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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/19/2000 Adjourned Meeting 1 449 CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 ADJOURNED MEETING /MUNICIPAL COURT I// The City Council met in session on this date at 7:30 a.m., in the 2nd Floor Training Room, at the Police Station /Legal Center, 200 South 3rd Street, Yakima, Washington. Mayor Mary Place, presiding, Council Members Clarence Barnett, Henry Beauchamp Lynn Buchanan, Larry Mattson, and John Puccinelli, were present. Council Member Bernard Sims was absent and excused. Glenn Rice, Assistant City Manager; Ray Paolella, City Attorney; Marketa George Oliver, Administrative Assistant to the City Manager; Jeff West, City Prosecutor; Rita Anson, Director of Finance and Budget; Cindy Epperson, Accounting Manager; Tim Jensen, Accountant; Don Blesio, Police Chief; Jonathan Martin, Judge; Susan Woodard, Court Commissioner; Linda Morris, Municipal Court Services Manager; and Colby Way, Probation Services Manager; were present. Also present were Sheila Burns and Susan Hurd from Yakima County Collection Service (YCCS). Mayor Place called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. Municipal Court Issues Don Blesio, Police Chief, spoke about the discretion a police officer has in dealing with non - moving violations; often a warning is sufficient and appropriate. However, some non - moving violations are more serious and the officer is required to issue a citation, i.e. no proof of insurance. If the individual can later show proof of insurance to the court, the citation is dismissed after a $25 administrative fee is paid and does not go on an individual's driving record. Linda Morris, Court Services Manager, said after an infraction is issued, a person has 15 days to respond. The person can admit the infraction and pay it in full; request payment arrangements; request a contested hearing; or request a mitigated hearing. She said the mitigated and contested hearings are similar. A mitigated hearing is for a person who admits to committing the infraction, but would like to explain some extenuating circumstances that may.reduce the penalty. A contested hearing is for someone who is denying that he committed the infraction. Mrs. Morris also clarified that after 15 calendar days, an infraction becomes delinquent if a person has not responded. An FTA (Failure to Appear) or FTR (Failure to Respond) is filed. The Court accepts payment in the form of cash, check, money order, visa or master card. Discussion ensued about the notification procedure to the Department of Licensing (DOL) and non - payment or non - responses of citations 450 SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 - ADJOURNED MEETING (FTA /FTR). Jeff West, City Prosecutor, said an FTA is issued and then DOL is supposed to give the person 30 days notice that the individual's license is going to be suspended. Sometimes that does not happen. Council Member Beauchamp asked if the City is on the same computer network as DOL. Mr. West said that the City's computer actually notifies DOL and the network works well. He further explained that parking infractions will not suspend a person's privilege to drive, but the registration on the vehicle cannot be renewed with outstanding parking infractions. Council Member Beauchamp was concerned that the ability to make time payment arrangements is not printed on the back of the ticket, so some people may not know that is an option available to them. Mrs. Morris suggested that the next time the City has infractions printed, maybe that information could be added. However, Mr. West stated that state law sets the information contained on the back of the citations. Ms. Anson said that staff is developing an informational pamphlet, printed both in English and. Spanish, that a police officer could distribute to someone receiving a citation. Council Member Sims said that 40% of people move within two years and notification is a major problem. Mayor Place spoke about he difficulty in contacting DOL about a change of address. Council Member Sims asked how many citations are issued to people who are not at the addresses listed on their driver's license. Chief Blesio clarified that one of the questions an officer asks is if the address is current. If it is different, the officer will indicate what the new address is on the citation. Mrs. Woodard said that helps the court when sending notices. If someone does not respond, the court checks to see if the notice was sent to the address that the driver provided before an FTA is issued. Mr. West noted that there is a box on the citation form that officers check if it is new address. Internally, the City takes every step to notify the person at the correct address. The problem occurs in the DOL notification procedure. Council Member Puccinelli asked what an officer does when a person does not'have a driver license. Chief Blesio explained that the officer will ask for another piece of identification, but basically, takes the person's name, social security number, and birth date. Mrs. Woodard said that giving a false or incorrect name to a police officer is an offense that is dealt with