| City Commission Work Session | Mayor Pro-tempore Beecher presiding |
CALL TO ORDER: 5:45 P.M.
ROLL CALL: City Commissioners present: Bill Beecher, Sandy Hinz, Diane Jovick-Kuntz and John Rosenbaum. Mayor Gray was excused. Also present were the City Manager, Assistant City Manager, City Attorney, Directors of Fiscal Services, Community Development, Planning, Public Works, Police Chief, Acting Director of Public Works, Acting Fire Chief and the Deputy City Clerk.
Assistant City Attorneys Tony Lucas and Kory Larsen presented to the Commission the City Attorney Action Plan. Mr. Lucas presented nine steps that would increase staff, and open communication with community development and other relevant departments. They were as follows:
Mr. Larsen stated that there had been several new policies adopted which would require additional staffing in different areas. One area was DUI prosecution. The goal for the City Attorney's office was to be firm, fair and consistent in prosecution of driving under the influence cases in Municipal Court. They would like to assign one attorney to all the DUI cases. This would allow consistency in prosecution. Their goal was to increase the percentage of convictions, maintain the new percentage, and reassess the policy based on community safety factors. Some DUI specifics requiring additional staff training would be as follows: PowerPoint case preparation; Portable Breath Test (PBT) and Horizontal Gaze Nystegmus (HGN), an eye pen testing (PBT - HGN); report writing and witness preparation. Currently the attorneys visit with each witness immediately prior to a trail which does not allow adequate time.
Another area was weekly review which would include: new DUI, partner/family assaults (PFMA,) stalking & temporary protection order (TPO) case review and staff issues to allow feedback. The goal for partner/family member assault was to increase convictions against multiple offenders and address lethality factors in cases of TPO violations, PFMA and stalking charges. He added that there was a large case load of domestic partner/family assault issues and staff would require additional training in this area. One other area was feedback to Police, which would require additional training for excellent reports, PBT, video, evidence issues and a procedure for investigative follow-ups.
Mr. Larsen stated that the specifics for PFMA were the adopting of a partner/family member assault prosecution plan that required follow-up investigation procedures and setting trials within thirty days or less of appearance for the charges.
Another area for training was in Community Development (CD). The goal was to obtain full compliance of all violators and seek appropriate prosecution in an effort to resolve the worst offenses. The specifics for this would be training of the staff in probable cause affidavits and to have weekly/monthly meetings to touch bases with staff and issues. Other violations include: MIPS, traffic collisions, no insurance, resisting arrest/obstruction/false reports and additional criminal charges.
Mr. Larsen stated that the priority for the Attorney's office was to hire a full time Chief Prosecutor. Also, that he (Mr. Larsen) would begin working Tuesdays - Fridays. He included that the Department would need technology upgrades. Their current technology limits their ability to present evidence effectively in court. The Attorney's office was asking for a digital whiteboard. They received input and a recommendation from IT for the upgrades. This would allow legal services the ability to meet departmental goals and objectives. With this request they would need a laptop computer with specialized software and a scanner. This would allow evidence of DUI/DVD/HGN and patrol car video to be presented in a current updated version. He stated that the requested proposal would enhance revenue that would eventually cover the technology costs and their ability to meet goals and objectives. The total cost for the technology upgrade was $16,000.
Commissioner Hinz asked if training had already begun. Mr. Larsen stated that some training had taken place.
Commissioner Jovick-Kuntz asked if the City had space for another Judge if needed. She also stated that the request from the Attorney's office did not require a lot of money and that she was in favor of their request.
City Manager John Lawton stated that a staffing position and finances had been created, and the plan was to go ahead with the request. It would require re-adjusting the budget to accommodate the position. He added that the computer equipment would come from the revolving fund and then be paid back from the revenues. He stated that there would be representation from the Police, Community Development, Legal and the Human Resource departments when interviewing for the position. He added that any changes that would be involved in the request would come back before the Commission.
Planning Director Ben Rangel presented the Commission with handouts for the tentatively scheduled dates for adoption of the Land Development Code involving the City-County Planning Board, Land Development Advisory Committee and City Commission. He also presented the Commission with the timeline for preparation and approval of the Land Development Code. This showed the dates and schedules of the meetings that were held and the different parties that were involved in the meetings. He added that the drafts were ninety-five percent completed. He also stated that during presentations they had received a list of comments and had addressed each comment.
Mr. Rangel asked the Commission to review the codes that had been completed so far and bring any questions or concerns back to the committee. He added that the codes would be available on the City's website and copies of the code would be in Planning, Public Works and the Library for the public to view.
Commissioner Jovick-Kuntz asked if casinos would be able to locate on unannexed land throughout the City. She also asked if the committee had created a place for businesses to go if they sell out and needed to move.
City Manager John Lawton stated that the committee was working on solutions to deal with issues that have come up. Assistant City Manager Cheryl Patton stated that staff made some adjustments for accessory usage.
The Commission believed that there should be several public hearings to allow public comments and the understanding of the new land codes. Mr. Rangel added that staff did a comparison of the old code to the new code that would be helpful for the Commission while reviewing. He also stated that three plans had been adopted for reference for the land code. The next scheduled meeting for the Land Code Committee was May 11, 2005, to give a presentation to the Land Development Advisory Committee.
There being no further business to come before the Commission, the regular work session of May 3, 2005, adjourned at 6:57 p.m.
Home => Records => Work Session Minutes Listing Page => 2005 Work Session Minutes