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explained that there was a competing request this year from the YMCA. The Commission had a difficult decision to make in determining whether to continue funding the Tri-Valley Haven program or to provide the opportunity for a new organization to offer a new program. After careful consideration, the Youth Commission felt it would like to offer the YMCA program an opportunity to institute their program. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio noted that Tri-Valley Haven's program works with high school students. She asked at what age the YMCA program starts and whether this was a consideration. Mr. Yurchak said the YMCA program addresses middle school students, though she could not say how this factored into the Commission's decision. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio asked if the program has been used in other districts. Ms. Yurchak said this request is for a new program. She added that the YMCA's philosophy is to request seed funding and not ongoing requests for grant programs. The Tri-Valley Haven's program would seem to be an ongoing request. Mayor Thorne closed the public hearing. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio agreed that bullying is an issue at the forefront among today's youth. She said it is a constant issue in her school and others, and doubted that parents and teachers are able to grasp the extent to which bullying exists or at what age it starts. She expressed significant concern about how it would play out it in the future and said it is something the entire community will have to address or there will be profound repercussions. She said that while there is no solution, what is obvious is that they need to get this education into the schools at an earlier age and that responsibility also rests at least in part with the school district. She thanked Tri-Valley Haven for getting in on the ground floor and hoped the YMCA program would prove as if not more successful. Councilmember Brown concurred. She wondered whether there was any overlap in the ages addressed by each organization and said she would be interested in looking at offering Tri-Valley Haven funding for their program in addition to that recommended for the YMCA program. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio said that while she fully supports programs aimed at anti bullying, there is a process to be followed here. She said it is clear that all the program applications, including those not funded, are for quality programs that provide service to the city but there is a finite amount of money. She said she would not be willing to reduce the amount offered to another program after they have followed the process laid out by the City and she could not see where else the money would come from. Mayor Thorne said the Council has always made the effort not to take money from the General Fund in this process. He said doing so is a bit of a slippery slope and is not a precedent he would support. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio suggested that staff work with Tri-Valley Haven and perhaps the School District Liaison Committee to examine what other funding alternatives might exist. Mayor Thorne said he shared the others concerns about bullying. He noted that he also serves on the liaison committee and said it seems to be a common agenda item of late. He said he also knows what a difficult job the commissions have in determining how to fund these projects and ultimately respects their decisions. MOTION: It was m/s by Cook-Kallio/Pentin to authorize staff to approve the allocation of Housing and Human Services Grant (HHSG) and Community Grant Program Funds for the Fiscal Year 2013 Grant Funding Cycle (FY 2013-14). Motion carried by the following vote: City Council Minutes Page 8 of 12 May 7, 2013