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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/07/2009 00 Misc Distributed at the Meeting C OMMIiFTeEE FOR DOWNTOWN YAKIMA August 7, 2009 _ ° ` ' Yakima City Council 4 City of Yakima 129 North Second Street Yakima, Washington 98902 Members of the Yakima City Council, The purpose of this letter is to let you know that we are aware that you have scheduled a special meeting today to discuss crime and safety issues, and to express our support for the City Council, for Chief Granato, and the for the Yakima Police Department, as you work on our behalf to maintain safety and security throughout Yakima. As leaders of the Yakima business community, we understand and agree with the principal that maintaining a safe and secure community provides a stable foundation upon which business enterprises can grow and thrive. Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Sincerely, .-ero sc ames E. Stickel President C . mmittee for Do ow Y. k' - o :. echte Pre - rt rout Stree pro - ent Association c Cannon President West Side Merchants Association To lead and implement the renaissance of downtown Yakima, making it the premiere gathering place of Central Washington. 7 North 3rd Street !Yakima, WA 98901 1 509.225.2485 1 www.downtownyakima.com 1 P.O. Box 881 Yakima, WA 98907 iS j -ed 8/i/o q Moore, Debbie From: Price, Cally Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 8:50 AM To: Edler, Dave; Cawley, Micah; Coffey, Kathy; Lover, Bill; Ensey, Rick; Rodriguez, Sonia; Adkison, Maureen Cc: Zabel!, Dave; Zais, Dick; Granato, Sam; Rosenow, Kelly; Moore, Debbie; Cutter, Jeff Subject: FW: gang violence etc., etc. Importance: High -- -- Original Message From: Beehler, Randy Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 8:57 PM To: Price, Cally Subject: Fw: gang violence etc., etc. Importance: High Cally, Here's another e-mail that I received having to do with the subject of the special Council meeting on Friday. Randy Beehler Community Relations Manager City of Yakima, Wa. Original Message---- - From: mommy.garcia @gmail.com <mommy.garcia @gmail.com> To: Beehler, Randy Sent: Thu Aug 06 19:45:09 2009 Subject: gang violence etc., etc. I have lived on the 300 block of N. Sixth Street for 22 years with my family. The crime elements have . decreased over the past several years. I watched KIMA tonight and they reported statistics that correlate with what I have observed in my neighborhood. You should feel "good" about what you have done to bring about this change, with the exception of the gun crimes. There have been numerous gun related crimes that have involved individuals between the ages of 15 -25 (shooters and victims), yet I have never hear anyone express concern about where these young people are getting their weapons or any outrage that they even have access to them. know that the constitution gives citizens the right to bear arms but aren't there accountability measures that go along with that right. Is the city enforcing all the measure possible to keep guns out of the hands of the underaged. Do you monitor whether gun sales are conducted legally and what is a citizen of the city of Yakima required to report when their gun (s) have been stolen. Do they report this to the police, is there a tracking system to monitor guns that have been stolen from their legal owners? It seems to me that these shootings are better described as gun crimes versus gang crimes. If you don't know who committed the crime then on what basis can you say that the crime is gang related. It's gun crime,that you know for certain but you don't seem to have sufficient facts to label these 1 crimes as "gang" related,except that they appear that way. When you rush to conclusions and report all shootings as gang related, the media reports them as such. This in turn inflames the community with anti gang, hispanic, illegal alien, irresponsible parent, rhetoric that does very little to assist with curbing the problem. Why do you as a city council nurture this attitude? What are we as citizens of Yakima, who read the local newspaper or watch you on television, supposed to think when you call for the National Guard to come and protect us from our own children. Think about the message you send and the image you project as a council. You and those before you worked very hard to improve downtown Yakima, it is beautiful, not much business, but at least it's a pleasant area to walk through. I would like to suggest that you invest the same time, energy and resources to end the shootings and curb the deaths of our young people in this community, your community as well as mine, in the same way that you did to make Yakima APPEAR like a nice, safe place to live, all of Yakima, not just where you live, but where I live too. Yakima county hired a grant writer. Can you hire a grant writer to focus on funding sources that relate to gun crimes, gang violence etc. There appear to be many groups already dedicated to working on the "gang" problem, what more do they need, can you assist with expanding those already existing projects. How about going directly to the source. Police say they know who these gang members are....start building a bridge there. Work with the school districts, counseling agencies, not just CMH. These problems impact business potential, you can't keep looking at this as a separate issue, it impacts your dreams for thriving economy. Here's a most recent example. Three weeks ago I was attending school at CWU in Ellensburg, a fellow student who lives in Moses Lake asked me if it was safe for her to come to Yakima. I asked her why she would think it wasn't and she told me she had heard about a woman who had just been shot in a crossfire of gang violence. She had this bit of news before I could get home and learn about it myself. I assured her she would be safe and so she traveled to Best Buy and had no problems. She made a joke over not being shot as she drove through Yakima, but I know that she was truly concerned for her safety. By the way, how many cameras do you have in the gang neighborhoods? Let me know how I can help. Pat Garcia 304 North Sixth Street, Yakima Wa 98901 2 604 8/ 09 T Presented to. the Yakima City Council Emergency Study Session - Aug 6.2009 By: Nick Hughes 1509 McKinley Avenue. Yakima, WA 98902 509 - 895 -7666 