HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/04/2017 05C Minutes 01-26-2017 Council Public Safety Committee r
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BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AGENDASTATEMENT
Item No. 5.C.
For Meeting of: April 4, 2017
ITEM TITLE: Accept Public Safety Committee minutes of January 26, 2017 and
February 23, 2017
SUBMITTED BY: Terri Croft, Police Administrative Assistant
SUMMARY EXPLANATION:
See attached minutes
ITEM BUDGETED: NA
STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Public Safety
APPROVED FOR
SUBMITTAL: City Manager
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
BOARD/COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
Public Safety Committee approved 1/26/17 minutes on 2/23/17, and approved 2/23/17 minutes
on 3/23/17.
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Upload Date Type
CI February 23,2017 Public Safety mitt ee Minutes 3/24/2017 Backup Material
121 January 26,2017 Public Safety ,,mitt ee Minutes 3/24/2017 Backup Material
Council Public Safety Committee
February 23, 2017
MINUTES
Members: Staff:
Councilmember Carmen Mendez (chair) City Manager Cliff Moore
Councilmember Kathy Coffey Chief Dominic Rizzi, Police
Councilmember Dulce Gutierrez Chief Bob Stewart, Fire
Cynthia Martinez, Prosecutor
Terri Croft, Police
The meeting was called to order at 3:01 p.m.
• Approval of minutes of January 26, 2017
It was MOVED by Gutierrez to approve the minutes of the January 26, 2017 meeting as
presented. Motion was SECONDED by Coffey. Motion PASSED unanimously.
New Business
There was no new business
Old Business
1. Domestic Violence Public Service Announcements
Beehler provided a report on when the domestic violence public service announcements
were aired and which PSAs were used. He advised that extra spots were able to be
procured due to partnerships that were utilized.
Coffey requested a copy of the campaigns used. She also asked that Beehler
coordinate with the Washington State Broadcasting Association on their PSA program
regarding domestic violence. She stated that she would like to see the PSAs start
before Thanksgiving and run through the holidays, and stressed the importance of airing
the PSAs during critical months and time.
Mendez provided a brief history of the topic for the audience
2. Domestic Violence Work Group
This item was tabled.
3. Welcoming City Resolution
Mendez provided a brief history of this topic and how it came to be discussed in the
Public Safety Committee.
Rizzi provided information regarding the policies of the Yakima Police Department in
regards to immigration status. The Yakima Police Department officers are
commissioned Washington State to enforce city and state laws. There is no agreement
in place with the Enforcement and Removal division Immigration and Customs
Enforcement. There are only 16 jurisdictions in the country that have such an
agreement.
Coffey thanked Chief Rizzi for his comments, and also thanked City Manager Moore for
his statement released on February 21. She clarified a statement she had made at an
earlier council meeting that she felt may have been misconstrued. She said her earlier
statement encouraging the audience to read Moore's statement and to discontinue
coming to meetings to discuss further was intended to redirect the community's energy
toward immigration reform and helping immigrants in the Yakima Valley and City of
Yakima. She understands that the process for legal immigration is long, complicated,
and expensive, and that there are only three immigration attorneys in Yakima. She
encouraged people to research the process and stated that she would be focusing her
efforts and energy on helping to improve this process.
Stewart advised that the Fire Department had no instances where they would have to
ask for immigration status.
Mendez then opened the meeting up to audience participation and limited comments to
two minutes per speaker.
The following community members spoke against becoming a Welcoming City: Larry
Apigian, City resident; Alyssa Chamberlain, City resident; Faith Torres, non-resident;
Charles Hutchinson, City resident; Gary Wirt, City resident; Dave Ettl, City resident; Bill
Duerr, City resident; John Larson, City resident; Rick Weiss, City resident; Luis Lopez,
City resident; Beverly Breitenfeldt, City resident; Mark Jones, City resident; Doug Miller,
non-resident; Les Heimgartner, City resident; Dennis Saltmarsh, City resident; Bob
Bieren, City resident; Daniel Scott, City resident.
The following community members spoke in support of becoming a Welcoming City:
David Alcontara, City resident; Diana Lopez-Bautista, City resident; Linda Brown, City
resident; David Morales, City resident; Sister Mary Ellen Robinson, non-resident; Joyce
Hernandez, City resident; Robert Strader, City resident; Norma Martinez, City resident;
Ed Pacheco, City resident; Molly Storrs, City resident; Connie Chronister, City resident;
Zulma S., non-resident; Merivet Lombera, City resident; Rogelio Montes, City resident.
Jennifer James, City resident, asked questions regarding sanctuary city status.
Kay Funk, City resident, spoke in favor of Hispanic residents but against the Welcoming
City resolution.
