17-D
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
ATTENTION: Jeffrey L. Stewart, City Manager
FROM: Joel Hockman, Director of Public Safety
SUBJECT: Consideration and possible action to adopt Resolution No. 22-69 – A Resolution repealing Resolution No. 94-48 establishing a Public Safety Review Committee.
DATE: December 12, 2022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Council acted on June 13, 1994, to establish an 11-member Public Safety Review Committee to review the implementation of additional law enforcement services.
This timing coincided with the adoption of the City’s Utility Users’ Tax, to help ensure that Bellflower citizens also were able to monitor how newly received revenues were being spent, and how a newly adopted community policing program was being conducted. Over the decades, the need for this Committee has significantly waned, and maintaining membership has been consistently difficult -- to the point of rarely achieving the necessary quorum for the quarterly meetings. A proposed alternative is to utilize the Bellflower Public Safety Commission for appropriate first level review of public safety related concerns going forward.
RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL
1) Adopt Resolution No. 22-69; or
2) Alternatively, discuss and take other action related to this item.
FISCAL IMPACT
Public Safety Review Committee Members receive a $50 stipend per meeting, which are held on the third Tuesday of February, May, August, and November each year.
Dissolving this Committee will result in an annual savings of approximately $500 to $1,000.
1 Staff Report – Resolution No. 22-69 – Dissolution of the Public Safety Review Committee
December 12, 2022
DISCUSSION
Since its inception in 1994, the Public Safety Review Committee (PSRC) has existed at some level of redundancy with the City’s Public Safety Commission. And while the perceived need for extra oversight at the onset of the voter approved Utility Users’ Tax and Community Policing Plan (CPP) was genuine at their inception, voters have since approved additional and substantial tax measures over the last 28 years, and the CPP still remains under scrutiny by City Council, Public Safety Commission, and feedback from Bellflower residents. Further, perspective PSRC members often lose interest when faced with submitting state imposed financial disclosure forms, conducting required ethics and harassment training, and assuming the required leadership role over the neighborhood watch captains within the reporting district in which (s)he lives (i.e., District Representative).
As such, it is recommended to reduce redundancy by discontinuing the Bellflower Public Safety Review Committee, and transferring any remaining subject matter to the Bellflower Public Safety Commission.
ATTACHMENT
Resolution No. 22-69....................................................................................................... 3
2 CITY OF BELLFLOWER
RESOLUTION NO. 22-69
A RESOLUTION REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 94-48
ESTABLISHING A PUBLIC SAFETY REVIEW COMMITTEE
THE CITY COUNCIL RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council finds as follows:
A. Resolution No. 94-48 established the Public Safety Review Committee (PSRC) and stipulates a committee should be established to review the implementation of additional law enforcement services;
B. Since 1994, the expanded law enforcement program has become a mainstay, so that oversight from the PSRC is redundant – especially given the ability of the City’s Public Safety Commission to similarly review current law enforcement levels and services; and
C. Beyond redundancy, maintaining membership and a functional quorum in the PSRC has long been an unsuccessful challenge.
SECTION 2. Resolution No. 94-48 is repealed in its entirety. Consequently, the PSRC is dissolved.
SECTION 3. If any part of this Resolution or its application is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the City Council intends that such invalidity will not affect the effectiveness of the remaining provisions or applications and, to this end, the provisions of this Resolution are severable.
SECTION 4. Electronic Signatures. This Resolution may be executed with electronic signatures in accordance with Government Code §16.5. Such electronic signatures will be treated in all respects as having the same effect as an original signature.
SECTION 5. The Mayor, or presiding officer, is hereby authorized to affix his signature to this Resolution signifying its adoption by the City Council of the City of Bellflower, and the City Clerk, or her duly appointed deputy, is directed to attest thereto.
SECTION 6. This Resolution will become effective immediately upon adoption. ///
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3 City of Bellflower
Resolution No. 22-69
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BELLFLOWER THIS 12th DAY OF DECEMBER 2022.
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Ray Dunton, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Mayra Ochiqui, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Karl H. Berger, City Attorney
Attachment:
Resolution No. 94-48
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