Yesterday morning when I read this, after puking (there is only so much smarminess one person can take), I was intrigued. After all the work we have been doing to get homeless people to have a program to pay off their tickets for the past two years . . . voila! I’m glad the program is here, but it brings up many, many questions, not the least of which, why’d we only get 5 days notice of this?
To avoid puking, skip the first 5 paragraphs. Here’s the relevant part:
The purpose of this first ever, two-hour event is to allow residents with past due citations for traffic, parking and ordinance violations incurred in the City of Madison to meet with City staff to discuss alternative ways of resolving their tickets. The day for this event is Sunday, March 13th, from 4pm-6pm at the Villager Mall-Head Start Room (north end) which is located at 2206 S. Park Street.
On a first come, first served basis, individuals can speak with Assistant City Attorneys and MPD civilian staff to negotiate alternate ways to pay off fines/forfeitures, or set up payment plans or have their fines/forfeitures reduced. (An attorney can also attend on behalf of an individual, if they so wish). MPD will have representatives from our outreach group known as Amigos en Azul to help with translation and to generally assist in helping people through the process. As Chief, I want to impress upon people that this is NOT a pretext for arresting people . . .no warrant checks will be conducted on individuals looking to participate in this program.
Other parameters of the program that should be noted:
~This day will NOT be for anyone with concerns or questions about criminal charges, family law issues (i.e., child support, etc.), or small claims.
~Individuals with citations must appear in person or by an attorney. Family members are not allowed to appear on someone else’s behalf.
~Assistant City Attorneys can give information on citations or direct individuals where to go with their questions but cannot provide legal advice.
~This is an opportunity for individuals with outstanding forfeitures to possibly reopen citations and potentially get forfeiture reductions and/or payment plans and/or community service in order to pay off forfeitures. The City Attorney’s Office will not be reopening cases to set them for trial and re-litigate the facts. Individuals who are currently on payment plans with the Madison Municipal Court may request to modify their payment plan or add new forfeitures to that payment plan.
~Standard $40 reopening fee will be waived.
So, this is good, I think. If done right. Now, the questions.
1. Only homeless people get warrants – 378 of them in about 3 years, why? If there are all these other people with unpaid fines, why don’t they get warrants?
2. Why is this being held on a Sunday (less buses running) from 4 – 6, when the shelters open at 5:00 and this is on S. Park St., no where near the shelters.
3. Why are we getting so little notice. The blog came out yesterday and a police officer stopped by my office to drop off flyers yesterday, but why didn’t we get at least a month’s notice. 5 days notice?
4. Why are we dinking around with a Homeless Restorative Justice Court when this is going on at the same time?
5. Why didn’t the police or the Municipal Judge (Dan Koval, the chief’s brother) mention this in the several years we have been meeting to address this issue – especially when we met as recently as last week?
6. Ok, wait, the police who ticketed people and the city attorney’s who prosecuted them are there to “help” these folks . . . call me crazy but . . . you’re essentially relying on the “enemy” in the adversarial (court) system to “help” you. Where are the pro bono attorney’s to make sure that this isn’t a lopsided deal? Or to make sure that people aren’t talked into things that aren’t fair out of fear? Seems like a recipe to be taken advantage of, but perhaps that’s the purpose. Sorry, but I’m really cynical. I hope this works, it helps some people, and that they repeat it with more notice next time.
7. Can we put this through the RESJI (Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative) process?
Police . . . “mercy” . . . puhleeeeze . . . why don’t they start on the front end and not cause all these issues in the first place.
I think I’m going to go hurl again . . .
(yeah, I’m cranky and tired and swamped at work and in no mood for bullshit)
