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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/13/2006 Adjourned Meeting 173 YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL ADJOURNED MEETING SEPTEMBER 13, 2006 — 7:00 P.M. SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY CENTER 1211 South 7 Street 1. RoII Cali Mayor Edler called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Present: Council: Mayor Edler, presiding, Council Members Ron Bonlender, Micah Cawley, Norm Johnson, Bill Lover, Neil McClure and Susan Whitman Staff: Acting City Manager Zabel!, Police Chief Granato, Finance and Budget Manager DeBord, and Deputy City Clerk Watkins 2. Informational public forum to introduce "Yakima's Safe Community Action Plan" and proposed funding sources A. Introduction Mayor Edler gave opening statements and turned the meeting over to Police Chief Granato. B. Power Point presentation Chief Granato began the Power Point presentation that highlighted the need for • the additional police officers. He explained how and why the plan was developed. Rita DeBord, Director of Budget and Finance, presented the financial aspects of the plan. C. Public comment -- questions /opinions Hector Franco, 815 N. 28 Ave., questioned using police officers for code enforcement. He said City Council is talking about neighborhood revitalization and economic development, but from a social point of view, they have failed to address community education and crime prevention. The City needs to work with the community, educate them in civic participation and responsibility instead of making arrests. These issues have not been addressed, especially on the east side. We also need crime prevention and recreation activities for the kids. The PAL program is not sufficient. He agreed we need more policemen, but we also need to talk about the community revitalization plans that were done several years ago and are sitting on the shelf. Alfonso Lee expressed his concern that the Yakima School District has one of the highest drop -out rates in the state and that there are more African - Americans • 174 ADJOURNED MEETING — SEPTEMBER 13, 2006 SAFE COMMUNITY ACTION. PLAN SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY CENTER and Latinos being locked up. Many states have more Latinos and African - Americans in the jails than in the higher education system. Most of the people in prison don't have high school diplomas or GEDs. This forum is talking about having more police officers to lock up drop outs, but that just keeps the poor people in jail. When they get out of jail, there is no plan for rehabilitation. When kids drop out of school, who is making sure they get into training programs? Who is out on the street encouraging the kids to use the resources, e.g. alternative programs? He claimed that statistics show we pay more money for locking people up than we pay for educating them. We need to educate the poor people so they can get out of the trashy neighborhoods. New police officers are not going to be educating the kids. Alonzo Marquez, 613 N. 3 St., talked about how many kids drop out of school every year because their caretakers can't afford to keep them in school. Every time a new tax is added, more kids drop out, and that raises crime. It's a cycle. This community needs preventative medicine. Putting more people in jail is not the answer. Ruth Drollinger, from the Naches area, relayed her shock upon returning to Yakima after being gone for twenty years. Her kids came home from school talking about the drug checks with dogs in the schools. The schools no longer have the DARE program. She expressed concern about her own protection as well as her kids. She said they are low income and she is not afraid to challenge local governments. She has had two court cases against Montana and is working on a third. She is the one who started the Grass Roots on Fire organization because our problems are a direct result of the illegal immigration issue and meth coming across the border. She said our schools are failing because of a bureaucracy problem not because of money. People are fed up with elected officials who don't want to deal with the issue. They don't think this is the solution and it especially affects those with low- incomes. Our government needs to be accountable and start solving the problem. Chief Granato responded that the DARE program was one of the first programs he eliminated because statistics show it does not work. He talked about the GREAT grant for crime prevention in the schools and addressing the gang problem. He referred to the need for code enforcement and the broken window theory of policing. If you don't fix the window, the house becomes unlivable and surrounding homes become affected. That is why code enforcement is very important as it will educate people about the law. There are a lot of crime prevention aspects to this proposal. 2 1 75 ADJOURNED MEETING — SEPTEMBER 13, 2006 SAFE COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN • SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY CENTER Ester Huey said she strongly supports the plan. We need to remove some people from our community in order to do that second step the community is requesting. In 1991 we started working on some prevention /intervention problems and found we had to remove people that were getting in the way of getting the job done. This plan is the first step in a larger plan. The first step is to get the community feeling safe and working with the law enforcement and justice system developing trust and cleaning up problems. Then we can get to the next issue. There are some people in our community that we are not going to be able to help and they will get in the way of that greater job of rehabilitating those that we can. The second step is prevention and intervention. Maybe in the second or third year, we can add those pieces because then we will have the proper environment. Community policing is not just locking up people, but developing trust between the people