The Mayor and Council leadership are proposing to prohibit committees from meeting, while development and alcohol licenses might be important for the economy, what about services to low income people and public safety?
For further background on the proposal, I wrote about it here (and here.)
I rarely give input directly to the elected leaders in this kind of manner. I let my opinions be known, but rarely send emails advocating for an item on an agenda or appear to publicly speak on the myriad of issues I care about. It would be a full time (unpaid) job. Today, however, I feel motivated to advocate on an item on the agenda this evening.
Here is an open letter to Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and council leadership regarding Public Safety and Community Services in the coronavirus world we are living in. I sent it to them this morning. I also cc’d deputy mayors Mary Botari and Cam McLay as well as Jim O’Keefe the Community Development Director and the Common Council. I’m hoping they make the right decision this evening.
Good Morning Mayor and Council President –
First of all, thank you for your leadership in these unprecedented times. As an outsider I’m sure I am only aware of a small fraction of your efforts at this time. I apologize for taking more of your time, but I write because I have two concerns about number 11 on the agenda this evening.
I strongly believe that the decision to meet should be left up to the committee chair in consultation with the staff of that committee. As a committee chair, I have received no guidance about what we are supposed to be doing at this time. However, I believe some strong guidance from the two of you, along with discretion of the committee chairs and staff is all that is needed. I don’t believe this requires an ordinance change.
If you move forward with this prohibition through ordinance, I believe you made an error in the list of committees that would be allowed to meet. You missed two important aspects of continuity of government.
1) The lack of committees dealing with community services/community development activities; and
2) Public Safety Review Committee
Community Services/Community Development
I have three primary concerns, but I’m sure there are many others that committee members would identify.
Homeless population: I hear you saying plans are being made to deal with homeless individuals. I’ve heard that for a few days. However, I haven’t seen anything happening. I know meetings are scheduled but I believe this is one area that should be addressed ASAP. And the community should be aware of plans that are being made.
People without phone access: With all the services being shut down for low-income people, I worry about many things, but particularly those who may have phones that have run out of minutes or have no phones.
Support for nonprofits on the front lines: And finally, I am concerned that now is a time that many nonprofits are going to need additional supports. Because we have been starving our non-profits for so long, I’m not even sure many of them would think to ask for additional funds. However, I believe additional funds are necessary for the nonprofits to serve our communities in these unprecedented times. Let’s face it, low-income people are still in the public facing jobs and are likely to be hardest hit by the coronavirus OR they have lost or will lose their jobs during this economic crisis. The non-profits, many of the workers low-income themselves, will be on the front lines helping people pick up the pieces and they are going to need additional support to do that work.
Public Safety Review Committee
Public Safety: I know our committee is not held in high regard. And I know that we have work to do to catch up from years of being neglected by the mayors and council and being selectively staffed by the Police and Fire Department. However, public safety is in the name of our committee. I feel we have value to add a this time. I believe the people on the committee come from a variety of backgrounds, are very involved in the community and can serve a useful purpose during this time. If nothing else to identify concerns and directly address them with information or policy recommendations.
Emergency Management: Looks like the Fire Department is in charge of the emergency management planning for the City. I have been told that is shared with the police department as well – that there are two people designated to head up this duty. I have talked with Deputy Mayor Cam McLay about how we don’t have a separate emergency management department. We identified this as an area that the Public Safety Review Committee should be looking into and making recommendations. It seems that helping the public understand, and identifying issues with our emergency plan (as members of the public, not staff), is a critical role for out committee and we should get started ASAP. Particularly if there are changes that should be made to that plan. PSRC was the lead on the plan in 2011.
I know sometimes committees are seen as an additional burden for staff. And I know you are still working out technology issues. But I would like to see some committees meet as soon as next week to discuss these matters. I think the committees can add value in the following ways:
1) Public Education and Information (And re-assurance that something is happening)
2) Policy suggestions to be considered
I think these are two areas, community services and public safety, that were neglected in the list provided in your memo.
While it may appear that public safety is covered by the Police and Fire Commission – we all know that their function is primarily around hiring and discipline. I understand why those functions would continue to be important in times of emergency, but they don’t cover policy issues regarding public safety or policy suggestions for the council. Also, I’m a bit concerned that we were promised unprecedented input in hiring of the next chief – and that is the work that continues during this time. While it is essential to move forward, I believe the police department is in more capable hands now with Acting Chief Vic Wahl in charge and perhaps waiting with the hire until robust public input can be had is appropriate at this time.
Again, I know you are extremely busy and there may be other committees making the same appeal to you at this time. However, I feel these community issues, services to low-income people and public safety, are certainly as important as developers and liquor licenses.
I ask you to:
1) Withdraw item number 11 and allow the committees and staff to exercise direction with strong guidance from you.
2) If you choose to move move forward with item 11, consider adding Community Services and/or CDBG plus Public Safety Review Committee to your list of committees that are not prohibited from meeting.
3) If you move forward with the ordinance and do not add Public Safety Review Committee to the list of committees allowed to meet, please consider this a request to allow the Public Safety Review Committee to meet.
Thank you for your time and all you are doing right now.
Brenda Konkel
Chair, Public Safety Review Committee
If you have concerns, please feel free to write your own email and send it to:
allalders@cityofmadison.com
SRhodes-Conway@cityofmadison.com
MBottari@cityofmadison.com
For public safety issues add
CMcLay@cityofmadison.com
For community services issues add
jokeefe@cityofmadison.com