I was born 67 years ago, and raised in Yakima, where I also raised my own family. My two sons do not want to come back here. They left some years back, and now refuse to return, mostly because of the influences of crime that have been an ever - increasing problem. My business life and that of my father before me here, was centered in the agriculture business. I understand the importance of the Hispanic contributions to that industry and admire, greatly, their general work ethic. I believe the vast majority of Hispanics living and working here are upstanding members of the community. However, I cannot ignore, nor do I support, the huge majority, according to an email I received from Senator Patty Murray's office some time back, of an estimated 75% of that population demographic that consists of illegal aliens, employed also illegally, by local businesses including farmers, contractors health agencies, hospitality related businesses and even local governments. While 1 don't believe that fact is the sole reason we have gangs here, I believe it is significantly contributory to the large population of Hispanics who live here now. In THAT respect, the two issues go hand -in hand, if nothing else than based upon sheer numbers. In our local case, the crime issues have been growing, in my opinion, primarily due to the rapid growth of the Hispanic population here. I am NOT saying that all Hispanics are criminals, because they are NOT. I AM saying that, while not all gangs are Hispanic in membership, in our area they are definitely, by far, the leading demographic of our local gangs. I DO blame our early lack of border security and enforcement of Immigration Laws by our Federal and local governments for this out of control problem. I also blame the greed by employers who offer a job- magnet to these people, solely for their contributions of cheap, almost slave -rate labor. Since I have retired, I have plenty of time to offer my personal help. So far, I have offered it to the YPD VIP program, after having completed the YPD Citizens Academy as a brush up course since I retired after 14 years on the YPD Reserve, as a Sergeant. My prior experience in that field of interest leaves me dismayed by the recent tolerance given our juvenile crime here, but I do NOT blame local law enforcement entirely. I DO blame our state legislature for gutting our hard -won recent gang legislation that was supposed to have addressed this issue with some authority once and for all. Thanks to one activist Hispanic Senator from Renton, Ms Margarita Prentice, chairman of the State Ways and Means Committee, who is solely responsible for removing as an example of "racist Profiling ", by a last- second amendment, nearly all the funding that was to support and enforce that legislation, including the primary provisionary clause that allowed police agencies to stop and question known and suspected gang members when they were observed wearing their "colors" in certain, known, telegraphic ways. Similar to a football team suited up for a big game, the gangers wear their colors in certain specific ways that indicate an imminent action - usually criminal in nature, and most often violent as well. Since then, the gangs and others involved in criminal activity have been able to thumb their noses at law enforcement in general. Thanks also to strict CPS interference with family issues, the juveniles also threaten their parents with retributive actions if they are disciplined for their bad behaviors by the parents. This leaves the average family in disarray and wondering what to do next. My proposed solution is simple: That we institute an IMMEDIATE "0" tolerance policy on crimes, In particular, gang, or suspected gang activities, juvenile crimes of the smallest nature, and even to the extent of allowing the prosecution of SOME parents for their lack of parental supervision for really young offenders. A curfew would do no good, since these crimes happen at any and all times of the day or night. I say we should do all this in spite of and in the face of possible ACLU protests or threatened lawsuits. We simply MUST get our community under control. It has gone too far for too long. Thank you bU-I -e t a /7 /o7 Moore, Debbie From: Price, CaIIy Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 8:51 AM To: Edler, Dave; Cawley, Micah; Coffey, Kathy; Lover, Bill; Ensey, Rick; Rodriguez, Sonia; Adkison, Maureen Cc: Zabell, Dave; Zais, Dick; Granato, Sam; Rosenow, Kelly; Moore, Debbie; Cutter, Jeff Subject: FW: Gang Violence..State of emergency Importance: High This message was received in the council inbox. CaIIy Price Executive Assistant City of Yakima - City Manager's Office Original Message-- - From: bonlenderr @charter.net [mailto:bonlenderr @charter.net] Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 7:49 PM To: City Council Subject: Gang Violence.. State of emergency Importance: High Council members Don't be complacent about a so called drop in our crime rate when so many gunshots are being fired in our city. This IS an emergency that requires you to act. Funding extra police patrols would be a part of any solution but creating an environment to bring gang members to the table for truce talks would be helpful. You should not be afraid to use money in reserves to help with the costs of any action. That is what the reserve is for. Emergencies. The reserve will be built backup. We can't sit still and watch our neighborhoods being shot up. Ron Bonlender 1 i s-f-fi by /7/o9 YEARLY COMPARISON 120 109 ®_ cn Z 100 - -92 88 W 80 U Z ❑ Aggravated Assaults 0 60 44 ■ ASSLTS W /FIREARMS -33 33 ❑ MURDER ff., 40 m 20 Z 2 1 I1 0 -- 2007 2008 2009 YEAR * * *To date, there have been two homicides within the City of Yakima. One homicide occurred outside the comparison data. * ** Jun•07 Jun -08 Jun•09 ¥TD % Change AggravatedAssaults 109 92 88 •19.3 °l0 ASSTS N/HREAMS 33 44 33 0.0 °l0 MURDER 2 1 1 •50,0 °l0 TOTAL PART 1 CRIMES 3956 3519 •11,05 °l0 3294 E6.4 °la 5Year 120 100 92 Z u, 80 73 76 60 44 0 40 35 33 33 W 21 20 - 5 3 2 1 1 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 o Aggravated Assaults _20 . YEAR ASSLTS WIFIREARMS o MURDER YEARLY COMPARISON AND % CHANGE Jun•05 JunO6 Jun•07 Ju•O8 Jug9 YT % Chane AGGIAVATEDASSAUTS 13 16 109 92 88 1193 AS$TS/tEAIMS 21 35 33 44 33 0.0 ° l0 MURDER 5 3 2 1 1 •50,0 %