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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CIC-1996 Community Issues Committee Minutes of the March 13, 1996 Meeting Attendance: Diann Sams,chair;committee members: Pam Mackesey, Roey Thorpe,Tom Hanna, Rick Gray; Mayor Alan Cohen; Staff: Alice Green. Guests: City Court Judge Judith Rossiter and Frank Barry of Cornell's Family Life Development Center. I. Call to order and approval of minutes 7:35 PM II. Pam began with an overview of the committee's efforts to look at the way domestic violence is handled in the city. She said the committee wants the court watch organization to carry out this research, and wants to work with the city prosecutor and city court on this issue. III. City Judge Judith Rossiter asked to address the committee to provide background on the workings of city court. She noted that there has been some misinformation about legal parameters, and explained the following: 1) Setting bail: no judge may send a defendant to jail without bail being set or releasing that person to his or her own recognizance. There are legal specifications for setting bail. 2) Assigned counsel: a decision to assign counsel can be made only on the basis of financial circumstances-not based on the crime. 3) After arraignment it is the prosecutor who decides how to proceed with cases. The greatest barrier to successful prosecution in domestic violence cases is the unwillingness of victims to testify. 4) The court cannot order a defendant to accept treatment or services; the judge has no authority to impose such restrictions. Alcoholism Council staff can evaluate people to see if treatment is appropriate but only after bail is set. The judge said representatives of Court Watch contacted the Binghamton regional office of court administration,and were told to speak with local court officials in Ithaca. This never happened until Judge Rossiter pursued setting a meeting which has been scheduled for next week. She has asked the district office for a ruling on what can be shared for the purpose of the research proposed by the committee. She suggested that she and her clerks are the appropriate persons to provide an analysis of these court records, noting that Judy Long is on record from a January meeting stating that her intent and expertise is in finding bias where none was intended. Tom noted that only aggregate data is needed;anything that could reveal identity would be expunged. He felt it may be necessary to pay for an objective evaluation of court data, and to seek applicants to do the research. The committee decided to wait until the following week's meeting between the Judge and Court Watch representatives. Pam withdrew her resolution. A second resolution by Tom to state council's intent to do the study failed to pass. The city attorney is investigating if council can pass legislation in relation to domestic violence. She has also requested copies of the Judge's letter to the Court administration district office and the response. IV. Frank Barry of Cornell's Family Life Development Center discussed assessing neighborhoods and communities. He explained his interest in developing standards for healthy and thriving communities-as opposed to focusing resources on solving one problem after another. The nation is good at measuring the economy, and even the natural environment, but not as good at measuring social well being. The generic prevention concept is to create the kind of community where there is lots of support for families when children are young, so problems don't get as big later. The state of Oregon has such benchmarks; Michigan is working on it. The approach begins with statistical data such as: high school drop-outs, and drops outs who are not in the work force, babies born to unmarried teens. The current picture of the community is used to develop benchmarks to make the community the kind of place its residents value. Discussion centered on whether statistics are reliable, and whether a community can really develop a core set of standards. The mayor pointed out that the school district has recently developed a statement of core values and outcome-based educational objectives. These could be obtained and studied. Tom said the county youth bureau will have a statistical report on the state of Ithaca Children and Youth in April. This data will be available to help guide committee efforts. A review of this material in light of the community standards approach was added to the committee work plan. V. A resolution on Child Abuse prevention will be prepared by Tom with the help of the local Task Force before the Committee of the Whole meeting. VI. Discussion of possible changes in issuing domestic partner status by the city. These could include adding a ceremony and a certificate,and asking for voluntary compliance by local agencies to provide privileges such as access to hospitals and medical records for partners. No one appeared to present the request for such changes and Roey stated that if the city did decide to pass them, it could detract from the battle to establish legal status for same sex marriages. No action was taken. VII. Work plan: Last month's