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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSafe City - 1996-02-06SAFECI'I'Y~1996-02-06 SAFE CITY COMMITTEE MINUTES FEBRUARY 6, 1996 The Safe City Committee held its meeting under the Chairmanship of Trudy Beaulne and Councillor Karen Redman with the following members present: Brock Stanley, Councillor Mark Yantzi, Julie Dean, Nancy Brawley, Philip Fernandez, Gregory Jahn, Wilfred Park, Alan Richardson, Bryan Stortz, Karen Taylor-Harrison and Bob Arnot. Members Absent: Manuela Almeida and Rita Westbrook. I Trudy Beaulne Alan Richardson Julie Dean Bob Arnot Before Agenda Set for March 5th Meeting For the March 5th Meeting. All Committee Members Call Christiana to ask her to facilitate our next meeting. If unavailable try Tharen Kramer & Tom Lemon. Contact Rita Westbrook and look at getting Crime Statistics and see what Statistics are available. Follow up with Groups who have proceeded with their projects and inquire about how we as a Committee can help. See about getting a representative from the Youth Council Review Initiatives put together by the Safety Committee. (See attached). While we were waiting for Members of the Committee, the meeting unofficially began with -48- Wilfred Park expressing concern over the number of paper copies that were distributed due to the number of carbon copies on the Agenda and Minutes, Wilfred also noted concern over the amount of time this would take as opposed to sending through E-Mail. He suggested that copies could be sent to all the people at City Hall through E-Mail. Avril Tanner explained that this had been a topic of discussion for the circulation of the Building Permit Monthly Report and continued by saying that we had tried this option and people had not liked the idea. Wilfred then inquired about doing this for those who did not mind. Mark Yantzi commented that the problem with doing this was that it was more time consuming to do both methods. Trudy Beaulne officially started the meeting by explaining that since Councillor Karen Redman was late she would Chair the meeting until Karen came. 1. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 6TH AGENDA Bob Arnot made reference to the attachment entitled "Future Meeting Dates" noting that he thought that the August 6, 1996 was a Committee Day and asked Councillor Mark Yantzi to confirm this. After Councillor Mark Yantzi checked his schedule he noted that in fact this was the case, as Monday, August 5th was a Holiday all Committee meetings would be held on the 6th. Brock Stanley mentioned that most Committees do not hold meetings in August because of all the people who are on vacation and suggested that this Committee might want to discuss cancelling the August meeting. After some discussion a motion was made to leave the August 6th meeting date scheduled as is and make a decision on this when we approach this meeting time. Moved By: Trudy Beaulne Seconded By: Wilfred Park CARRIED Nancy Brawley noted she had an Agenda item she would like to include on "Youth Services Canada". Julie Dean added that she had another Agenda item on "Co-op Student Work Program". It was suggested by Nancy Brawley that there be a section entitled "Other Business" included in the Agenda. A motion was made to include the above two additions and then approve the Agenda. -49- Moved By: Alan Richardson Seconded By: Nancy Brawley CARRIED 2. REVIEW AND APPROVE MINUTES OF JANUARY 16, 1996 Avril Tanner indicated she had not included Bob Arnot's name in the Members Present at the January 16, 1996 meeting and noted this change would be made. A motion was made to approve the January 16th Minutes with the above noted change. Moved By: Bob Arnot Seconded By: Alan Richardson CARRIED 3. CLARIFICATION OF BUDGET Brock Stanley introduced this item by explaining that he asked for clarification of where the funds came from and what the expectation is for them. He noted that originally $50,000.00 was set aside for the Pilot Study on Lighting and also the Safety Audit/Safe City Committee budget amounts are for use for this Committee and was not specifically set aside for the Downtown as there is money in the Downtown Budget for this. Brock explained that by no means is money required to be spent in the Downtown and therefore it would be up to this Committee to decide how the money is spent realizing of course that the main focus for the first two years is on the Downtown. Bob Arnot inquired if the amount of $100,000.00 was budged for 10 years. Brock Stanley replied by saying that $100,000.00 per year for the first 6 years and $50,000.00 for the next 4 years were budgeted, which totals $800,000.00 over 10 