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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010/08/24-Minutes-Crime Control and Prevention District (CCPD) (4) CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 24, 2010 Present: Mike Moncrief, President W. B. "Zim" Zimmerman, Vice President Director Salvador Espino Director Danny Scarth Director Frank Moss Director Jungus Jordan Director Carter Burdette Director Kathleen Hicks Director Joel Burns City Staff: Tom Higgins, Assistant City Manager Charlene Sanders, Assistant City Attorney Marty Hendrix, Secretary to the Board Deputy Police Chief Charlie Ramirez, Police Department Shallah Graham, Senior Administrative Services Manager, Police Department Sasha Kane, Senior Contract Compliance Specialist, Police Department Lena Ellis, Director of Finance and Chief Financial Officer Other City Staff in Attendance: Rhonda Robertson, Executive Deputy Chief Police Department Monique Lee, Director of Administrative Services, Police Department Christy Rodriguez, Senior Planner, Police Department Richard Zavala, Parks and Community Services Director Other Police Department personnel With a quorum of the board members present, President Mike Moncrief called the meeting of the Crime Control and Prevention District Board of Directors to order at 4:20 p.m., on Tuesday, August 24, 2010, in the Pre-Council Chamber of the Fort Worth Municipal Building, 1000 Throckmorton Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76102. Approval of Minutes of the June 15, 2010 Meeting (Agenda Item II) President Moncrief opened the floor for a motion on the approval of the minutes. .�. CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24,2010 Page 2 of 15 Approval of Minutes of the June 15,2010 Meeting (Agenda Item II) MOTION: Upon a motion made by Director Jordan and seconded by Director Moss, the board members voted nine (9) "ayes" and zero (0) "nays to approve the minutes of the June 15, 2010, Crime Control and Prevention District Board of Directors meeting. The motion carried unanimously. Announcements by Staff (Agenda Item III) Assistant City Manager Tom Higgins advised the directors of some upcoming events for the Police Department as follows: August 31, 2010 Diversity Forum 7:00 p.m. —9:00 p.m. Hazel Harvey Peace Center 818 Missouri Avenue .�. September 2, 2010 Grand Opening for the Meacham Facility North Division 6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. Meacham International Airport 4651 North Main Street September 15, 2010 Grand Opening for the Hemphill Facility Central Division and Gang Section 2:00 p.m. —4:00 p.m. 1289 Hemphill Street September 24, 2010 Class 126 Graduation 10:00 a.m. Christ Chapel Bible Church 3740 Birchman Avenue October 5, 2010 National Night Out November 18, 2010 CCPD Board Meeting 7:00 p.m. Pre-Council Chambers .0. CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24, 2010 Page 3 of 15 Announcements by Staff(cont'd) (Agenda Item III) Assistant City Manager Higgins encouraged the board members and all citizens watching the meeting and in attendance at the meeting to attend these upcoming events. Director Hicks requested an update on when the Nashville Station was going to open. City staff indicated that information on that event would be forthcoming. Written Reports (Agenda Item IV) President Moncrief advised the following written reports had been provided to the directors. He opened the floor for questions and/or comments. A. Evaluation of CCPD Community Based Program Effectiveness B. FY 2010 Community-Based Program Funding Recommendations C. Request for Funding of Crime Initiatives by the Code Enforcement Department D. Staffing Trend Line to Show the Need for Police Officers for the Next Five Years E. Proposed Schedule to Transition Positions Funded by CCPD to the General Fund F. FY2009—2010 3`d Quarter Program Report G. Citizens on Patrol Recruitment and Retention Efforts There were no questions or comments. These reports were received as a matter of information. There was no formal action taken by the directors on this agenda item. Staff Presentation: Volunteer Opportunities for Code Blue Members (Agenda Item V-A) Deputy Chief Charlie Ramirez advised at the June 15, 2010, Board Meeting there was a request to provide an informal report to the Board of Directors on the Code Blue volunteers and how they could be better utilized. Using a PowerPoint presentation, Deputy Chief Ramirez spoke before the directors on the CODE BLUE Citizens on Patrol (COP) Program. He advised of the purpose of the COP was as follows: • In the early 1990's, Fort Worth had one of the nation's highest crime rates • COP act as additional "eyes and ears" for the police to aid in the prevention, detection and reporting of criminal activity. • COP is now recognized as a major factor in lowering Fort Worth's crime rate, making it one of America's safest cities. .n. Aditk CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24,2010 Page 4 of 15 Staff Presentation: Volunteer Opportunities for Code Blue Members (cont'd) (Agenda Item V-A) He added this was a highly successful program and had received nation-wide recognition as a program that provided citizen and police cooperation. He added that this program was being used as a basis for similar programs in other cities and other states. Deputy Chief Ramirez stated that the COP activities included: • Staff Sky Watch in patrol divisions in various parking lots throughout the City. • Utilized COP members for call outs searching for lost or missing children and elderly • Special crime details, such as extra patrol in "hot spots" • Volunteer at the Academy helping new recruits with training (role playing) • Assist Crime Prevention Specialists with Kids ID • Assist neighborhoods with National Night Out activities, which was scheduled for October 5, 2010 .�. • Set up community educational meetings; i.e., personal awareness; use of the RAPIDS system and auto etching • Limited number of training Code Blue members could be authorized to issue parking citations (handicapped only) • Provide administrative support to the department (filing, processing paperwork, answering phones) • Staff COP recruiting tables in public events • Could be utilized for upcoming Super Bowl Events (in the City of Fort Worth) Deputy Chief Ramirez explained that the police staff wanted this list to be all of the duties that the COP were responsible for and they did not see the need to expand the list into any further duties. He reiterated the importance of their program as the "eyes and ears" of the communities that they represent. He emphasized that their volunteer hours were for patrolling their neighborhoods. Deputy Chief Ramirez advised that for those COP members that wanted other opportunities there were additional volunteer opportunities as follows: Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT) Citizens Police Academy (CPA) Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association (CPAA) Minister Against Crime/Clergy and Police Alliance (MAC/CAPA) 00. Deputy Chief Ramirez concluded his presentation. 101. CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24,2010 Page 5 of 15 Staff Presentation: Volunteer Opportunities for Code Blue Members (cont'd) (Agenda Item V-A) President Moncrief opened the floor for questions and/or comments. There were none. This concluded the presentation and discussion on this agenda item. No formal action was taken by the board. Discussion and Approval of the CCPD Fund Balance Reserve (Agenda Item VI-A) Shallah Graham, spoke before the CCPD Board on the CCPD Fund Balance Reserve. Using a PowerPoint presentation, she spoke about determining a fund balance for the CCPD. She explained that the benchmarking presented would be the City's various fund balances and the CCPD's current fund balances. She stated that the issues to consider regarding determining a fund balance included: predictability and diversity of revenues; volatility of expenditures, guidelines of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and the Program Phase Out Plan. She presented a slide showing the benchmarking of the various City of Fort Worth's fund balance requirements as follows: General Fund 10% Cultural and Tourism 20% Other Funds 25% She spoke about the CCPD Fund Balance Requirements: She explained that police staff surveyed 34 cities and 83% of the 24 respondents did not have a fund balance requirement. She presented a chart showing the CCPDs with fund balances as follows: CCPDs With Fund Balances City Sales Tax Revenue Fund Balance Requirement Fort Worth $44,456,285 60% of operating budget Argyle $61,644 $5,000 (9% of budget) Euless $1,552,574 60-day reserve or(17% of budget) Everman $46,497 $100,000 Lake Worth $846,513 25% of operating budget .•ft� CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24,2010 Page 6 of 15 Discussion and Approval of the CCPD Fund Balance Reserve (cont'd) (Agenda Item VI-A) Ms. Graham then presented those cities without reserve funds requirements. CCPDs Without Fund Balances City Sales Tax Revenue Fund Balance Requirement Corpus Christi $4,915,778 No Official Requirement Grand Prairie $4,874,424 No Official Requirement Grapevine $9,852,824 No Official Requirement Pasadena $8,439,764 No Official Requirement Ms. Graham talked about the predictability and diversity of revenues as follows: • Sales Tax o Linked to economic factors o Re-election • School Security Initiative Reimbursement o Predictable set by contract for expenditure reimbursement • Interest o Linked to economic factors • Miscellaneous o Variable Ms. Graham spoke about the volatility of expenditures and GFOA ■ Majority of expenditures are stable ■ Small risk of unforeseen expenditures • Personnel Costs • Emergencies • Fluctuations in Prices Contractual Obligations ■ Government Finance Officers Association • at a minimum maintain fund balance of no less than two months of regular general fund operating revenues or regular general fund operating expenditures. She presented a chart showing the Program Phase Out Plan as follows: CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24,2010 Page 7 of 15 Discussion and Approval of the CCPD Fund Balance Reserve (cont'd) (Agenda Item VI-A) Year 5 Unfunded Unfunded Unfunded FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 Revenue Sales Tax 44,416,249 0 0 0 SSI Revenue 4,492,402 4,492,402 4,492,402 0 Interest 425,647 327,160 102,066 13,690 Fund Balance 17,539,333 24,855,471 9,475,262 1,486,311 Total Revenue $66,873,631 $29,675,033 $14,069,730 $1,500,000 Expenditures Cut Immediately 1,046,765 0 0 0 Remaining Programs to Phase Out 30,956,301 17,195,242 9,578,891 1,500,000 Unknown Expenditures 10,015,094 3,004,528 3,004,528 0 Total Expenditures $42,018,160 $20,199,771 $12,583,420 $1,500,000 Net Balance $24,855,471 $9,475,262 $1,486,311 0 Cost of the Phase Out Plan is 37% of the FY 2011 Budget Ms. Graham presented a chart showing the fund balance information as follows: Fund Balance Audited Fund Balance 9/30/09 $30,247,000 Plus: FY 2010 Projected Revenues $47,053.161 Less: FY 2010 Projected Expenditures ($45,180,472) Less: FY 2009 Rollovers ($3,674,956) Projected Adjusted Fund Balance 9/30/10 $28,444,733 Proposed FY 2011 Fund Balance Requirement $17,539,333 Proposed FY 2011 Additional Fund Balance $10,905,400 • Additional Fund Balance Remains in Fund Balance o To use Additional Fund Balance ■ Budget Amendment (Multi Step Process) ■ Compliance with Chapter 363 Ms. Graham presented the City staff's recommendation as follows: Staff recommendation was to amend the Fort Worth Crime Control and Prevention District Financial Management Policy Statements to decrease the Fund .a. CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24, 2010 Page 8 of 15 Discussion and Approval of the CCPD Fund Balance Reserve (cont'd) (Agenda Item VI-A) Balance requirement from 60% of the current years operating budget to 37%, and re-examine on an annual basis after the annual budget process for prudent fiscal management. President Moncrief opened the floor for questions and/or comments. He indicated that he felt a road map had been created by the City staff for the Board to follow and he felt it was a reasonable direction for the board to pursue. Director Burdette indicated that he felt it was a logical approach for the fund balance if it was determined it was necessary for a phase out approach, if another election was not held. He requested clarification as to the remaining $10,000,000 amount that could be excess fund balance. He questioned whether this amount would be available for ongoing budgets. He asked it this amount would be spent in any one year. Ms. Graham indicated that it would be available as part of the program; however, it Iowa,. Ms. remain in the fund balance and it would not be part of the operating budget unless there was a police need that was brought to the board and the board decided to make a budget amendment to bring the money from the fund balance into the operating budget. She added this amendment would have to be compliant with the state laws. Director Burdette reiterated that the money would be available if other needs were identified and Ms. Graham indicated that was correct and could be done in a mid-year adjustment. President Moncrief requested that Lena Ellis, City of Fort Worth Finance Director and Chief Financial Officer, speak before the board as to whether the CCPD fund was on sound financial ground. He added that it appeared that it was. Ms. Ellis indicated that the fund was definitely sound. She indicated that she had met with police support staff on numerous occasions even as late as this morning. She clarified that she and her chief accountant, Mr. Walter Peoples, had not audited the numbers but they had looked at the approach of the theory behind the fund and it looked to be solid and the police staff had taken into account best practices and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) benchmarking. She explained that she wanted to make sure that they were comparing "apples" to "apples." She reiterated that she felt that they had done a great job in laying out a road map so to speak. .�. CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24, 2010 Page 9 of 15 Public Hearing (Agenda Item VI-A-2) President Moncrief opened the public hearing. No one requested to speak either "for" or "against" this item. Action (Agenda Item VI-A-3) MOTION: A motion was made by Director Scarth and seconded by Director Moss to close the public hearing and authorize the City staff prepare and bring back to the board a revised fund balance policy. Assistant City Manager Tom Higgins had requested that the slide on the recommendation be shown again. He indicated that there was more to the recommendation, which had not been presented by Ms. Graham. He explained that the City staff was going to have to do some rewording of the entire policy. He indicated that the staff would provide at the meeting in November a complete policy for the board's consideration. He pointed out that what was important today was direction from the board to the City staff on the fund balance