HomeMy WebLinkAboutCPB-MN-2025-08-27
City of Ithaca
Community Police Board Minutes
Regular Meeting 4:30 PM August 27, 2025
Present:
Commissioners: Bursic; Rogers; Sayward; Jackson (excused at 5:53pm);Sandberg; Onyejuruwa
(Virtual, joined @5:15pm);
Alderperson Shapiro
Excused: none
Absent: Commissioner Simons emailed his resignation just before the adjournment of the
meeting. Chair Kane resigned via a hand-delivered letter to the Clerk’s Office on 8/26.
Others Present:
Chief Kelly
City Clerk Karasin
Todd Kurzweil
Jimmy Jordan (Ithaca Voice)
**On the advice of the Mayor and City Attorney Kessler, in the absence of a Chairperson for this
meeting, the longest-serving member would need to chair the meeting and be the Acting Chair
until a new one is selected by CPB members. Commission Rogers is now the longest serving
member and stated he would act as Chair for this meeting. The Board will need to select a new
chair by vote at the next meeting.
Approval of the May 28, 2025 Community Police Board Meeting Minutes-
Tabled until next month due to members stating they had not received a draft.
Public Comment:
Mr. Kurzweil spoke about his concerns regarding safety on the Commons, as well as his
frustration with communicating with the members of the CPB and his emails not reaching his
intended audience. Acting Chair Rogers asked Clerk Karasin to correct this redirect of emails.
Clerk Karasin said he would make sure all citizen emails intended for CPB members are routed
to the correct email address going forward. Chief Kelly responded to Mr. Kurzweil’s concerns
regarding disruptions on the Commons. Chief Kelly reported that IPD and the City have received
favorable feedback regarding increased IPD presence and patrols on the Commons.
Report from Council:
Alderperson Shapiro reported that lots of citizens have emailed him/Council with concerns
about (disruptive) activity on the Commons. He stated that e-bikes/scooters are a more recent
concern raised.
The last Common Council meeting had several citizens expressing concerns about FLOCK
cameras and requested this be on a future CPB agenda.
Report from the Police Department:
Discussion of FLOCK cameras extended into this portion of the agenda, with all
members weighing in as to whether this is an appropriate topic for this Board to discuss.
The majority of members expressed interest in pursuing this as a topic. Acting Chair
Rogers was not interested in pursuing this topic.
Commissioner Jackson offered to research past CPB meetings where FLOCK was
discussed.
Report from Staff – City Clerk Alan Karasin
City Clerk Karasin said he is happy to come to future CPB meetings. The agenda stated “split
support” as the topic, and Clerk Karasin referenced the upcoming restructuring of his
department (Clerk/PIT will now be DICE – Department of Information and Community
Engagement). Clerk Karasin said that in the immediate, this change will have no impact on this
Board. Acting Chair Rogers reiterated that all communication intended for the CPB must be
forwarded to all members. Clerk Karasin confirmed this will happen.
Old Business
Commissioner Rogers asked about the follow-up to the discussion of Kathy
Zoner’s work for the City in 2024 and how this work relates to the Unarmed
Responder Unit currently under the auspices of Deputy City Manager
Recckio. Chief Kelly stated that Ms. Zoner had given a presentation to
Common Council with her recommendations. Acting Chair Rogers asked
Alderperson Shapiro to invite the Deputy City Manager to an upcoming CPB
meeting to discuss the current status of this initiative.
Protocols around new CPB cell phones, heretofore known as the “Board
Phones”. These are kept in the Clerk’s office. CPB members can obtain one
from there for use in an investigation.
Other Old Business items on the agenda (see list below) were tabled:
o Inviting IPD analyst to future CPB meeting
o Paper complaint forms at IPD station -are they up-to-date?
o Online complaint numbers in Open Gov
o Voting on updated CPB policies and procedures – to be voted on at
next meeting
New Business – ended up being part of Report from Staff.
Motion to Enter into Executive Session to Discuss Active Investigations:
It was decided that the Board could not adjourn into executive session due to lack of a quorum
(resulting from Commissioner Onyejuruwa’s virtual status preventing him from joining
Executive Session and Commissioner Jackson's early departure )
Acting Chair Rogers expressed frustration that this meant the person awaiting a response from
the CPB would have to wait even longer.
Meeting Adjourned @6:05pm
Minutes Approved: 9/24/2025 – Rick Rogers, Interim Chair