years. Nancy Brawley noted she wanted clarification on why these funds were taken from the Downtown if they were not going to be used solely for the Downtown as it reduces the Downtown Budget. Brock Stanley indicated he had asked this question and was told that the funds were for the Committee and therefore the Committee would decide where to spend these funds. Nancy Brawley then suggested that because these funds were taken from the Downtown Budget then the Downtown Budget would now be $400,000.00 less than the 2 Million originally budgeted and therefore we should change the Downtown Budgeted amount when speaking to the public. Brock Stanley again noted that there is an assumption that some of this money would be used on the Downtown as the main focus of -50- the Committee over the next 2 years is the Downtown. Trudy Beaulne asked if initiatives for other activities could be included in the budget. Brock Stanley replied that if they are a one-time study the funds come from the Capital Budget. Trudy then inquired if this included pilot projects and Brock answered by saying yes. Councillor Karen Redman then took over Chairing the meeting at this point. 4. DISCUSSION OF INITIATIVES Nancy Brawley recommended setting up a Brainstorming Evening with the initiatives already noted and to maybe spend some time adding to the initiatives and then deal with setting the priorities. Councillor Karen Redman then asked the Committee for a response on who would facilitate such a meeting. Julie Dean pointed out that Trudy Beaulne is a Workshop Facilitator. Nancy Brawley then suggested using resources outside the Committee to enable all Committee Members to be able to participate. Trudy Beaulne then recommended Christiana Saddler from Regional Crime Prevention. Councillor Karen Redman then inquired if the Committee felt that this was an appropriate choice. Trudy Beaulne noted that she does have a good background. Councillor Karen Redman then asked the Committee if anyone else recommendations. After some discussion the following people were Christiana Saddler, Tharen Kramer and Tom Lemon. had any other recommended, A motion was made to ask Christiana Saddler to Facilitate our Brainstorming Session. Moved By: Nancy Brawley Seconded By: Karen Taylor-Harrison CARRIED Councillor Karen Redman then asked the Committee when they would like to hold this Brainstorming Meeting. After some discussion it was decided by the Committee that the best option available to us would be to expand our March meeting from 3:00 - 5:00 pm to 3:00 to 5:30 pm which would give us an extra half hour and have Trudy Beaulne call Christiana. It was noted that Carol Robinson from the Downtown Development Team was scheduled for our March meeting to discuss the Retail Action Plan. The Committee decided to postpone this Agenda Item until our next meeting in April and that Avril Tanner would call her and notify her of this. -51- Nancy Brawley suggested reading the Initiatives that the Safety Committee came up with to familiarize themselves before the next meeting. (Will be attached to Agenda when circulated.) 5. DISCUSSION OF PROCESS USED FOR SELECTING MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE Nancy Brawley reminded the Committee about what Wilfred Park had suggested at the previous meeting about it maybe being advantageous to have a representative of the Youth Council, maybe someone younger. Councillor Mark Yantzi commented that he also thought this was a good idea. A motion was made to have Bob Arnot to take care of requesting this person from the Youth Council. Moved By: Nancy Brawley Seconded By: Bryan Stortz CARRIED 6. DISCUSSION ON WHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO THE COMMITTEE Brock Stanley explained that there were two possible ways of dealing with resource people if the Committee decided they wanted outside resource people involved. He continued by saying they could either come to every meeting, however not be able to vote, or participate in Working Groups/brought in when dealing with items of their expertise. Wilfred Park noted he felt they should be included when the Committee was dealing with specific items of their expertise. Alan Richardson noted he would like to see Crime Statistics to see what the highest rates of Crime were in specific areas of the City (ie. Shoplifting). Councillor Karen Redman then posed the question of whether these types of Statistics were actually available. Bryan Stortz indicated that they are still working on a somewhat manual system noting that they might be able to go back to Annual Reports or may be able to in a generalized fashion on what Crimes are more relevant. Nancy Brawley mentioned that