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but if there is an earthquake or clothes are stolen, you can't use the money for those needs because it is being saved for the roof. She loved serving on the Commission and did not want the money to go back to the general fund or the capital improvement budget. It should be for Human Services. The Commission was given the understanding by staff that a mini-grant cycle was okay. She also pointed out that in the reports from the agencies, sometimes recommendations for other funding are raised. Tri-Valley Haven suggested a rape crisis prevention phone service that was new. So if there was funding left over, then the Commission could consider a mini-grant cycle. Many of the agencies agreed the process should be followed, but when told the money would go back to the general fund, they did not like that idea. She asked Council to meet the needs of the people over adherence to a strict process only. There being no further speakers, the public hearing was closed. It was moved by Mayor Pieo that Council accept the recommendation of the Human Services Commission that there be a midyear mini-grant process. The motion died for lack of a second. Ms. Ayala indicated she worked with non-profit organizations in her other job. She said their representatives have to attend night meetings and work very hard. It is understandable that problems can come up. Her problem is that this is a Human Services Commission and there is an agency out there that needs some help. She would like to see some way to be able to help them. The part she is concerned about is she also believed there is a process that should be followed. This is complex, because in April the Commission was trying to take care of the problem and if Council had heard this issue sooner, it is possible the mid-year grant process would have been approved. Ms. Dennis indicated she has talked to various Commissioners about how the grant funds are awarded and the issues involved, not just the process. Because this is public funding, there are certain issues. She had been surprised when she heard there had been a staff recommendation for a subsequent grant process. She did not believe the issue is the sustaining of the non-profit organizations. They do good work and serve the community needs. Information is gathered to assess those needs and then staff searches for the non-profit organizations to provide the help. She encouraged the Commission to continue to get a better method of needs assessment because the better the understanding of the needs, independent of the people who help fill the needs, the easier these kinds of discussions will be on what should be done. Clearly, there needs to be improvements to the grant structure, if there are incidents when the funding is not used. She assumed the funding available is an appropriate amount. To seek a way to distribute that according to the mission of the Commission is not inappropriate. This is the first time she recalls as a Councilmember that there was money left over. Usually it is distributed as best as possible and people sometimes don't get as much as they wanted. She appreciated trying to develop a way to deal with the current circumstance and she appreciated all the work the Commission has done in terms of encouraging the sustainability of the non-profits in the community through different funding mechanisms. The thing that was giving her concern about a mid-year process is the time necessary for evaluation. People who might go through a mid-year process might have to wait a longer time before they could apply for money because Pleasanton City Council 23 11/06/01 Minutes