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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CES-2007-12-12 Communications & Emergency Services Committee Regular Meeting December 12, 2007 7:00 p.m. PRESENT: Chair J. R. Clairborne Alderpersons (3) Jennifer Dotson, Robin Korherr, Michelle Berry OTHERS PRESENT: City Clerk— Julie Conley Holcomb Director of IT— Duane Twardokus Fire Chief— Brian Wilbur Acting Police Chief— Edward Vallely Alderpersons: Maria Coles, Mary Tomlan Alderperson Elect— Eric Rosario ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA: Chair Clairborne requested that the approval of the November, 2007 minutes be deferred until next month. Alderperson Berry arrived at 7:15 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Joel Harlan, Town of Newfield voiced his concern about increased violence across the country. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC BY COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Alderperson Korherr thanked Mr. Harlan for his comments and the copy of the article about the tragic shooting of professional football player Sean Taylor. Chair Clairborne stated that he attended the 2nd Pastoral Anniversary of Reverend Nate Wright and sent his congratulations to Reverend Wright. He noted that Reverend Wright has been in the pulpit since he was 15 years old and now he has become a leader in the community. r- 6. Presentation by the Community Police Board Chair Clairborne explained that he asked the Community Police Board to provide a report to the Committee as they are connected to the Police Department who reports to the Communications and Emergency Services Committee. Mr. Daniel Slattery, Chair of the Community Police Board reported that the Board is comprised of 5 voting members. There are currently 2 vacancies on the Board and the youth member position is also vacant. He noted that the Board tries to balance its December 12, 2007 membership to reflect the diversity of the community. He requested that people who are interested in serving on the Board submit a resume form to the City Clerk's Office. The Community Police Board was established to act as a liaison between community members and the Ithaca Police Department. The Board works under the Mayor and is not part of the Police Department. The members of the Board work to resolve citizen complaints against the Police Department and to explain police procedures to members of the public. The Board further accepts commendations for police officers. The Board has an annual budget of$10,000 that is mainly used for supplies and to fund an administrative position currently held by Nancy Falconer. The Board reviewed 20 complaints so far in 2007: 4 were founded in favor of the complainant; 4 were conciliated; 4 were withdrawn; 2 were unfounded; 6 are still pending. The Board reviewed 14 complaints in 2006 and 8 complaints in 2005. The increase in complaints is attributed to expanded outreach efforts of the Board including tabling at events. Most of the complaints that the Board reviews are minor including issues such as noise violations, handcuffing, etc. If a severe complaint is received, the Board requests that the Police Department conduct an internal investigation, and the Board conducts their own independent investigation after the internal investigation. One member of the Board is assigned as the "case handler" and they assign complaints to Board members and track the progress of the complaints. Some cases take longer to resolve due to the large population of transient residents in the community. Alderperson Berry stated that she is glad to hear about the tabling efforts and that the rise in complaints can be considered a good thing as it means that people who want to resolve issues with the City know about the process. She questioned whether there had been recent stories in the newspaper about the Board's efforts and suggested that pubic service announcements on the radio would be helpful as well. Commissioner Slattery noted that some people feel that the Board has more authority than it does such as terminating police officers. The Board only makes recommendations regarding founded cases to the Chief of Police. The Board also hears appeals cases on taxicab licenses and can overturn the Police Chief's decision based on findings. Alderperson Coles stated that she is the liaison to the Community Police Board and she is amazed at the amount of responsibility each Commissioner takes on as they work on these complaints. Alderperson Clairborne questioned why the Community Police Board investigation of severe complaints is conducted after the Police Department internal investigation. 2 • December 12, 2007 Commissioner Slattery responded that the Board does not want to interfere with witnesses for the police investigation. The Board is not privy to the police investigation but the Police Chief receives information on the Board's investigation as an independent report. 7. Updates: 7.1 Time Warner Cable and the Access Oversight Committee Alderperson Dotson reported that there has been no resolution to the issue of the reduction in the public access studio hours. She stated that meetings between city staff and Time Warner representatives regarding the prior franchise agreement are ongoing. The next meeting is scheduled for January, 2008. 7.2 Public Information Officer Team (PIOT) and Public Information Initiative City Clerk Holcomb reported that the PIOT is working on an upgrade to the city's website including a new home page, improved navigational tools, e-mail subscription service, interactive forms, and a calendar solution. In addition, the PIOT is developing a Request for Proposals for a consultant to work with the city on the new web tools and the development of a bi-weekly, electronic, community newsletter. The newsletter will include stories about legislative issues, city programs and services, construction projects, frequently asked questions, upcoming meetings and events, and information about city employee awards, promotions and recognitions. 7.3 Fire Contract between City and Town of Ithaca Fire Chief Wilbur reported that Common Council adopted an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the Town of Ithaca that was scheduled to expire in March, 2008. Both parties are still in negotiations, 2 sessions have been held and the next session is scheduled for January, 2008. Discussion followed on the floor regarding the Strategic Planning for Firefighters Committee, the need for additional revenues to appropriately staff the department and the impact of tax exempt properties on the city budget. 