrats, then would not a vote for you be a vote for the status quo of Democrats dominating the government and representation of Toledo?

You preemptively accused Councilman Waniewski of being “obstructionist” simply because neither he nor any other Republican of good conscience will meekly acquiesce to the Democrat agenda. As if obstructing an agenda that has made Toledo a perennial leader among Ohio cities in unemployment and poverty, and that nationally is turning America into a bankrupt, second-rate tyranny, is a bad thing.

But the worst of it is your boasting about what a wonderful candidate you are. What a load of hackneyed politibabble! Why didn’t you blame George W. Bush for northwest Ohio’s woes? That’s about the only Democrat cliché you didn’t use.

You apparently think the combination of timeworn claptrap, condescending airs of superiority, and vote-buying benevolence to still be sufficient to persuade voters that you politicians know what’s best for us, and that you will always act in our best interests. But if you’re such a strong fighter for middle class priorities, then why has Toledo continued to decline under your watch as City Councilman? Since you’re into clichés: A vote for you is a vote for the job-killing, anti-business, pro-tax, recession-prolonging status quo that is suffocating this city.

A vote for you is a vote for sloganeering and shoddy phrases whose inherent meaninglessness and insincerity is compounded by presumptuousness and overuse. It is a vote for the status quo of habitual disrespect for the masses who, to you politicians, exist solely to be manipulated, lied to and bought off with goodies so that your power can be preserved and expanded.

A vote for you is a vote for the status quo of exalted politicians who think themselves so entitled to office that to win an election they need only utter the incantation of empty promises, and who think us voters to be such superstitious and torpid dolts that we can be cowed by magic words pronounced from on high.

Well, in case you haven’t noticed, the game has changed.

A growing number of voters are fed up with this conceit, even within your own party. Smirks, smears and slick catchphrases don’t cut it anymore. If you deign to govern, then you had best meet our expectations.

We expect you to respect the Constitution, of the Republic and of the State of Ohio; to adhere strictly to the limits the Constitution proscribes on government power; and to make your agenda and ideas entirely subservient to those limits.

We expect you to respect our intelligence. You likely have worthwhile ideas; we expect you to communicate them to us in detailed, specific language that indicates that you are capable of honest and open communications rather than having to hide behind buzzwords.

We expect you to regard us as equals to be engaged in adult conservation on the issues that matter to us. We expect to be heard, and we refuse to be induced to reflexively vote for you merely because you utter baited words.

Please understand: We hold all politicians, and all candidates to office, regardless of party affiliation or none, regardless of the office held or sought, accountable to these standards. Should Councilman Waniewski transgress as you have, he too will know our displeasure. Our mission is not to advocate one party over another, but to educate the voters and to arm them against vacant rhetoric and meaningless vows like yours.

In sum: None of you among the political class shall have our respect until we have yours, unreservedly; and woe be to your political aspirations should you fail to heed us.

Respectfully,

Thomas Berry, for the Children of Liberty, http://thechildrenofliberty.ning.com

Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief discusses the future of the old United Way building in this week’s FOX Toledo Rant and Rave.

Owens Community College is partnering with The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation to provide scholarships for high school students in Hancock County.

The Success Program provides financial assistance for those who otherwise couldn’t afford to go to college.

The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation gave a $15,000 challenge grant to the university to create a new Success Program Fund. Owens Community College Foundation will raise $15,000 to match those funds.

“This money will enable us to sustain the success program in Findlay and provide us with a boost eventual expand it to every school in Hancock County,” said Ann Savage, Owens executive director of college development and foundation president.

The Owens Foundation’s Success Program has been in Findlay City Schools since 2008, Savage said. The grant will allow for the program to expand to other schools in the county such as Arcadia High School and Liberty Benton.

The Owens Foundation will host a gala, “A UnCommon Evening,” March 26 to help raise matching funds for the Success Program. For more information call (567)661-7603.

Mayor Mike Bell asked Toledo City Council to remove his proposed .25 percent income tax increase from consideration during a committee of the whole meeting Feb. 16.

Instead of a proposed tax increase, Bell urged council to approve measures that would allow Toledoans to vote on how funds are currently allocated between the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and General Fund. Under city charter, a set amount of incoming taxes are placed in the CIP. If placed on the ballot, citizens can vote to allow city council and the mayor to allocate that funding to the general fund, creating a balanced budget without raising taxes.

Additionally, Bell presented council with a new 2010 budget.

The revised plan includes concessions from the city’s unions, an elimination of pension pick-ups and employees covering 20 percent of medical costs. Additionally, he suggests an elimination of the tax credit for those who live in Toledo but work elsewhere.

The plan also includes sales of assets estimated a $5 million and implementation of an event tax.

The mayor has withdrawn his request for unions to concede a 10 percent pay cut.

The new plan does not address the $12.77 million carryover deficit from 2009, but proposes a $1.17 million surplus between income and cost for 2010. With that surplus, the city still has a $11.6 million deficit from 2009 to address.

In a letter to council Bell stated, “There are no easy solutions to this budget crisis. I am confident that by working together we can meet this challenge and continue to provide the services our citizens expect and deserve.”

Council must pass a fully balanced budget by March 31.