items were clarified and additions were made based on the latest discussions. The mayor said he hopes council will establish a program review process for all city departments, well in advance of the actual budget process. A draft of the work plan, not yet prioritized or put in a time frame, was distributed to the Committee of the Whole. VIII. Adjournment 10:00 PM S Common Council Community Issues Committee Minutes of the April 10, 1996 Meeting Attendance: Diann Sams, chair; Rick Gray, Tom Hanna, Pam Mackesey; Mayor Alan Cohen; Guests: Larry Roberts, Marge Dill, representatives of the Northside Neighborhood Watch and First Street Neighborhood Associations. L Call to order at 7:33 PM II. Dog Leash Law: Larry Roberts from the Disabilities Advisroy Council presented a request for the city court judge to establish a different level of fine for pet owners in cases where their pets attack service animals. He emphasized the need to inform the public about the special role played by service animals and the need to hold pet owners accountable if they interfere with that role. III. Neighborhood Improvement Grants: Two organizations received approval: Northside Neighborhood Watch, up to $300 for a neighborhood clean-up day April 27; and the First Street Neighborhood Association , up to $135 for the planting of flowers on corner parcels throughout the neighborhood. Cooperative Extension will provide technical assistance. IV. City Court handling of Domestic Violence Cases: Pam Mackesey reported that the city attorney has learned from the office of court administration that city court records are public unless sealed. Judy Long from Court Watch will submit a written request for access to proceed with a review of domestic violence cases. Judy presented the committee with an outline of her own background and interest in the issue. She said she hopes to analyze available local cases and compare variables with state and national statistics. Defendant variables include: level of bail; types of dispositions the judge can make such as pre-trial agreements; conditions for release, eg. release under own recognizance vs. release under supervision. City Judge Judith Rossiter spoke to the release issue. She stated there is only one pre-trial release program for such defendants operated by County Probation to review people in jail. She reiterated that the judge can't force a person to enter a program. Probation's DOORS program is one of only a few available in the region, and is underfunded with a waiting list. Judy Long discussed additional variables she wishes to analyze including the following for compainants in domestic violence cases: contraints, access to resources, availablity of legal guidance, risk factors, costs, time delays and enforcement for orders of protection. Mayor Cohen noted that IPD officers will be directed to ask victims of domestic violence if an order of protection is wanted and to record this on paperwork sent to the city court judge. Pam said representatives of Court Watch and the Task Force for Battered Women met with Judge Rossiter last week and the case study is proceeding. She emphasized that the effort is prmarily a voluntary one, and reintroduced a ss Tom Hanna • �C r' I1M17I Common Council mTTn!I fd, CITY OF ITHACA 1 JAMES L.GIBBS DRIVE ITHACA, NEW YORK 141350 OFFICE OF TELEPHONE YOUTH BUREAU (607)273-8364 Meeting Notice: Common Council Community Issues Committee 7:30 PM Wednesday May 8, 1996 Council Chambers Agenda 7:30 I. Call to order and approval of April minutes (printed beginning on back) 7:35 II. Southside Community Center-Quarterly report by Jackie Melton Scott 8:05 III. Tompkins County Red Cross 8:35 IV. The DOORS program-Marie Mauboussin 9:00 V. Northside Neighborhood Association: Efforts to fight drugs 9:15 VI. Stand for Children- Local efforts to send delegates to Washington 9:30 VII. Adjournment - ... . Rorvrlo.l Pano. - ..f resolution to sucure support for the project from the city prosecutor and city judge, and to provide $1700 to defray some of the study costs. Tom Hanna stated his support for the general concept of the research and asked for additional information about the study design and expected outcomes. He suggested passing the resolution without the funding attached until it can be determined if data in the court records matches what's called for in the study design. Question was called. Motion by Pam; seconded by Diann. The language of the resolution was ammended as follows: Council "asks" (rather than "directs") the city of Ithaca Prosecutor's office ... Delete "by providing the attached information." Substitute "from unrestricted contingency" for "the fund established to deal with race-biased crimes:" Motion approved 3-1; Ayes: Pam, Diann and Rick; Nay: Tom. Tom reiterated his request for 1) someone in a peer position to review the research model, and 2) consultation with the holders of the data to see what it can yield. V. Human Services Coalition Director Marge Dill reported on the following: 1) The HCS hopes to become an affiliate of a planning council that will provide access to insurance and group benefits for human service workers, including workmen's compensation, a dental plan and director's liability insurance. 