amount. Director Burns requested clarification on the $10,000,000 amount remaining in the fund balance and that City staff was stating that it was over and above what might be necessary to phase out the program. City staff confirmed that this was correct. VOTE ON THE MOTION: The board members voted nine (9) "ayes" and zero (0) "nays" in favor of the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Consideration and Approval of Community- Based Program Funding Recommendations (Agenda Item VI-B) Sasha Kane, Senior Contract Compliance Specialist for the Police Department spoke before the CCPD Board on the Community-Based Programs. She advised of the handout materials that the board had received to reference as she made her presentation. Using a PowerPoint presentation, she spoke about contents of the presentation which was review of the applications received for the program funding, the review of programs recommended and the area served by each program. She added the board was to receive any citizen comments and the board was to take the final action to approve the requests. She presented a slide showing the FY 2011 application process. A-. CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24, 2010 Page 10 of 15 Consideration and Approval of Community-Based Program Funding Recommendations (cont'd) (Agenda Item VI-B) • 17 applications received for program funding totaling $162,000 in the CCPD budget • Requests for funding totaled more than $630,000.00 • No organization that received community-based funding for two years was eligible to apply • Special emphasis was given for youth and/or family violence initiatives Ms. Kane advised that scoring committee members has met to review the applications. The members consisted of representatives from: • Community Development Council • Parks and Community Services • Fort Worth ISD • Police Department Ms. Kane pointed out that there were five applications consistently rated the highest by the scoring committee, which were: • Cassata High School • NewDay Services for Children & Families • Recovery Resource Council • SafeHaven of Tarrant County • The Women's Center of Tarrant County She presented slides showing the following recommendations: Cassata High School Requested: $20,000.00 Recommended Funding: $20,000.00 Funding to support and improve the existing High School Dropout Prevention Program which enables at-risk youth to improve academic performance and behavior Funding for 5.07% of the total salary and fringe benefits of the faculty •u. Cassata serves approximately 300 students per year CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24,2010 Page 11 of 15 Consideration and Approval of Community-Based Program Funding Recommendations (cont'd) (Agenda Item VI-B) NewDav Services for Children & Families Requested: $49,451.50 Recommended Funding: $40,751.50 "Character Counts!" program teaches juveniles in Tarrant County Juvenile Detention Center trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship 40-50 juveniles attending classes per week Funding for salary, fringe benefits and supplies Recovery Resource Council Requested: $50,000.00 Recommended Funding: $50,000.00 Funding for "FOCUS" (Finding Opportunities to Create Uninterrupted Success) Program Serves at-risk youth, ages 11 to 14 at Meadowbrook Middle School Funding for salary, fringe benefits training, mileage, equipment and supplies SafeHaven of Tarrant County Requested: $23,272.00 Recommended Funding: $23, 272.00 Funding for Safe Communities is a prevention program focused on educating communities on ending and preventing family violence Serving the 76110 community Funding for salary, fringe benefits, mileage, supplies and equipment The Women's Center of Tarrant County Requested: $25,569.00 Recommended Funding: $25,569.00 CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24,2010 Page 12 of 15 Consideration and Approval of Community- Based Program Funding Recommendations (Agenda Item VI-B) The Women's Center of Tarrant County (cont'd) Funding for Free Counseling for Victimized Children Program to provide counseling for child victims of sexual assault, abuse, and other violent crimes Serving children throughout Fort Worth with counseling provided at Women's Center Offices, Forest Oak Elementary, Western Hills Elementary School and Willoughby House Funding for salary, fringe benefits, supplies and contractual services Ms. Kane talked about the following recommendations: Remaining Steps Hear citizen comments Action Item: Request approval to fund the following organizations under the FY 2011 Community Based Programs at $159,595.50: Cassata High School - $20,000.00 NewDay Services - $40,751.50 Recovery Resource Council - $50,000.00 SafeHaven of Tarrant County - $23,272.00 Women's Center of Tarrant County - $25,569.00 If approved, program start date October 1, 2010 Ms. Kane concluded her presentation. President Moncrief opened the floor for questions and/or comments. Director Scarth requested information on the average number of days that juveniles were staying in