09-14-15 Common Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING September 14, 2015 Councilmember Davis Jr. responded you’re right it is financial but the changes to the streets will effect upcoming areas. It has to do with how we develop moving forward in our city as a result of traffic. NEW BUSINESS Councilmember Oliver Davis requested a report for the Sample Street issue that the Mayor referenced previously. Councilmember Schey will follow up in the Public Works Committee. Councilmember Karen White announced we will be having the next off-site budget hearing st meeting this coming Monday, September 21 at the Latino Culture Center on W. Washington, starting at 6 p.m. He has contacted Ms. Caroline Archie to ask for dates for another off-site meeting at that location making it three (3) off-site budget hearing meetings. If you would like to have an off-site meeting in your neighborhood please contact me. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR Jesse Davis – P.O. Box 10205, South Bend – You sent me a letter recently rejecting several privileges of the floor that you gave me answers or explanations to. Your explanations that were given did not reflect the questions that were asked. Please do me a favor, as I take my time to do the research, forward my questions to the department heads as that is your job. Second, we have another building project going on at South Bend Animal Control, that I don’t recall hearing about in City Council. I went and checked, there were no building permits pulled for this job. I got an anonymous phone call that this job went out for bids, the bids came in a little high. So Matt, from Animal Control decided to have a city worker from Animal Control build it. I have a photo and my daughter could build a better structure out of Legos. We need to look to see who authorized the work, what they’re going to house animals; I’m sure DNR has some licensures that need to occur. I’m not against them doing it, just the fact that they went behind the Council and everybody to go about it. I can’t do it at my house, so they shouldn’t at theirs. Samuel Brown – 222 E. Navarre St., South Bend – I would like to thank the Council for the hard work that they do when the citizens come to them and ask for help. I have had no response from thth the 14 floor about the street name changes, as the Council has done their part but the 14 floor has not. I will continue to do my part and pray about it. There was a child that needed help in my grand-daughters neighborhood and she called me to call 911 and come. She told me this isn’t a bad neighborhood, there’s just one (1) or two (2) bad houses that need to go and then it would be great. I contacted the police about the situation and they stated I never came to them to th ask for help, as I did go to the 14 floor where they stated they contacted the Chief of Police. The 200 block will get straightened out as we will continue marching on. Huey Scoby – 3415 Riverside Drive, South Bend – I would like to thank the Council for doing a great job, during their period in office. I would like to refresh the memories of those who have forgotten that I’ve been fighting seven (7) years to get a permanent drive for MLK. Dr. King deserves better, so I stepped out doing a walk, this is how the sign looked in 07’. At the end of the journey a police officer pulled me over and looked at my sign and forced me to walk on the opposite side of the street where my sign could not be seen. He is no longer with the force, but now we have great officers. I did a second walk on West Portage Ave and have been trying to get in contact with the Mayor ever since. I’ve even sent him certified mail, no return. I was hoping he would be here tonight. Jason Banicki-Critchlow – 3822 W. Ford St., South Bend – As we start to talk about the budgeting process, I would like to focus on what we spend on public safety and the effect on people who live in the neighborhood. I live in an area that in the last week there was a stabbing, two (2) nights before that there was a shooting and a night before that an armed kidnapping. These are not due to a total number of police officers but due to the new leadership for increasing special appointments and special task forces and pulling them off of beats. In an area that has the smallest beats in the City but takes one of the highest call volumes, we are down to two (2) to three (3) officers on a routine day. This allows for them to only answer calls as opposed to making relationships with the neighborhood and engaging the community to make the City safer. I know the City is trying to do proactive things like having coffee with a cop, but that’s more PR than public safety. I worked five and half (5.5) years as a corrections officer in this county, the 13