Co-Chair Delfino called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m.

On motion of Harold Vogt and seconded by Jay Bilotta the minutes of April 17, 1997 were approved by a vote of 5-0.

DISCUSSION: There is a tape on file for more detailed information.

Co-Chair Delfino welcomed Commissioner Landi and asked if he would brief the Task Force on the background of how the Executive Order for the Project Labor Agreement came about. Co-Chair Delfino stated that the Task Force was interested in how it will help the County, and will it save money. Commissioner Landi began by stating that the County Executive signed Executive Order 1 1997, which established the Project Labor Agreement (PLA). That Executive Order states that all labor projects over one million dollars, in project costs will be analyzed to see if the PLA will be beneficial. The Tappan Zee Bridge project was used as a basis for this. The New York State Thruway authority felt it was very important to have certain conditions upheld throughout the job, to protect the public, to make sure the job comes in on time, and from a revenue standpoint. At this point there have been several meetings with the labor Council, which

is a group of about twenty different labor organizations. They are trying to implement the Executive Order. One of the problems is that there was a recent court decision that states you have to show a real positive dollar value difference between a Project Labor Agreement and a non Project Labor Agreement. If you show a savings in a Project Labor Agreement, then by all means go ahead and do it. But you have to do an analysis to show a cost savings. The Unions are looking in to changing their work hours in order to have a similar work schedule, holiday time, and make up days, etc. They are working on cost savings on the job. Co-Chair Stewart-Cousins interjected that a concern of this Task Force was that if we go ahead with the PLA, will people of color, who are traditionally not in these unions have access to be involved. Could we find, somewhere in the PLA, some way to work with these unions for them to begin to set up apprenticeship programs or some outreach program. Unless that happens she does not see how people of color, who have been disenfranchised in terms of some of the union arrangements, would ever obtain access to these unions. Commissioner Landi responded that he thinks they are leaning towards that because PLA allows 88% of the labor force to come from the Union. You can only bring in 12% of your own labor people. Since 88% is local skilled labor, there is probably something that could be done in that fashion. Mr. Vogt asked why the Million dollar figure was chosen, that would be a relatively small project. Commissioner Landi was unsure, he could only surmise that there had been a discussion on some level to set the amount. The negotiation was not between the County and the labor unions, basically you put this labor agreement in your specifications, it becomes an agreement between the contractor and the union people. Mr. Bilotta asked how the PLA came about, whose idea was it. Commissioner Landi stated that Westchester County has always been fortunate to have skilled labor available, but what we have seen over the last few years is a lot more activity from out of state contractors who have been successful in bidding our County work, and the feeling was that we have this skilled labor in Westchester why not try to use it. Mr. Bilotta stated that if the PLA goes through, you have no choice but

to be a union contractor, you must sign up with the union. Commissioner Landi responded that that is correct, if the contract warrants the agreement then 88% of your work force must be union workers. Co-Chair Delfino interjected that that is probably the reason for the million dollar figure, that is a low number, yet it involves a lot of contracts. Commissioner Landi stated this year there are about 15 contracts that fit into that category totaling about 42 million dollars. He went on to state that there is one contract for 10 million dollars, and two for 5 million dollars. There was a discussion on the million dollar figure, the consensus being that the Task Force was concerned it may be too low. Mr. Bilotta stated he felt the PLA is a good thing, but it would be more feasible in a project that has more trades involved, it keeps the unions in check and it keeps the dollar value down. That has been proven on the Tappan Zee Bridge. Commissioner Landi stated that each project would be analyzed to see if the PLA would be cost effective. Co-Chair Stewart-Cousins asked Commissioner Landi if he would be opposed to the amount being raised to five or ten million dollars. Commissioner Landi responded that he would reserve judgment until after he has done his analysis. Maybe a million dollar threshold is not appropriate for certain areas. Maybe it is appropriate for a road job, but not appropriate for building job, he does not know yet. They have not put the first one out yet, but they anticipate doing it in the next few months.

Co-Chair Delfino stated that the Task Force should bring in Ross Pepe and Eddie Doyle, at two separate meetings to discuss the PLA.