she has requested this type of information before and it took 6 months for them to compile it and it was not really usable for area separations. She added that we need to deal with two levels, perception and reality, noting they go hand in hand. Karen Taylor-Harrison emphasized that she concurs with Nancy, noting that the best way to find out would be to talk with Rita Westbrook when she returns. Brock Stanley also noted that the 1993 Planning Committee collected this type of information, their interest being Urban Density and how it related to Crime. He added -52 - they had a Staff Member work directly with someone and it took approximately 3 months to compile and is compiled by community. He suggested that this information may be useful. Councillor Karen Redman commented that the 1993 information may be useful, however, it would be nice to have 1994 and 1995 Statistics. Julie Dean mentioned that all the information is compiled according to where the people were arrested and not where the Crime happened and added that there is a high percentage of unreported Crime. Trudy Beaulne informed the Committee that there is a place in Ottawa that compiles National Statistics and makes projections, noting they have projected Kitchener Waterloo area in the past. Gregory Jahn supported Alan Richardson's idea of collecting these statistics noting that it would enable us to prioritize our initiatives around the areas with the highest percentage of crime. He added it would be very helpful to know how many times the Police had to respond to a specific area. A motion was made that Alan Richardson work with Rita Westbrook to look into these types of Statistics. Moved By: Nancy Brawley Seconded By: Nancy Brawley CARRIED Councillor Karen Redman indicated that there is always a Political reprocussion with these types of items and we should proceed with caution. Brock Stanley commented that when the Planning Committee received their statistics they did not persue the matter for this reason. Bryan Stortz pointed out that this information was still Public Information. Trudy Beaulne suggested finding out where people are actively doing something to prevent Crime. Councillor Mark Yantzi mentioned that where there are more Police Officers there is more Crime. It was recommended by Nancy Brawley that this Committee should be Proactive. Alan Richardson said he though this type of information would be useful to help pinpoint an area to give us an idea, for example, maybe a bush is too big, or maybe the area is not light enough. Gregory Jahn commented that they would not be looking for names or what happened only at how many times Police have been called out to look at a specific area. Wilfred Park suggested we should look at what type of information is available to us. Julie Dean noted she had looked into getting this type of information and explained that the Police do not record the physical aspects of the area at the time, she suggested that maybe this Committee should recommend to the Police Department that this type of information be recorded. Trudy Beaulne remarked that while Crime Statistics would be useful, we need to think of other useful resources as well. Karen Taylor-Harrison noted that we should look at item #3 under Business Arising From Past Meetings on the Agenda as she felt what was discussed was not the intent of having this item on the Agenda. Trudy Bealune added that this item was included in the Agenda as a form of protest and to get feedback from the Committee Members. Wilfred Park -53- continued by explaining that he was appointed to the Committee even though he had noted that he lives in Cambridge on his application. Julie Dean informed the Committee that Council has now made it a Policy that only people who live or work in Kitchener may be appointed to a Committee. Councillor Mark Yantzi added that this was always a loose Policy and Council just decided to make it a Formal Policy. Gregory Jahn commented that he felt we had discussed this in time # 4 under Business Arising From Past Meetings on the Agenda noting that we could have them attend as a special resource person. A question was posed to the Committee as to whether this was a specific issue, by Councillor Mark Yantzi. Trudy Beaulne commented that it was a question of the Process of Selection and we added it to the Agenda as an item to follow through with a discussion the Committee had at the first meeting. Councillor Mark Yantzi mentioned that there are ways the Committee could include people who are not Committee Members. Julie Dean asked for clarification on "work in the city". Bryan Stortz clarified by saying they must have an office in the City. At this point it was suggested by Nancy Brawley that we move on to the next Agenda item. Brock Stanley added one last comment, being that in the Terms of Reference we have a section on pulling in resources from City Staff including people from Parks and Recreation, Pulic Works, Planning & Development and Transit Departments. He added that we will start to pull together this Committee and they will report to the Safe City Committee. 