2) HSC funding review. She noted that local agencies have three ways to seek municipal funding: directly from a department, through the HSC review process for a grant, or by applying directly to council for a community services grant, under the portion of sale tax revenue ($175,000) earmarked by the city for human services, arts, etc. Agencies have been told that if they get funding from one source they should not go back to the city and/or county for additional funding. There is a need to review the parameters of funding and to determine if it is to be on a one-time or continued basis. Marge added that for youth related program proposals, the city will probably.want to get advice from the city youth bureau to evaluate the request in light of what else is underway. Currently, two agencies - the Multic-Cultural Resources Center and the Ithaca Breast Cancer Alliance- have received city community services funding and now have approached HSC for the same level of funding. The HSC has no additional funds to allocate. Suggestion: city could extend partial funding for one more year while a transition is made to pick this up through the HSC review process. 3) Marge also spoke as an advocate for the DOORS program as needed and under-funded, and urged city support. The committee requested a report on funding allocations after the HSC process is complete. VI. Recreation Partnership Pilot Project Alice distributed copies of the Youth Bureau Recreation Division's Summer Days brochure and reported on the progress of the pilot. The partnership includes nine municipalities: the city and town of Ithaca, Village of Lansing and the towns of Caroline, Danby, Dryden, Enfield, Groton and Ulysses. Only the towns and Lansing and Newfield have so far declined to join. She said the pilot has been successful in: • removing recreation fee barriers and extending accessibility for children throughout the Ithaca school district, increasing recreation registrations by 53%; • increasing revenues from other municipalities and the county by $63, 000 in 1996 • involving representatives from all nine municipalities in a planning effort to extend the partnership as an ongoing system. Looking ahead to 1997 and beyond, the recreation partnership board is considering several issues: • The county's contribution. Support for the two year pilot was $40,000 in the first year and $35,000 for 1996. Representatives have indicated that they expect this to be the end of the county contribution. Some Rec board members would like to approach the county to continue some level of support, since the partnership supports youth almost county-wide. Currently, County Youth Bureau allocations are all earmarked for youth services - not for recreation. • Youth Bureau building costs There is a need to re-examine the formula for charging partner municipalities for the debt service and operation/maintenance costs on the youth bureau building. Currently, all costs for the recreation division share of the building are apportioned for all programs - even those that happen in other locations. Several municipalities have expressed willingness to continue sharing direct program costs. In the case of Cass Park costs, the city has held back 45%, as part of its own responsibility for operation and maintenance of a facility for city residents. A similar arrangement for the youth bureau building costs might make it more feasible to maintain inter-municipal support for the partnership. Committee members suggested that with only 1995 statistics to measure the success of the partnership, it might be premature to try to put a permanent system in place for 1997 and beyond. It may be more appropriate to extend the pilot or work on a two or three year contract basis. VII. Use of City Letterhead The mayor requested that the committee look at what restrictions, if any, should be pace on use of city letterhead, emphasizing that the question arises not just in light of recent letters from GIAC, Southside and Youth Bureau staff - but to determine if a general policy would be beneficial. Diann stated she does not feel a policy is necessary- staff need to write letters of recommendation on a regular basis, and a policy would be an unnecessary burden. Tom noted that many agencies and businesses have standard practices and orientation regarding use of their letterhead. He suggested that the matter is more appropriately referred to the law and governance or B&A committees. The mayor said it is not a high priority in his administration, but if he has the chance he will draft a resolution for B&A. VIII. Items for next meeting: Neighborhood concerns about drug dealing: Jim Hardesty on the Northside efforts; Discussion on the DOORS program for domestic violence defendants; Southside Community Center quarterly report. VIII. Adjournment: 10:35 pm Common Council Community Issues Committee Minutes of the July 10, 1996 Meeting Attendance: Diann Sams, chair; Committee Members Rick Gray, Tom Hanna, Roey Thorpe; John Johnson; Mayor Alan Cohen; Staff: Alice Green and Sam Cohen, Ithaca Youth Bureau; Guests: Nancy Zahler and Sara Hess, Tompkins County Youth Bureau; Phil