harshly. Mrs. Anson said that staff had been developing an Infraction Citation Information sheet and it would likely be printed in English on one side and Spanish on the other. It could be available for an officer to give to the violator. Judge Martin advised that they inform people that time payment arrangements are available. Council Member Puccinelli suggested putting the payment option information under the first heading. There was discussion about what additional 2 451 SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 - ADJOURNED MEETING information should be included. Mrs. Anson said adjustments would be made to it and it would come back to Council. Mayor Place asked if it was possible to get more money back from the state for the infractions /citations that are written in Yakima. Mr. West said unfortunately, the City does all the work and the state gets two- thirds of the money. Tim Jensen, Accountant, and Cindy Epperson, Accounting Manager, said it went into the General Fund. Mayor Place asked about an amnesty program. Mr. West said an amnesty program was a silent issue in the collection agreement the City has with Yakima County Collection Service. When the City assigns a citation or a debt to the collection agency, the City does not have a legal right to recall that. The practical answer is, the collection fees and interest would have to be negotiated with the agency. Once the City pulls something out of collection and dismisses it or lets the person have time payment, if the matter has been paid or is no longer delinquent, the person's DOL record can be cleared. Council Member Sims said that with the failure rate of collections, adding a cost is not the solution. Council Member Beauchamp said the collection agency is burying people into a predicament in which they can never get out. He told of an instance wherein an individual started with one infraction and is now up to $6,000 in debt and filed bankruptcy to get rid of•it. Mr. West said the .fines themselves are not discharged in bankruptcy court. Council Member Beauchamp said that the City needs to come up with something different. If you look at the performance rate of collection, the majority of it is outstanding. Mr. Jensen said when a collection agency receives an,account from us, they add one -third to pay for their expenses and charge 12% interest on unpaid balances. They split any amount collected evenly with City. The City must then split that amount evenly with the state. Council Member Puccinelli pointed out the collection agency only gets to collect that fee when they collect money, which does not happen often. Mr. West said under statutory authority, an agency can charge 100% up to the first $100,000, but they are charging one - third by agreement with the City. That fee is set by negotiation with the agency and the interest rate is set by state law at 12% per year. Council Member Sims asked what percent of citations are sent to collection and Mr. Jensen estimated one - third. Council Member Sims said our court system has been built on the backs of poor people who could not afford it. He questioned whether Council should go back and look at the premise and decide if they are doing the right thing with criminal justice. Council Member Buchanan asked what the number of unserved warrants is since at one time it numbered something like 10,000. Mr. West 3 452 SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 - ADJOURNED MEETING said that since that time, staff has taken steps to address that problem. At that time, there were some warrants that were so ancient they would never be served. When this was done in District Court, one -third to one -half of the docket did not show up. That has been cut down to 10% in Municipal Court. He thinks that with Municipal Court and the Police Department, the City has done a good job of bringing that situation under control. Council Member Sims said he would like to have the original study brought back to Council so they can compare it with what is actually happening. Mr. Jensen said in terms of case numbers, the City is way ahead of what was projected. Mr. West said the majority of incarceration is Driving while Under the Influence and domestic violence. Day detention is used for people driving without licenses. Judge Martin said that the City does a - lot of alternative programs such as day detention and that has been very effective. Electronic home monitoring has also been very successful. Recently, staff has begun a program through Probation Services in which a staff member is giving classes to members of the Hispanic population on what is expected of people in this country. Mayor Place said, by consensus of the Council, this study session would be continued to a later date, and adjourned the meeting at 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the 2nd Floor Training Room, at the Police Station /Legal Center, to meet with the Downtown Area Redevelopment Committee. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: ..?/% / / Ivry vv. O CIL EMBE' DATE .421---,/ 7 O' CIL MEMBER DATE ATTEST: / City Clerk Mary Place, Mayor Minutes prepared by Marketa George Oliver. An audio of this meeting is available in the City Clerk's Office 4