Phil Dindia, City resident, requested a citizen's committee be formed to develop a
resolution.
Joey Anderson, City resident, spoke of protection for all citizens and against the
Welcoming City resolution.
Gutierrez reinforced that the City's policies are to not inquire about immigration status.
She stated that only true sanctuary cities do not share information and databases, and
there is no discussion of Yakima becoming a sanctuary city. She defined the purpose
of the forum was to allow the community to discuss how this impacts our community
safety.
Coffey stated she appreciated the opinions of all who spoke, and feels privileged that
the Yakima community is so diverse and caring. She again urged the community to
support immigration reform and getting undocumented people citizenship. She will be
asking and encouraging the Council to take a legislative stance on the Bridge Act and
other immigration legislation. She feels this is a community discussion that needs to go
out into the community and it should be led by others than the Council. It was MOVED
by Coffey to send a recommendation to the full council to add immigration reform to the
Federal and State legislative priorities. Motion was SECONDED by Gutierrez. Motion
PASSED unanimously.
Mendez reiterated the need for a community discussion and advised the Dispute
Resolution Center was present to discuss how they could assist in facilitating that
discussion. She pointed out that the Council had approved the recreational production
and sale of marijuana, in violation of federal law.
Gutierrez asked Rizzi if the Police Department participated in the 287g Federal
program. Rizzi advised the 287g program allows law enforcement to access
immigration databases. There are stringent training, background, recertification, and
ICE supervision requirements. There are 37 agencies nationwide who participate in the
program and they are all jail operations. There are only 3 police department in the
program and they run the program through their department's jail operations. There are
no Washington jurisdictions currently participating in the program. She asked how
frequently the jail population registration is shared, and Rizzi advised it is shared daily.
Gutierrez asked if Rizzi asserts that immigration enforcement is a Federal responsibility.
Rizzi advised it is, although there are municipalities that are more pro-active and
participate in the 287g program. Those municipalities are primarily in border states and
have significantly different circumstances. Rizzi also discussed the police department's
policy and the RCW against racial profiling. Gutierrez asked if the Police Department
impartially enforces the laws. Rizzi replied that the Yakima Police Department treats all
community members will respect and highest regard for the sanctity of life.
Coffey asked if Rizzi was aware of the issues with the Spokane Valley policy regarding
Welcoming City. Rizzi was not aware of the specific issues, but understood that they
had come out as officially not a welcoming city. Rizzi discussed the city of Miami, who
declared they were not a sanctuary city but the Obama administration classified them as
a sanctuary city based on their actions despite their proclamation. Coffey stated that a
petition was distributed in Spokane Valley against the sanctuary city status and went to
ballot. The public voted to not be a sanctuary city. Coffey provided this story to
illustrate how at times it is best to leave things alone.
4. Dispute Resolution Center
Matt Fairbanks spoke about how the DRC could assist in fostering the community
conversation and a proposal had been drafted and submitted. Coffey stated she would
like to study the proposal and thought it looked interesting and positive. There was
discussion as to whether the proposal should go to the NCBC for review. Coffey
advised she would like the PSC members to meeting and discuss, then send to the full
council.
Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
Approved:
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Council Public Safety Committee
January 26, 2017
MINUTES
Members: Staff:
Councilmember Carmen Mendez (chair) City Manager Cliff Moore
Councilmember Kathy Coffey Chief Dominic Rizzi, Police
Councilmember Dulce Gutierrez Chief Bob Stewart, Fire
Scott Schafer, Public Works
Cynthia Martinez, Prosecutor
Bronson Faul, Legal
Jeannett Mora, Police Services Mgr.
Brad Coughenour, SunComm
Terri Croft, Police
The meeting was called to order at 3:35 p.m.
• Approval of minutes of December 1, 2016
It was MOVED by Gutierrez to approve the minutes of the December 1, 2016 meeting
as presented. Motion was SECONDED by Coffey. Motion PASSED unanimously.
New Business
• Police Fees
Mora advised the Police Department is presenting an updated to their fee schedule.
Several items are related to services that the Police Department no longer provides.
Faul noted that most of the fees are set by statute and RCW.
It was MOVED by Coffey to move to the full council with a recommendation by the
committee to approve. Motion was SECONDED by Gutierrez. Motion PASSED
unanimously.
• SAFER Grant
Stewart presented an update on the SAFER grant. In the last grant cycle, the grant
covered 100% of firefighter costs, however, the new grant cycle requires some cost
sharing. The timing of the SAFER grant ties in nicely with the negotiations for the Union
Gap fire service contract. When the initial contract was drafted with Union Gap, 9 Union
Gap firefighters were brought over to the Yakima Fire Department. However, 9
firefighters is not sufficient to create a fully operational unit. This shortage has created
an impact on the fire department's overtime. The Fire Department intends to negotiate
three additional firefighter positions into the Union Gap service agreement. The
revenue from Union Gap for the additional firefighter positions would be used to offset
the cost sharing requirements of the SAFER grant. The Fire Department is looking for
direction from the committee on if they should proceed with the application process.