Dankert, Recreation Partnership Board; Marcia Fort, GIAC; Acting Police Chief David Barnes, Officers Beau Saul and Mike Gray; Regi Teasley, Community Police Board; Judy Saul, Community Dispute Resolution Center. I. Call to order at 7:35 PM Approval of the minutes of the June meeting was deferred to give members time to organize. II. Recreation Partnership Proposal for 1997-99. Alice Green reported on the Ithaca Youth Bureau's (IYB) efforts develop a new service system that extends access to recreation programs and more fairly shares costs and decision-making. The two-year recreation pilot project has nine partner municipalities (the City and Town of Ithaca, Village of Lansing, and Towns of Caroline, Danby, Dryden, Enfield, Groton and Ulysses). Recreation programs covered in the partnership are: Summer day camps at Cass and Stewart Parks, Sports Camp at Ithaca High; playground programs at four school sites and Southside Community Center, Sports leagues (baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, basketball etc.) and lessons, Cass Park ice rink and swimming pool; ; drama and theatre programs of the Center for Expressive Arts; and new program development for teens with advice from the new Youth Network (formerly Youth Council). The pilot program has resulted in a dramatic increase (53%) in IYB recreation registrations, and more than $100,000 in additional revenues from municipal partners and the county. The Partnership Board has been evolving as a model of inter-municipal collaboration. Based on feedback from the Community Issues Committee and representatives of other municipalities, the board is now recommending a three year extension of the partnership (1997-99). Main features of the new proposal include: a focus on sharing the true operating costs of recreation programs and a city holdback of the IYB building capital costs and 49%of the Cass Park operating costs; holding steady on shares from the Town of Ithaca and Village of Lansing, who are close to a proportional share based on participation; a gradual increase in contributions from smaller municipalities; some increases in user fees, sponsorships and donations, with scholarships to retain access for low income families; a request to the county to support the inter-municipal recreation planning and coordination with $35,000 in each of the three years; and a continuation of data gathering to improve services and develop bettter methods of cost sharing and decision making. Nancy Zahler told the Committee that the county had approved funding for only the pilot period ($40,000 in 1995 and $35,000 in 19%), and did not expect to continue financing the partnership. Mayor Cohen stressed that the city feels county support for these programs that serve a high percentage of county youth is "very important." Y Phil Dankert, RPB chair, and representative from the Village of Lansing, stressed that the partnership is a real inter-municipal effort and deserves continued support. Alice Green asked for a meeting of the Mayor and Council volunteer(s) to review the partnership continuation proposal. Tom Hanna will work on this. III. City of Ithaca Children and Youth Report: Nancy Zahler and Sara Hess, who oversaw preparation of the report, noted that it has received good coverage in the press and that requests for copies have been coming in, including from the school district. The city requested the report, and might want to pay for additional copies so it can be more widely distributed. A caretakers group has been established to develop strategies to address the problems of city children and youth highlighted in the report. The group will meet at 10 am July 12 and includes: TCYB staff, Sam Cohen, Marcia Fort, Jackie Melton Scott of Southside Community Center; Council Members Tom Hanna, Diann Sams and John Efroymson, Maria de La Vega of the school district; City Planner Doug Foster; and Frank Berry of Cornell. Tom Hanna and Diann Sams said that as budgets are being prepared it is a good time to commit dollars to help address the problems. Diann asked about a focus conference on racism by the county. Nancy Zahler said it is "lumbering along" and would not necessarily focus on the youth problems in the report. IV. Multi-Cultural Resource Center Resolution Copies of the following were distributed: the MRC resolution, Common Council's resolution, a statement of purpose by Officer Beau Saul and MRC Coordinator Terrence Calhoon, and a Draft Outline by Alderperson Sams to guide committee work. (All attached) Discussion began with the role of the Community Police Board (CPB). Regi Teasley said the board plays an advisory role, can investigate and come to a finding. A letter goes from the board to a complainant explaining the findings of an investigation. Any disciplinary action the IPD decides to take based on the CPB finding is subject to internal rules and regulation, general orders and special orders, the union contract and Civil Service rules. She noted that the board is all volunteer. It takes time for volunteers to be assigned, and then to connect with complainants and to do interviews. There is no standard time frame. There is a brochure listing the steps the CPB can take - and this is given to complainants during an initial meeting, Notes are kept of the entire process. She added that one issue is that CPB members receive very little training. Marcia Fort suggested that complainants be notified about progress of the investigation. John Johnson suggested written notification. Judy Saul of CDRC explained that the CPB has no staff support to carry on its functions; CDRC's Lay Advocacy Program is funded to facilitate this. She hoped CDRC staff could assist with investigative interviews, but has been told that there are issues with confidentiality and Civil Service laws. She explained that when a complainant approaches the CPB, lay advocates are available to review the CPB brochure and help them write a complaint, which the advocate will then sign. She would like the CPB to refer complaints to the Lay Advocacy program so it can "help grease the wheels" of the process. CDRC has called a meeting for 3-5 pm July 18 in the Old Jail Conference Room to discuss issues outlined in the Committee Draft. Invited are : members of the CPB, Lay Advocacy Program, Marcia Fort, members of the MRC and community people of color, and Acting Chief Barnes and Officer Saul. She requested a council representative. Alderpersons Sams and Thorpe volunteered. Comments about another group that had been meeting on this issue lead to questions about how the the Community Issues Committee should respond to the Council directive to produce a strategic plan addressing the MRC resolution. Marcia Fort explained that she and Diann Sams and Mayor Alan Cohen have met with Acting Chief Barnes and others to discuss broad issues affecting people of color in the Ithaca area. This group wishes to maintain its own agenda, and not take on the work directed by Council. Officer Saul suggested that group could be called the Marcia, Alan and Diann group or MAD. He added there is a need for the two separate groups to continue, noting that he has seen distrust of the CPB on the part of both police officers and people of color in the community. Mayor Cohen stated that there is an overwhelming sentiment to have Council take some action. Judy Saul reiterated that the goal of the July 18 meeting is to address the issues raised in the resolution, starting with those that can be addressed most quickly such as training and hiring and easily and moving on to a framework for longer term approaches. Roey Thorpe outlined what she considered the main issues: 1) hiring in the IPD including the chief and officer; 2) training; and 3) discipline: what happens when a complaint is founded (responsiveness and accountability to community concerns). John Johnson added the long term issue of examining the whole structure and functioning of the police department. Tom Hanna said he would like to use CDRC work to help address issues raised in the Committee Draft outline #7: on the workings of the CPB and Lay Advocacy program and requested a report back. Regarding training, Acting chief Barnes said he has been contacted by possible diversity trainers and asked who should review these? Roey Thorpe suggested that the city could do a Request for Proposal in training publications or to professional associations. Diann Sams suggested sharing training and recruitment resources with the school district. It was noted that scheduling is a major obstacle in planning training because of the number of officers and different shifts. Perhaps a consultant should be hired to both identify training needs and help with the scheduling. Tom Hanna said he hoped the committee can send some concrete proposal to the Budget and Administration Committee with dollars attached. Reports on the CDRC and training planning work will be presented to the next Committee of the Whole meeting. V. Adjournment. 10:19 pm DRAFT 1 . ) Review MRC Resolved portion of Resolution, make recommendation to Common Council on which ones we agree with and can act upon, which ones are priorities, which ones are short term, which ones are long term, and who needs to be involved. 2 . ) Set up a group to explore diversity training Focus of group: a. ) type of training b. ) who will perform the training c. ) how often, and what are the costs d. ) possibility of incorporation of other departments into training or do separately e . ) group suggestion of who shall makeup committee: (2) Common Council members, (2) PBA members, (2) previously training task force members, (2) MRC Representatives, (1) City Affirmative Action Comm. member, (1) Southside Community Center member, (1) GIAC member, (1) Youth Bureau member, (1) Police Board member f . ) Group should meet and be ready to put something into action by with dollar amounts and dates for training for rest of year, and plans for 1997 . 3 . ) Committee for hiring new Police Chief . 4 . ) Same committee to address diverse hiring practices or new committee . 5 . ) What of these requests are administrative functions, and what needs Council action. 6 . ) Examine the Police Department structural system and deficiencies . 