the detention center. He added that he was requesting this information in order to see what the participation level would be on a weekly basis for the juveniles for the "Character Counts" program. He pointed out from his past experience in working with another organization with the detention center that some juveniles were there for several weeks and others were in and out very quickly. CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24,2010 Page 13 of 15 Consideration and Approval of Community-Based Program Funding Recommendations (cont'd) (Agenda Item VI-B) Director Espino requested clarification from Assistant City Attorney Charlene Sanders on the issue that he was the former President of Cassada High School and a former employee of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth and he questioned whether he needed to abstain from the vote on this item. Ms. Sanders indicated that he would not need to abstain unless he was currently receiving more than 10% of his income from this organization as a former employee. Director Espino indicated that was not the case. Director Moss indicated that the only problem he had with the proposed programs was that he had looked at the areas where there were significant problems with young people in particular and he did not see any of these programs focusing in on those areas. He added that programs like these were supposed to be doing some "seeding" work and "seeding" in a broad fashion; however, in the areas of the City where there was violence and gang-related problems, he was not seeing these programs being provided. Director Moss indicated he was just making a statement. .� Director Espino expressed appreciation to Ms. Kane and the Police Department staff for their hard work. He added that there had been extensive discussions on these community-based programs. He added he felt that the CCPD needed to continue with them. He pointed out that there might be differences of opinion on the programs that had been selected but the directors had seen the tough objective criteria that were used in this process and how competitive the proposals were. He added that he recommended that the directors approve the funding levels and the programs as presented by staff. Public Hearing (Agenda Item VI-B-2) President Moncrief opened the public hearing. No one requested to speak either "for" or "against" the recommendations. President Moncrief indicated that he felt it had been a thoughtful process and had given the directors a well defined direction and provided priorities. He added that he was sensitive to what had been stated by Director Moss. CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24,2010 Page 14 of 15 Action (Agenda Item VI-B-3) MOTION: A motion was made by Director Espino and seconded by Director Jordan to close the public hearing and approve the funding for the following organizations under the FY 2011 Community Based Programs at $159,595.50: Cassata High School - $20,000.00 NewDay Services - $40,751.50 Recovery Resource Council - $50,000.00 SafeHaven of Tarrant County - $23,272.00 Women's Center of Tarrant County - $25,569.00; and direct the City staff to prepare the contracts to enter into agreements with these organizations. The Directors voted nine (9) "ayes" and zero (0) "nays" in favor of the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Citizen Comments (Agenda Item VII) There were no citizens' comments. Future Agenda Items (Agenda Item VIII) President Moncrief opened the floor for any future agenda items. Director Burns requested setting a specific meeting time for the CCPD Board that was not"immediately following the City Council Meeting". He recommended using the 5th Tuesday of the month. He requested that the city staff bring back some recommendations. (Note: For 2011 that would be March 29th; May 31St, "August 30th; November 29th) Director Hicks requested an update on the new police facility at Lancaster and IH35 and what CCPD dollars were being used for that facility. She indicated that would be helpful to know and she wanted to see the City move forward with that project. Director Moss referenced the use of CCPD monies to address crime prevention in target areas. He referenced the recent shooting of two young people in an area where there was high drug traffic, gang violence, and he wanted to see what the City was doing in order to address those issues, particularly with the CCPD funds. This concluded discussion and comments on future agenda items. CITY OF FORT WORTH CRIME CONTROL AND PREVENTION DISTRICT BOARD August 24, 2010 Page 15 of 15 Adjourn (Agenda Item IX) With no further presentations or discussions, President Moncrief adjourned the regular meeting of the Crime Control and Prevention District Board of Directors at 4:55 p.m., on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. These minutes approved by the Crime Control and Prevention District Board of Directors on the 16th day of November, 2010. APPROVED: Mik o ri , Presiden Minutes Prepared by and Attest: Marty Hendrix, Scaetary At.