Mendez asked if the Fire Department would continue negotiations with Union Gap for
the three additional firefighters even if the grant was not received. Stewart advised they
would.
Gutierrez asked if adding the three firefighters would take the department to the 90
authorized positions. Stewart advised that it would increase the authorized compliment
to 93 firefighters. Stewart also advised of upcoming retirements and the amount of time
it takes to recruit, hire, and train new firefighters. Stewart explained that the overtime
impact of not having a full operational unit was not to address large events, it is to keep
minimum/adequate staffing levels.
It was MOVED by Coffey and SECONDED by Gutierrez to move the item to the full
council with a recommendation of the committee to approve. Motion PASSED
unanimously.
Old Business
• Private Ambulance Dispatch Fees
Stewart reported that after the council meeting addressing the ambulance dispatch fee
proposal, he and Coughenour agreed to meet with representatives of the ambulance
companies and EMS. In that meeting, it was determined that the ambulance companies
are not completely opposed to paying a fee, however, they do not transport on every
call they are dispatched to, and do not have any means to recoup their fees. The item
will be discussed with the EMS and Fire Chiefs' boards to prepare a counter proposal,
and staff will meet with the ambulance companies again in March. Stewart also advised
there was a possibility of direct payment from the EMS levy to SunComm. Coughenour
stated that part of the issue was that the dispatch service is a county-wide service, but
expenditures are covered by the City of Yakima.
Coffey agreed that the overages were resting on the City of Yakima and the underlying
issue was that of fairness. Gutierrez advised that she had spoken with Councilman
Lover and he had many questions and concerns, and asked if there would be any
opportunity to address those questions. A study session is scheduled for April for this
issue. Coffey requested that Councilman Lover's questions be submitted to staff in
advance so they could have the answers prepared for the study session. There was
clarification as to some of the topics presented at the council meeting that are not
relevant to the fee proposal.
• Domestic Violence
Mendez noted that domestic violence appears to be more prevalent in our city than in
other cities and asked what measures the police department was taking to address
domestic violence.
Rizzi advised that the role of the police department was to make arrests in DV cases,
refer the cases for prosecution, and identify trends. He noted that treatment is a social
issue and is not within the purview of law enforcement. Rizzi stated that there can be
difficulties in providing information to service providers due to privacy issues. Martinez
added that DV cases are prosecuted in municipal court, making up 20-25% of the case
load. She noted that DV cases are the most time and labor intensive cases to
prosecute.
Gutierrez asked how Yakima could incorporate a system to prosecute offenders when
there is a non-cooperative witness. She also asked how additional training could be
obtained for prosecutors. Martinez advised that they do prosecute cases with non-
cooperative witnesses, and hope to host a training in Yakima to improve that process.
She also stated that they Legal Department sends one prosecutor each year to the DV
Symposium at Seattle University. The limitation on training is due to a limited training
budget. The cost for one prosecutor to attend is approximately $1000, most of which
are travel expenses.
Coffey asked if the YWCA might co-sponsor the training. She inquired about the PSAs
regarding DV, stating that she had not seen or heard any follow up on them. Moore
advised he would get a report from Beehler on when the PSAs ran. Coffey advised she
would like to see a full, well-rounded media campaign and business plan to address
domestic violence.
There was discussion of a possible work group with the police chief, city prosecutor,
victim/witness assistance program, YWCA, and other partners to coordinate current
efforts. Staff will review the need for a work group.
This item will remain on the February agenda.
Other Business
• Welcoming City Resolution
NCBC recommended to move the Welcoming City topic to the Public Safety Committee
for further discussion, in order to include input from the police chief. Mendez did not
feel there was enough time to discuss the issue in the present meeting and requested it
be put on the February Public Safety Committee agenda. Gutierrez supported this
request and Coffey opposed it, believing the topic was politicized and further discussion
i
was not necessary.
Discussion will be limited to the proposed resolution. The committee requested Rizzi
prepare information on the police department's current practices, and identify pros and
cons to the resolution.
Mendez requested that the Dispute Resolution Center have a representative present at
the next meeting and that it be held in Council Chambers to allow for community input.
Recap of Upcoming Agenda
Agenda items for February 23, 2017:
O Domestic Violence PA campaign status
O Discussion of Domestic Violence Work Group
O Welcoming City resolution
Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 4:25 p.m.
Approved:
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