Remarks by Kim Norton
32 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
- Play at 3:03
“Yes, we have two of our members from ROYC, depending on who you talk to. Alex Yovchev and Isha Jayakumar. And you can, we typically sit over here, if that's all right. And they're going to share a little bit about their experience going on the sister city exchange in June.”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 14:03
“Could we go back to the slide right in front of us? is really kind of an amazing room. It's part of their, thank you, it's part of their city hall. And their city hall during the war was bombed. In the understanding that that might happen, they actually took down all that woodwork, tore the room apart, and hid it in a cave. The war happened, city hall in fact was completely demolished. So when they built the new modern structure, they put this room back together, someone, at some point after the war, found the pieces that were in storage. And they've recreated the room. And it's really quite…”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 17:42
“And maybe also worth noting that there was a gentleman when he was a teenager came during that very first year when we had people from Mooseburg come to Rochester that met us there. I actually found out about him through a resident in Rochester who participated in the exchanges Many of you know him. And he gave us a name and we contacted him and he met us there. And he was just a teenager at that time. And of course, now I think he's a dentist or something. He's an adult. But that was really fun, too, to maintain that relationship from the 1980s.”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 28:45
“And I'm just gonna interject here because not too long ago I got to go to an award ceremony and Isha was part of that Black Data Processors Association, that group, and they took first in the country. So congratulations Isha for your role in that. Thank you. That was fun. When I arrived and there she was, part of the team, very cool.”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 1:01:15
“Yeah, a couple of things. One, thank you for the presentation. This is literally something from the day I stepped into office that I started talking about. And of course, COVID got in the way of everything. But one of my first tour was over at the rec center trying to figure out how do we let the community know this is for them? They think it's for clubs or they just didn't know. So I'm thrilled that you're getting here. So the first question I have is, Do we have the staff, if we start advertising more, if you start actually hitting people that are seeing it and word of mouth gets out and…”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 1:03:21
“I appreciate that. And opening a facility is one thing. Having it programmable and safe for people is another. And so I guess I'm not going to be around in the years to come. But I really do hope that the council and the park board seriously look at being able to maximize what we've invested so much in over the years and which our community clearly tells us they're interested in. So how can we maximize it? How can we have the appropriate staffing so we don't have problems? You never want that. That's one point. The other one I wanted to make is a lot of our park and rec is outdoors, which is…”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 1:15:33
“because of covet and a whole variety of other things that if for instance many mayors bring their assistant with them on their travel i have not done that if i did it would come out of my budget and i would have to manage that but our as a staff person michonne doesn't have a separate budget it's expected to come out of mine historically although they do You know I haven't done that but just know there are mayors who travel with staff often and it would come out of that budget so Just to be aware.”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 1:23:13
“Yeah. I take that back. If you're on the strategic partners, if you're part of the strategic partners, I don't know what leadership track. That one is paid for, everything else. But you go to the conferences anyway. So if you go to NLC as mayor, you go to your meetings while you're there. There's one exception, and that's a summer leadership program, which is usually two to three days. And that one is on you. I think the first year, they paid for mine because I spoke at it. So that's an exception. If you're a speaker, they will reimburse you for being a speaker, but not for serving on their…”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 1:26:24
“Yeah, I can just, you know, I, I walked into the system that's been in place for 40 years or 50 years or however long we've had an assistant to help the mayor. Um, but certainly mayor Brady and, and the mayor before. So I can tell you I keep Michonne quite busy. We have our initiatives. We have work. She also has to manage the desk if no other staff are available, which happens periodically. So her expectation would not be that she would take on additional staff. She wasn't hired to do that. She was hired as the mayor's assistant. And the mayor is the one that does the supervision. So if…”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 1:29:36
“So can I, in response I would say again, I think we need to go back to, I did not hire, I did not just say Michonne is my person.”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 1:29:53
“No, because Michonne is in that role and that was going to be my question is my understanding she will stay in that role. I did not hire her. Got to be part of the final interviews But she went through a huge HR process in order to be one of the three final Selected and it is my understanding that she stays in that role when I leave So I think we need to be very careful about job descriptions and that sort of thing dealing with HR is all I'm saying.”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 1:41:51
“Yeah, and just for clarity, often when we talk about boards and commissions, we think of the ones that come through the board packets. Most of those, like RPU, are in charter. So if you want to change, the mayor has been given authority to make the selections and send it to the council for final approval. That's in the charter for almost all of them in there. So if you're thinking of those ones, that's a charter change.”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 1:45:06
“Thank you. So the ordinance is not directed by state statute in this instance because we did find that in one airport committee had state statute tied to it. This is simply our ordinance that could be changed.”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 1:49:17
“Thank you. I just wanted to say thank you all for listening to Alex and Isha today. I had posted to the rest of the people that traveled with us together that it was going to be on. And through the whole meeting, they've been sending kudos for Isha and Alex's comments. And someone actually sent them a copy of the so they could watch it. So that's why I had my phone out today. It was just kept 16 people.”
