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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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ADJOURNED MEETING — SEPTEMBER 13, 2006
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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
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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
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