City Council’s “Public Safety” Committee Meets Wednesday 5-1 at 6 PM

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The “Public Safety” Update below is from the Public Safety Task Force staff, not from the Public Safety Committee.  The Public Safety Committeewhich meets Wednesday at 6 PM is a standing Committee of City Council whose meetings are required to  be open to the public and agendaized 72 hours in advance.It’s not clear whether the Task Force, recently formed in response to the Needle Hysteria, has met and/or when its next meeting is.  Contact City Council at 420-5020 for answers–if you’re lucky…and persistent.

However the City Council “Public Safety” Committee is a place to and raise issues of homeless vulnerability, lack of focus on real crimes rather than the sinkhole of the Drug War, the Downtown Merchants agenda to run the homeless off Pacific Avenue, and the Take Over Santa Cruz  “Keep Santa Cruz Scared” political initiative to run the city back into the middle ages.

City Council’s “Public Safety” Committee Meets Wednesday 5-1 at 6 PM

by Robert Norse

Monday Apr 29th, 2013 1:49 PM

 

According to the City’s website and posting, the Terrazas-Mathews-Comstock Police Job Enablement Committee (if you’ll pardon the truth-in-advertising substitution) meets the day after the Homelessness “Study” Session.The third item on its agenda is Progress Report of the City Council’s Safety Action Plan, as adopted on February 12 2013 Presentation from City Manager’s Office Staff.

Public Comment on real Public Safety issues “not on the agenda” is, of course, at the end of the meeting, which some will not have the patience or endurance to sit through.

I have repeatedly requested this meeting be audioed at least for those who can’t attend it, since it usually creates reports that then get largely rubber-stamped by City Council, in spite of public input. Terrazas had declined to do so without explanation, a sunny smile on his face with the assurance that “he’ll consider it for a future meeting”. Bring your own audio (or video) equipment to be sure.

The meeting may be held in City Council chambers or in the conference room behind it.

Real Public Safety issues for homeless people such as police violence and vigilante attacks, of course, are not on this committee’s agenda (and have never been to my knowledge). Nor is there any move to reopen accessible Needle Exchange in the City, nor set up Sharps Containers nor public bathrooms.

It looks like needle distribution and Public PooPoo will continue in the nighttime hours. But then, that’ll give Take Back Santa Cruz, the Clean Team, the SCPD and Councilmembers Robinson and Comstock something to mount a bogus political campaign around–won’t it?