and law enforcement. Education and the drop out rate are ancillary issues that will be made better by this effort. You will see kids who are doing better in school, see that neighborhood police relationship, and see crime decrease. This is not a last step, but a first step. Earl Lee claimed he put gang intervention and prevention into the school district and put a program at the detention center. He also claimed to have put in the Elite program at Jefferson and that he has run a boot camp. Programs to prevent crime were developed because of need. The key wasn't how many police officers could arrest, but looking at preventative measures. He suggested not rushing this issue but to look at options. If you put more people in jail, are you really dealing with the problem? Mendi Pugsley referred to details from the plan. Increased tax revenue of $172.80 per residence over four years will only be 20% in crime reduction and we will not know whether it is a failure or success for four years. She claimed the information in the proposal is blatantly false and misleading. In her opinion, the idea of crime coming from meth labs is not true as there has been a decrease in local meth labs. All the problems are coming from the drugs from Mexico. Putting more police and prosecutors to work is a band -aid solution. She accused the Council of misrepresenting what is going on in this community. Council Member McClure responded that this Council has never stated in our public documents that it is drug manufacturing in Yakima that has created this problem. We agree with everyone that it is a drug problem, but we have not talked about the source of the drugs. Until three years ago, 90% of meth was manufactured in the U.S. The pharmaceutical companies were sending massive amounts of pseudoephedrine to Canada and the first place meth was manufactured in large amounts was in Montreal. They cracked down on the supply, but those with the addiction looked for other places to obtain it and manufacture meth. It went to Mexico. There are only seven manufacturers of Sudafed in the world. Mexico is trying to crack down on it the same as Canada did. We agree that the drug problem is driving crime, but nothing we have said in our published record states it is a drug manufacturing problem. It is a drug addiction problem. 3 176 ADJOURNED MEETING — SEPTEMBER 13, 2006 SAFE COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY CENTER Bob Mansfield spoke about safety. He shared problems he had experienced with his son and how law enforcement helped his son. YPAL is the best way to approach these kids by keeping them occupied. • Council Comments Council Member Bonlender Prevention is a key word and we do have to work on it. He spoke about raising his children and how, to prevent them from taking the wrong path, he had to enforce rules. The City Council will be making the rules and the police will enforce them, but we have to have enough police to do that. The environment for prevention has to be there with the safety net of enough police. We need a proactive police force. Council Member Lover —It is almost impossible to address immigration problems at our level. The federal government has to take the lead and we have to be ready to work with them. He referenced two bills in Congress; a security fence along the southern border, and mandates to employers to use an instant check system to verify an employee's legal status. The problems that confront us are too big and this proposal will not cure all of them. But, we consider protecting our neighborhoods as a number one priority and this program will steadily confront this issue. Council Member Johnson — It is a sad thing that we, in government and the schools, are expected to be parents to the kids because parents are not participating in raising them. Many don't even know where their kids are. With regard to preventative measures, the schools need to be doing more with the tools they have. One is the Becca Bill that requires kids to go to school and for schools to go after them if they're not there. Maybe keeping them in school will turn them around. Government and schools have to work hand in hand. But, some of the preventative measures are going to need the action of parents. Hopefully, what we are attempting to do will help the problem. Council Member Whitman - In response to Earl Lee's comment to not rush this, she assured him that this started at least nine months ago. We are definitely not rushing the situation. Council Member Cawley — Part of the burden is on the family to raise good kids. This is a good program, but it's not going to fix everything. We want to take our community back. Council Member McClure — We have a passion for our community just as you do. We've put together just one part to address a multi - pronged problem. The sentencing grid is set up to try to save money for incarceration, but it gives a free pass with no consequence to crime. He said it is his hope that this proactive approach to crime will make a difference. We expect it to work as well as it did in the emphasis patrol. 4 . 177 ADJOURNED MEETING — SEPTEMBER 13, 2006 SAFE COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY CENTER Mayor Edler - In his opening statements he spoke about crimes that happened in his church. As a result, they put in a security system. He got involved in city government because he intends to do all he can to make the quality of life in this community what he wants, as a citizen, to enjoy. That is why he is championing this cause and asking the citizens of Yakima to vote yes on a 1.5% tax increase., He personally believes this is vital for the future of our community. 3 . Adjournment at 8:30 p.m. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY �� Oc. ' Z C U NCIL MEMB r R DATE t % .'¢ a(, is _tri COUNCIL MEMBE DATE ATTEST: if L z-litria--k- , 0 A /.," - ' CITY CLERK " DAVID EDLER, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. An audio and video tape of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 5 '