7 . ) The question of how to address the workings of the Community Police Board and the Lay Advocates of CDRC - has the trust been clouded and how do we renew it within the community, also some reporting system so we can know what is happening, and accountability. ** Here is a draft only to help start a discussion for Wednesday's Community Issues Committee on Terry and Beau's statement. Please come prepared to prioritize, do long term/short term plans, how to do each one, what we agree with and what needs to be addressed, what are administration problems and should be handled administratively. Please bring MRC Resolution, and Terry and Beau's statement. Statement of purpose by Office Beau Saul and MRC Coordinator Terrence Calhoun First, we would like to thank the many well intentioned people who shared some of their ideas and some of their sample language with us. It is interesting to note that the focus of some sample language was on acknowledging a problem exists, while other sample language focused on the tough job policing in Ithaca is and the many fine dedicated officers we have. We started our meetings with most of that focus already understood and acknowledged. Perhaps, with the burden of being elected officiclas not upon us, we decided to focus on some specifics. And, further exercising our freedom as just regular residents, as opposed to elected officials, we also decided to leave the whereas' and resolveds' to you. Even after reviewing the notes and some of the tape of last week's meeting, we were unsure as to what exactly our charge was. That stated, allow us to share some of our concerns and some easily attainable solutions. We realize that our community demands that aggressive, thorough, and proactive enforcement be conducted by our police officers, especially in the area of drugs and violence. Police officers acknowledge that consistent with this demand, an environment is created in which unfounded biases come into the interaction between our community members and of our police officers. As a result, there are problems that occur in the everyday encounters between some of our community members and some of our police officers. These problems can and have resulted in strong feelings of mistrust, anger, and frustration. . We also sense that there is a strong desire to change this current dynamic in police/ community relations. In order to better address these issues, we would like to develop a strategy for both an immediate course of action as well as on-going future actions. Some possible plans for action are listed below. In order to do these things and address these problems, we would like Common Council to: 1) Agree that the issues of Police Community relations are important and that the situation that currently exists is not as good as it should be 2) Commit to both the immediate and the on-going action plans suggested in this statement and to consider the resolves listed in the "MRC Police" Resolution. As for our suggestions for immediate action we would like: 1) Common Council to make available the resources necessary to facilitate, and make happen, frequent opportunities that bring together members of our community and police officers in an environment of positive interaction. I Finally, as we see it, a commitment to all these issues (immediate and on-going) is the only manner in which you as members of Common Council can ensure that we have a truly reflective, responsive, and accountable police department. Thank you very much for your consideration. July 2, 1996 THEREFORE let it be resolved that the City of Ithaca make a commitment to seriously and meaningfully address the unlawful and discriminatory practices of the police Department and individual officers. Specifically,your response to this situation should include, but not be limited to: Mandatory,ongoing diversity workshops for all current and newly hired-employees in the city since all city employees have a responsibility to serve the needs of all its citizens as determined by the community, Recruitment of people of color from the downtown Ithaca community to be involved in the interviewing and hiring of a new police chief, Implementing mandatory documentation and reporting of all IPD incidents(these reports should include all available information-i.e.location of incident, race and ethnicity, gender,sexual orientation if known,age,and other relevant information), Development of clear guidelines for police behavior, the enforcement of these guidelines, and clear consequences for infractions(education for initial mistakes, more serious repercussions for repeated offenses), The IPD working pro actively with the community to develop educational programs to address the current problem or further problems that may arise(such as hate crimes, violence, robbery,etc). The IPD immediately beginning this process due to the current situation that exists locally, A coalition of community members and organizations along with City officials working together to determine who does the training, and let it further be resolved that,while we do not support the police's discriminatory practices,we do support the fight against illegal drugs in our community, and are willing to work with the Mayor,City Council,the Police Department,and individual law enforcement officers to address these problems immediately.