City Council · Oct 12, 2026
- Play at 24:14
“Well, let's see if I can get, oh, I got it.”
City Council · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 46:31
“Thank you. And we've discussed this multiple times over the last eight years since I've been mayor. And a couple of things. Right when I was door knocking, which a lot of folks here have done, there were certain neighborhoods where residents told me, I don't feel safe here. There are people moving in and out all the time. And it's because they were all rentals. not all were short-term rentals some were a little bit longer but the short-term rentals were of concern the longer term rentals the issue that came up was no one cares for the yard no one cleans up junk piles up there's no one because…”
City Council · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 1:14:10
“Thank you. I covered this a little bit in my earlier remarks, but this is the area when I door knocked that I heard the most concern raised about. It was from primarily word for quite honestly, where there are streets where you would go multiple houses on a block or two are all short term rentals. Some people I met there were had medical equipment. um others not so much and they said people just come and go come and go come and go for days or whatever and the neighborhood shared with me those two or three block area that they don't feel safe they don't feel safe letting their kids out they…”
City Council · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 1:28:12
“Thank you, Council Member Fredericks, for pointing to me. I've never been a fan of these, so the folks who've been around here know that. And I have family members who live in ADUs out in California, in Berkeley. And one of the differences is we have a lot of land, and while we want them because it builds density in the city area and it's cheaper, People still, if they have the choice, tend to want their own property and their own land. And so I don't think it should come as a surprise that people aren't jumping on this at this time. I do like, and I've been into, Council Member Palmer, I…”
City Council · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 1:36:46
“Yeah, just for clarity, I personally see duplexes as very different things than a detached ADU on a property. I see what Council Member Palmer has taken me to out there with these new buildings where it's part of the, it's over the garage and in the back. I see those as very different. than an ADU that is a standalone. And I think back to the days in the legislature when these first came forward and got approved, they were granny pods. That's what they called them. They were a separate little building, and they gave the excuse that your grandma or your mom is going to come live in your…”
City Council · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 2:30:28
“Thank you. And I will double down on that. I think one of the issues is with the paths, they're great. They're fun for recreational riding. People use them. I love to see it. But if you need to get to a destination for work or for an event, it's not a direct route. And I'm hearing from my neighbors that it may still take the same amount of time. But the idea of going backwards in the wrong direction and driving around and finally connecting to a trail someplace else that might get me there the same just doesn't Makes sense, right? And so for me, the direct route is on a street and I don't…”
City Council · Sep 28, 2026
- Play at 7:37
“You bet. It's been a busy fall and I want to thank Council President Schubring for covering on Latina Fest. I got there at the very end and heard a really interesting panel discussion that you participated in. Thank you for representing the city so well on that panel.”
City Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 7:55
“That was really nice. And there was also a fun event on Sunday called Transition Town, which is about how the communities can respond to be more resilient moving ahead. Given all the changes in the world including climate effects and economy and the whole thing so very interesting. So it's a nice little weekend of activities Coming up this week. We have Wednesday two days away Looking forward to this we have nearly 200 young people registered for the youth leadership and success summit It's open to all high school students in the county The governor is going to kick it off in the morning.…”
City Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:17:09
“I'm looking for some clarification. I heard two different things on whether the quarry is in A or C, and it was multiple times the owner's representative mentioned it was in C, but in the visuals that I'm looking at, it clearly appears to be in A. So I'm struggling with this, and I'm wondering if someone can provide clarity for that.”
City Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:01:49
“Yes, this has been an issue that we've talked about and I will give just two quick examples. that have happened in the last week. I've had people say, gee, I wish I'd known about your town hall and transportation. I would have loved to have been there, but I didn't know about it until after the fact. So that's one example, and that's one of the reasons why being able to reach out to constituents in a personal way via email as opposed to hoping they see it on social media would be helpful. The other is literally today, I responded to hundreds and hundreds of emails hundreds and hundreds of…”
City Council · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 1:13:38
“And all of the expenses that we use in our office go through, we fill out all the paperwork, they go for signage, they go to finance and they're,”
City Council · Aug 24, 2026