7.4 Ithaca Police Department-Fall Creek Neighborhood Association meeting of December 3, 2007. Acting Police Chief Vallely reported that remarkable progress is being made on the Police Department electronic activity log that will be unveiled on the IPD webpage soon. The Department of Information Technology has been working very closely with the department and through this initiative they have found a way to automate the department's workflow regarding the filing of incident reports. Acting Chief Vallely noted that the electronic daily activity log was previewed to the Fall Creek Neighborhood Association last night and a positive response was received. Alderperson Korherr stated that Fall Creek Neighborhood Association has a sub- committee on crime in the area. Residents are interested in accessing crime data and want to be able to query information on certain areas. Acting Chief Vallely explained 3 • December 12, 2007 the car beat assignments and stated that the department will be posting a map of the beats on the website. He further noted that street names will be listed on the activity log but blocks will not be included as some streets are small and it would be easy to identify particular properties and crime victims. Acting Chief Vallely further explained that the he understood the neighborhood's concern about emergency communications getting out to residents as quickly as possible. He noted that a member of the Police Department is a subscriber on the South Hill Neighborhood Association Listsery and that they are trying to subscribe to the Fall Creek Listsery as well. Director of Information Technology Twardokus noted that Acting Chief Vallely has a great vision for the department to increase the use of technology to improve the efficiency of police officers including the use of mobile data terminals in police cars. He further stated that this is a developing process that will evolve over time. Alderperson Dotson expressed appreciation for the collaborative process. Acting Chief Vallely reported that a questionnaire is being developed and will be sent to random complainants to rate the service that the Ithaca Police Department provided. He further reported that a meeting with Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton was scheduled to discuss the annual distribution of 2008 Homeland Security funds. He stated that funds are funneled from the federal government to state government to the county government and the Sheriff distributes the money. The Police Department is trying to secure $65,000 for the replacement of the SWAT bus. 7.5 New Direction of Community Policing Acting Chief Vallely reported that all beat officers have been directed to complete logs during their shift that includes information about where they stopped, who they talked to, and what activity where happening. All logs are reviewed by the Acting Chief. Acting Chief Vallely reported on the annual Cops, Kids and Toys holiday gift drive. All toys have been collected from the drop boxes and today was the shopping day. All toys are being stored at the Cornell University Police Department in Barton Hall. He extended an invitation to Common Council members to ride along with the police officers as they distribute the toys to local children. 8. Discussion: 8.1 Council Communication and 2008 Council Orientation Alderperson-elect Eric Rosario and Manager of Organizational Development Leslie Moskowitz were invited to participate in the discussion. Ms. Moskowitz explained that the Common Council orientation program is relatively new as it has only been conducted in 2006 and 2007. She reviewed the previous agendas and explained the history of the program. 4 December 12, 2007 City Clerk Holcomb explained that staff received feedback from the previous orientations that indicated that a change in programming is needed as some Council members felt that the orientation was given to early in their term and they couldn't put the information in context and others felt that there was information overload in too short of a time period. Alderperson Coles suggested that the 1st module of orientation should be an overview of the role of Common Council and individual Council members. She further recommended that the module regarding Robert's Rules of order be held after new Council members have attended a few meetings. In addition, she felt that it would be helpful to provide information on how Council members follow-up on constituent requests. Alderperson Berry stated that an on-going training program that supports Council members through some of the issues that head into would be helpful such as how to handle critique by the public, the stress of the job, and how to run effective meetings. She further suggested that a mentoring program with senior members of Council or a department head could facilitate team building and information sharing. Alderperson-elect Rosario stated that he appreciates that the City has an orientation program and noted that he believes that orientation is more productive after people serve for a while. He stated that he knows instructors that provide very good training on Robert's Rules of Order and running effective meetings. Alderperson Korherr stated that she believes that training on Robert's Rules of Order is important and so is training on the various types of legislation. Alderperson Dotson stated that she is looking forward to learning about the different communication styles of Council members and getting to know each other better. She noted that conflict resolution training for Council members may be helpful. Alderperson Korherr left the meeting at 8:30 pm. Further discussion followed on the floor regarding how to facilitate a closed session where Council members can speak honestly about communication and interpersonal issues. Alderperson Clairborne stated that he believes that it would be helpful for all members of Council to attend the orientation session as the newer members of Council could benefit from the experience and advice of the senior members. He stated that he would like the training to include clarification of the role of the Mayor and Common Council, relationship building, expectations, accountability, respectful disagreements, training notifications and budgets, and Council / staff relationships. Further discussion followed on the idea of having an orientation program in March, 2008 and developing an on-going training curriculum to provide additional training on a 5 December 12, 2007 variety of topics. Alderpersons Coles, Tomlan, Clairborne and Rosario volunteered to serve on the Orientation Planning Team with Manager of OD Moskowitz, City Clerk Holcomb, Assistant City Attorney Sokoni and City Controller Thayer. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. 0' lie Conley Holco b J. '. Clairborne City Clerk hair 6