7. YOUTH SERVICE CANADA Nancy Brawley introduced this item by explaining that she felt the Committee could capitalize on a Program of this nature. She noted that the main focus was serving the Community based on Community Need, adding, that it is an outlet for Youth to give back to the Community. The target age group would be Youth between the ages of 18-24. She explained that the Factors for Success were Passion, Clear Objectives, Clear and Meaningful Responsibilities, Focus on Learning through Community Service, Good Administration Skills, Project Identity, Clear Sense of Ownership by all Parties, Partnership, Mentoring and Personal Development. They offer counselling, Career Development, Activity Evaluation and Support. They would prefer 10-20 Participants and each participant would be funded with $10,000.00 with a breakdown as follows: $200.00/per week to each participant with a minimum of 70% on Participant and Maximum of 30% on Administrative, with a $2,000.00 bonus, $500.00 for finishing and $1,500.00 to be applied to a Student Loan or equivalent. They are accepting applications now and it takes about 2-3 months for the approval process. For more information please refer to the attached 2 documents entitled "A Close Up Look and YSC" and "How to Become a Youth Service Canada Project Sponsor". 8. CO-OP STUDENT WORK PROGRAM Julie Dean referred to a handout she circulated at the beginning of the meeting entitled -54- "Co-Op Student Work Program" (See attached). She noted she had to submit a rough outline in a weeks time and wanted some feedback on what was on the handout. Alan Richardson commented on the amount of work noting it was going to be a heavy workload. Councillor Mark Yantzi suggested that most of the work was student oriented and that the student hired might wish to be more active. Julie Dean noted the student hired would be more active. Wilfred Park suggested we may want to include some items developed through our next meeting. Councillor Karen Redman suggested making a Comprehensive List of Youth Programs. Trudy Beaulne emphasized that when we have looked into these areas before after getting the information we need to follow through with the items and maintain them. Alan Richardson recommended inviting these groups to give us their mandates. Councillor Karen Redman inquired as to how many groups there were. Trudy Beaulne replied by saying it depended on how you view the groups. She added she knew of about 3 groups, however, she does not know if their was any follow through. Alan Richardson suggested that if we could have these groups come to one of our meetings we could organize some of this for the Co-op Student. Councillor Karen Redman inquired as to whether this information would be usable or of importance. Julie Dean responded by saying it would be good to see how far these projects have been going. Councillor Karen Redman suggested having Julie Dean follow-up on this. Julie Dean inquired if anyone had any names. Trudy Beaulne replied saying she had names and phone numbers at home. Wilfred Park suggested inquiring as to how we as a Committee may be able to help in following through with the Projects. Councillor Karen Redman asked the Members of the Committee if they had any Future Agenda Items they wished to include, and then inquired how the Committee wished to proceed if Christiana was not able to Facilitate our next meeting. The Committee suggested trying Tharen Kramer and Tom Lemon and if they were unavailable then we would use the resources within the Committee. 9. LETTER FROM COMMUNITY SAFETY & CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL Julie Dean explained (referring to the Letter from the Region) that the Crime Prevention Council was requesting that someone attend one of the listed meetings to give a presentation about what measures have been taken for a safer community. She noted she volunteered and wondered if anyone else was interested. A motion was made to adjourn the meeting. Moved By: Alan Richardson Seconded By: Gregory Jahn CARRIED Meeting adjourned 4:45 pm. A. Tanner -55- LIST OF ATTACHMENTS 2. 3. 4. A Close Up Look At Youth Service Canada How to Become A Youth Service Canada Sponsor Co-Op Student Work Program Letter from Regional Crime Prevention Council