Public Safety and Mobile Neighborhoods Committee Meeting - February 21, 2018
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Public Safety and Mobile Neighborhoods Committee Meeting - February 21, 2018
The Public Safety and Mobile Neighborhoods Committee met on February 21, 2018, at 9 a.m. to discuss several items, including public comments on the California Values Act (SB 54), a consent agenda item on the Play All Day program, a fire rescue equipment replacement, a library overdue fines policy change, police recruitment and retention, police communications center performance, and identity theft investigations. The meeting included public speakers, committee member questions, and unanimous approvals on action items.
Consent Calendar
- The consent agenda included adoption of action items from January 24, 2018, which were adopted by unanimous consent without being pulled.
- Item 1 on the consent agenda (Play All Day program) had one public speaker in opposition, but the committee chose to move it forward. A motion was made and seconded to approve the item; it passed unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Margaret Baker (resident and property owner in Nestor, representing South Bay People Power) urged the committee to expedite implementation of SB 54 (California Values Act), stating that local resources should not be used for mass deportations and that safeguards are needed for public facilities. She noted that the law went into effect in January but policies were not yet updated.
- Martha Welch (speaking on consent agenda Item 1) opposed the Play All Day program, arguing it was a cheap way to create parks without bathrooms, that no budget line existed for school payments, and that the city should not use school funds for parks. She also commented on Mission Bay funding, claiming $20 million was allocated inappropriately.
- Scott Chipman (San Diego's for Safe Neighborhoods) spoke against the marijuana industry, citing health risks, increased black market activity (380% increase in Colorado), and the presence of carcinogens, pesticides, and fungus in cannabis. He urged the committee to prioritize public health and safety.
- No other public speakers were present for later agenda items.
Discussion Items
- Play All Day Program (Consent Agenda Item 1): Committee members discussed restrooms and lighting infrastructure. Andy Field (Assistant Director of Park and Recreation) and Shannon Scoggins (Park Designer) answered questions about plans for evening use and amenities.
- Fire Rescue Equipment Replacement (Item 2): Chief presented on replacing old equipment through an RFP process. New equipment is expected to last 12–15 years. The item was approved unanimously.
- Library Overdue Fines Policy (Item 3): Missy Jones (Library Director) proposed moving from an overdue fines model to a materials recovery model. The discussion included partnerships with schools and community colleges, and improvements in testing for library programs.
- Police Recruitment and Retention (Item 4): Chief reported on recruiting efforts, including partnerships with universities and high schools, a written test implemented in January 2018 with improved pass rates, and a focus on building a pipeline. Committee members discussed marketing strategies and the use of police service officers as a funnel to sworn positions. This was an information item only.
- Police Communications Center (Item 5): An informational report on call wait times. February 1–20 statistics showed an average wait time of 7 minutes 19 seconds during peak hours (9–10 a.m.), with 56% of calls answered within 2 minutes overall. Committee members expressed concerns about abandoned calls and quality-of-life issues in beach communities.
- Identity Theft Investigations (Item 6): Lieutenant Martha Sines presented an overview, noting increased public awareness and proactive measures. She discussed challenges with Prop 47 (theft thresholds), the need for cumulative theft laws, and offered resources for seniors. Committee members asked about success rates in catching criminals and the process for security freezes.
Key Outcomes
- The consent agenda (including Item 1) was adopted unanimously after a motion and second.
- Fire rescue equipment replacement was approved unanimously.
- The library overdue fines proposal, police recruitment report, communications center report, and identity theft report were informational and required no vote.
- The next committee meeting was scheduled for March 21, 2018, at 9 a.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. We will call the public safety and mobile neighborhoods committee meeting of February 21st, 2018 to order. Let the record collect. We have a quorum consisting of myself, Councilmember Gomez and Vice Chair Bree, and Councilmember Zaf as well. Our first item is non-agenda public comments. Each speaker will have two minutes. We'll start off with Margaret Baker, then Martha Welch, Scott Chipman, and Kathy Lippetz. Good morning. My name is Margaret Baker. I live in Chula Vista and own property in Nestor. And I'm here to urge the uh Commission to uh expedite implementation of SB 54. I'm um representing also a group called South Bay People Power, and our members range from we live between uh uh National City and the Borders, so San Isidro and Nestor area members are also part of our group. And we work diligently for the passage of SB 54 and are anxious to see implementation and relieve the fear and increase safety and well-being of those who live, work, and travel within our region. As you all know, the goals of the California Values Act are to ensure local resources are not used to fuel mass deportations and to uh separate families. Also to provide essential safeguards to ensure that our our police schools, libraries, courts, hospitals, and other uh public facilities remain accessible to all of our residents and those who work and travel through our area. And so the first step is to make sure that the revised San Diego Police Department policies are updated and made available and so that we can move forward to ensure that this important bill is um uh implemented in an expedited way. It's already the middle of February and it went into effect the beginning of January. Thank you very much. Thank you. Martha Welch, followed by Scott Chipman and then Kathy Lippett. Martha Well, I don't like the way you're doing the backup right now. People can't go home with the the backup right now and not and online uh either. What are you hiding? I don't know why you hiding everything right now. Uh right now. Also the TV last week I won to meeting at 2 o'clock, but it stopped at 157. It didn't come up. So that you can't move that's what you're doing with that. Now most of the vacant uh on right now is fire and police. That's why they're show uh they're short, because I talked on an offer and they told me that they can't open the um stations all the time because they don't have enough. So uh also um that's what's going on. Now I'm somewhere else, but Alameda, and I know they're open 24 all the time. Oakland, same thing. Not here. We were different. Do you know that? Um you know the police have uh have time to the homeless. They after they do, they makes a crime to me because in the jail right now, 20% in the jail is homeless right now. No. And so they have their time it was supposed to be not a crime, but you do this also. It's cold outside and they can't open the lunchroom or anything like that because all these rules we have in San Diego, they can't uh open the lunchroom or the churches can't do it because you're mean, you're just mean. Everything you see is mean. You know, because you don't do this. Um you make these rules all the time with how they can open the the uh lunch room or the or the um churches can't go open unless all these rules you have raining or the degrees. But it's very cold last night in the 30s, but you wouldn't let it you wouldn't let it open those places. And that's wrong because the tents only have is only by 10 percent of the homeless. And it shows also these houses we don't have uh two that two thousand um bedrooms or two uh three bedrooms. We don't have that right now. Everything we build right now is um a studio's one bedroom. Scott Chipman, followed by Kathy Lippetz.
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