06-12-17 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING JUNE 12, 2017 Whitney Humphrey, 3106 Rednickle Court, Apartment 9Z, South Bend, IN, stated that she is in favor of the pilot program but that the City should go further by ticketing and fining panhandlers, who have homes and nice cars, that are scamming citizens. Sharon Banicki, 3822 Ford Street, South Bend, IN, stated that she likes the program. Ms. Banicki stated, I know it's got its faults, its holes, but don't let that stop it. Don't get hung up on the details. Do whatever it takes to give the people that want another opportunity a decent way to earn money. None from the public wished to speak in opposition to this bill. Councilmember Williams-Preston stated, I would like to volunteer District 2. As Mr. Banicki- start with helping out Code Enforcement. Critchlow pointed out, rt would be a great place to p g Councilmember Williams-Preston pointed out that, in the substitute bill,the words"panhandling and poverty"were added to the title. She clarified that she is for the program but cautioned against expanding the program to poverty and putting a band-aid over those poverty issues. She stated, I want to make sure that we keep that laser-focus so that we don't dilute the program. Councilmember Broden stated, There is an opportunity here...but we have not defined the opportunity. The who, what, where,when, why—all of those components, all the questions,the answers to those—that's where all the really hard work begins. If this is launching that deeper and wider conversation, I can be very supportive of that. She commended the bill's sponsors for incorporating changes that were suggested by other Councilmembers and also for not setting a specific dollar amount for the program's funding, as she expects that those numbers would be exceeded. She stated, We do need to define what the issues are and what our challenges are so that we know what the best possible shot at a solution could be. She expressed hope that this program would work in concert with current programs, such as Councilmember Scott's downtown program, that have been trying to tackle the panhandling issue already. Councilmember Dr. Varner stated there needs to be access to other funding besides the City of South Bend. He stated, I think we should focus on panhandling. I think you need a task force of thousands for just poverty. Councilmember Dr. Varner stated that if the program tackling panhandling were successful, maybe aspects of it could in the future be applied to solving poverty. He emphasized that this should not be viewed as an issue to be solved by only the municipality,but rather by a combination of institutions. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic thanked the sponsors for bringing forward this program. Councilmember Davis stated that he is open to focusing the aim of the program on panhandling. Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston made a motion to strike from the title of Substitute Bill No. 17-26 the words "and Poverty" and create a Second Substitute Bill No. 17-26. Councilmember Karen White seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. Councilmember Scott thanked the sponsors for the resolution, stating that he wants to challenge the sponsors to delve into the hard work and collaboration necessary to get his job done. He stated that there has been a lot of talk on the issue of panhandling but lamented that there has so far been no action. He stated that he believes that between the Council and Administration, there is enough intelligence to figure out how to accomplish this task and how to fund it. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to adopt Second Substitute Bill No. 17-26. Councilmember Karen White seconded the motion which carried by a roll call vote of nine (9) ayes. 17-29 A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, APPROVING THE ISSUANCE OF SCRAP METAL/JUNK DEALERS/RECYCLING OPERATION LICENSES FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2017 PURSUANT TO SECTION 4-51 OF THE SOUTH BEND MUNICIPAL CODE 8