07-27-09 Common Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING JULY 27, 2009 this afternoon. She stated that would come off the top of any penalties that would be paid and all fines that would be paid would be sent to a dedicated fund in the South Bend Police Department and that is the same department of the City where the school crossing guard salaries come out of. Councilmember Henry Davis questioned who will be writing down the license plate number of the offender. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand stated that they gave authority and currently there are regulations specific of authority that have been in the City Code for South Bend since 1967 with regard to the rules governing school crossing guards and what they can do and what their authority can do. She stated that they have added the discretionary authority not mandatory but discretionary authority, for instance if the children have crossed and they see that someone has passed, they can direct that car and contact the police department and have an officer’s issue that citation. Councilmember Henry Davis asked if that is putting them in a tough predicament. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand stated that the current language on the books states that no operator of a vehicle or any pedestrian shall disobey the signal or order of a school crossing guard. Councilmember Henry Davis stated that this might be overstepping boundaries. He noted that we have laws on the books that aren’t being enforced such as lawn parking. When the Council starts adding things like this to the books it just sets the City up for failure, because they are not being enforced. Councilmember Puzzello stated that there will be more discussion to do with regard to enforcement that needs to be worked out. She noted that at the beginning of the school year there are police officer’s in the area of the school zones making sure that people are obeying the speed limit. She stated that this bill will enforce that safety and draw attention to it. She stated that even with having to still fine tune the enforcement part of the bill, it is a good bill. Councilmember Henry Davis stated that there had been discussion on making this ban city wide not just in school zones. He questioned what the difference was between school zone and a residential district. He stated that he knows that children go to school in school zones but children also live and play in residential neighborhoods and this could be potentially the same type of problem in the neighborhoods as well as in the school zones. So would it behoove the Council not to extend it to the entire city rather than constraining it to one certain area? He stated that he would like to make a motion to that effect after the Council portion is complete. He stated this is like putting the cart before the horse. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked if the crossing guards would receive any training to help them proceed on this issue. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand stated that it is her understanding that the applications for school crossing guards just recently went out. She stated that if the Council would go forward on this that would be again a part of Division Chief Jeff Walters’s department who oversees all the school crossing guards, but it is her understanding that there would be training. Councilmember Rouse stated that during discussion in committee the Mayor made a suggestion that Councilmember Henry Davis has addressed and that is banning the use of cell phones city wide. He stated that is wasn’t in a form of a motion but was certainly a part of the discussion. He stated that he wasn’t sure that it was wise to expect a crossing guard to direct a car to the curb because they have their hands full watching the kids. He stated that if they become busy trying to tell someone to pull to the curb and some kid gets hit, has that issue been addressed in the research and discussion in drafting the bill. 4