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Home My WebLink About08-14-17 Health and Public Safety Soil if ft g� 0 . F U d W rEnCE �le ■ 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK HEALTH &PUBLIC SAFETY AUGUST 14, 2017 3:45 P.M. Committee Members Present: John Voorde, Karen White, Oliver Davis Committee Members Absent: Jo M. Broden Other Council Present: Tim Scott, Dr. David Varner, Gavin Ferlic, Regina Williams-Preston, Randy Kelly Other Council Absent: None Others Present: Kareemah Fowler, Bob Palmer, Graham Sparks Presenters: Karen White, Tim Scott, Scott Ruszkowski Agenda: Substitute Bill No. 46-17—Synthetic Marijuana Ordinance Committee Vice Chair John Voorde called to order the Health and Public Safety Committee meeting at 3:47 p.m. He introduced members of the committee and proceeded to give the floor to the presenters of the legislation. Substitute Bill No. 46-17— Svnthetic Marijuana Ordinance Councilmember Karen White stated, We are very happy to bring this before the Committee and the Council. This grew out of a concern as a number of City employees witnessed first-hand in January 2017 three (3) young men that appeared to be under the influence of these synthetic substances and, had the employees not been there,the outcome would have probably been much different. At that time, the Chief of Police met with community individuals and he shared his concerns about the increase of synthetics drugs. He discussed the impact it had not only on the police force, but also on the public health community. A number of individuals became involved. We've looked at a number of ways to expand the scope of the disorderly house ordinance. Councilmember Tim Scott stated, There have been many people involved with this and I thank everyone. What is hard about this is this stuff keeps changing to get around the law. The problem is this is devastating to our community. People think this is something that isn't illegal but it affects us and them in so many different ways. It also affects people of all different ages. This ordinance helps with the awareness within the community and it is time we put this on the books. We've learned a lot about this we look forward to tackling this issue. 455 County-City Building-227 W.Jefferson Boulevard-South Bend,Indiana 46601 Phone 574-235-9221 •Fax 574-235-9173•TDD 574-235-5567-www.SouthBendIN.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN ALKEYNA M.ALDRIDGE JOSEPH MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski, 701 W. Sample Street, stated, There are two perspectives with this. There is second-hand information and first-hand information. This has been going on for quite a while. People look at the Police Department to take care of things punitively and that means handcuffs,jail time, etcetera. I think this is a measure undertaken by the Council that can hopefully avoid becoming punitive. Obviously health and public safety is first and foremost; it is imperative. If nothing more than a deterrent for businesses,this gives the businesses a chance to be good stewards of our community by choosing not to sell this stuff. A lot of times our personnel respond to medical situations that are unknown in how they came about, and that makes their jobs difficult. When citizens ingest this stuff, the encounter usually always turns physical and there is no de-escalation solution available for the responding personnel. It is very scary to not know how a situation might unfold. We are also working on crafting a community promise of sorts that business owners can sign to guarantee the support of the community. This stuff looks so different and it is hard to look for it. There is definitely an educational component to this. Committee Vice Chair Voorde opened the floor to questions from the Committee and Councilmembers. There were none. Committeemember Oliver Davis made a motion to accept the substitute version of Bill No. 46-17. Committeemember Karen White seconded the motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of three (3) ayes. Committee Vice Chair Voorde then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. Will Smith, 728 Whitehall Drive, stated, As this is written, I have an issue with terminology. Using the term synthetic marijuana really limits the scope to what this stuff is. If we change it to synthetic cannabinoids, which is a more all-encompassing term that would subsequently give more jurisdiction to the enforcing agencies. As of now,there are still unknown cannabinoids and by changing the term to synthetic cannabinoids, we would be prepared to regulate those as well. Committee Vice Chair Voorde turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motions. Committeemember Davis made a motion to send Substitute Bill No. 46-17 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation,pending the terminology change to synthetic cannabinoids and anticipating a second Substitute Bill at the 7:00 p.m. Council meeting. Committeemember White seconded this motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of three (3) ayes. Councilmember Dr. David Varner stated, I've noticed an increase of individuals loitering, sleeping and panhandling. He then asked Chief Ruszkowski what the ideal response to this problem should be. There are so many,they are bringing a bad view to the City. It is also spreading. Councilmember Tim Scott stated, We had the Downtown South Bend Board meeting today. The new Ambassador for DTSB to deal with homelessness and panhandling is Chris Anderson. He has started and I have heard good things about him. I will have him and Jill Scicchitano come to the Committee and Council to talk about their progress. 2 Councilmember Gavin Ferlic stated, I often wonder what other communities are doing. I think our community has stepped up to the plate. It is a difficult balance because obviously we want to provide, and do provide, quality services but when other surrounding communities don't, I worry that we receive more individuals to take advantage of our services. It can't just be South Bend. Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston stated, When we had the consultant here, I think they debunked that notion that more people come for the services. Regardless of that,there are still thirty (30)people under the bridge, no matter where they come from and that is an issue. Committeemember Davis stated, With the casino coming up, too, this issue will only spread and get worse. Chief Ruszkowski stated, The Police, of course,respond to all calls for these issues. State Law allows panhandling a first amendment right. There are two (2) components here. People often associate panhandling and homelessness. There are difference between those. There are also differences between loitering and trespassing. We, the Police Department, cannot detain someone for what they did, or what they will do,we can only act on immediate and recorded actions. Almost all problems in the City are focused in on Police. We feel it and it is very disheartening because we are dealing with this as well as robberies and shootings in between. Councilmember Scott stated, I would always rather err on the side of caution and call you guys than to leave it be and possibly allow for something bad to happen to that individual or the community. Committeemember Davis stated, I hope there is something in the budget beyond Chris Anderson's salary that will deal with these issues. We need some seed monies and then we should invite other communities to put money in to address this. We also need to itemize the homelessness report to make actionable goals toward solving this. With no further discussion, Committee Vice Chair Voorde adjourned the Health and Public Safety Committee meeting at 4:25 p.m. Respectfully Subm"tted, 11 � \-.,/�I %.- John Voorde, Committee Vice Chair 3