Commissioner Langeloh stated that Bob Boland had given him a copy of the survey that the Task Force had developed, as well as the list of potential banks to send the survey to. Commissioner Langeloh went on to say that it is not the survey itself that led them to ask if they could come and talk to the Task Force, it is who the Task Force might send the survey to that they are concerned with. There are banks on

this list that we are not allowed to do business with pursuant to the

New York State Controller, pursuant to New York State law. They did make copies of some other information that the Task Force should look at before soliciting to certain institutions which would not by state law be able to be part of our investment policy. Bob Boland has copies of the municipal law and the Controllers opinions that basically states that we can not do business with savings and loans. Although the survey may be fruitful Commissioner Langeloh just wanted to caution the Task Force from sending it to an institution that is going to get false hope that we are going to do business with them. Commissioner Langeloh stated that they will go through the bank list, annotate it and get it back to us. Mr. Vogt stated he thought it might not be a bad idea to get the surveys back from the savings and loans anyway just to get a feel for what they are doing in the community. Mr. Vitagliano stated that if that is the case we will need to amend the cover letter. Mr. Vitagliano went on to ask for a full list of banks that do business in Westchester County, including savings and loans that we may not be able to do business with. He stated that we want to be inclusive of all banks, we do not want a bank to hear there is a survey going around and we left them out. Mr. Vogt mentioned that the Bankers Association have a couple problems with the survey, in that it should not be going to the CEO but to the CRA Officer. Maybe the letter should be addressed to the CEO and the CRA Officer. Co-Chair Delfino asked Commissioner Langeloh to brief the Task Force on the Investment Policy itself. Commissioner Langeloh suggested everyone turn to page 1 of the Investment Policy. He gave a brief explanation of each of the objectives. The first being to conform with all applicable Federal, State and other legal requirements. The second is to positively safeguard principal, which is primary in what they do. They have always taken a conservative approach in the way they do their investment policies and procedures, that is a strength of the County. The third is to provide sufficient liquidity to meet all operating requirements. They want to be able to get their hands on the investments when they need them. Lastly, to obtain a reasonable rate of return, consistent with safety, liquidity and prevailing financial market conditions. Commissioner Langeloh went on to give detailed

explanations and examples of what they do. Commissioner Langeloh also stated that they limit themselves to eligible securities that are the safest to be involved in, purposely because of their conservative nature. They are not in any investments that have a risk factor involved in them. They review their banks on a regular basis. Mr. Hartford gave an explanation of what we can by and what we cannot buy. It is a very circumscribed list. Mr. Lord inquired as to who monitors this. Commissioner Langeloh responded, the Department of Finance, primarily, by charter, it is his responsibility. The authorizing legislation is approved by the Legislators, recommended by the Administration, to give them the ability to deal with the banks on that list up to the levels that are there. Mr. Vogt asked how they picked these levels. Mr. Knox responded that the Commissioner subscribes to a service, the worlds largest bank evaluation service. In addition, they do departmental reviews of all the banks, based on the capacity of the bank. Co-Chair Stewart Cousins asked if we are using all fourteen banks on the list. Commissioner Langeloh responded that we have the ability to use all fourteen but are currently using thirteen of them. Co-Chair Delfino asked Bob Boland if he could work on the bank list with the Task Force. A brief discussion followed on how to change the cover letter that would accompany the survey. Co-Chair Delfino asked Tina Moro to fax a copy of the revised bank list to Mr. Vogt once we get it back from Commissioner Langeloh.

Co-Chair Delfino asked Mr. Vogt to update the Task Force on the Council of the Arts and the dollar surcharge. Mr. Vogt explained that the County Executive proposed a one dollar a day surcharge on hotel room bills and rental cars. The County Executive formed a committee comprised of a representative from the Council of the Arts, a representative of the Westchester Convention Visitors Bureau, and

people from his office and attended the first meeting himself. Mr. Vogt went on to say the County Executive had stated that what he was

hoping to accomplish was a fixed revenue stream for the arts in the

County. However, Mr. Vogt felt that by putting this tax on the hotel rooms you are taxing mainly the business users in this County. Many of those businesses are already contributors to the arts programs. Mr. Vogt stated that the hotels are totally opposed to the surcharge. Mr. Vogt feels that the surcharge will put us in a situation where we will be uncompetitive, it will cause companies to take a look at what they are spending in this County and they will make other decisions. Also once they are forced to make this revenue stream, what kind of voluntary donations are the Arts going to get from these companies. Mr. Bilotta asked if we could find out what kind of donations the Arts are receiving from business. Co-Chair Delfino responded that a letter will be sent to Janet Langsam to get that information.

The Task Force set the next meeting for June 12, 1997 at 3:00 pm. They plan to ask Ross Pepe in to discuss project labor and Janet Langsam to discuss the Arts.

Jay Bilotta motioned to close the meeting and was seconded by Harold Vogt. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0.