From: Duane De Witt
To: City Council Public Comments; Rogers, Natalie
Subject: [EXTERNAL] July 11, 2023 Item 13. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS Date: Monday, July 10, 2023 4:36:45 PM
10 July 2023 For July 11, 2023
To: Santa Rosa City Council, Mayor Natalie Rogers, and City Manager M. Smith 100 Santa Rosa Ave.
Santa Rosa, Ca. 95401
From: Duane De Witt
Santa Rosa, Ca. 95402
Re: July 11, 2023 Item 13. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS
Dear Mayor Rogers, Manger Smith and City Council Members,
Even before the creation of the Roseland County Island by the city of Santa Rosa in 1996 there were city officials coming to our neighborhoods to lecture us and talk at us about what they were going to do to us.
Now with final annexation by Santa Rosa ending the Roseland County Island in 2017 we folks in Roseland are invited to meetings where city staff and officials talk at us rather than with us. Recently we were informed the Santa Rosa Police Dept. will be reviving the Gang Task Force. At a meeting of the so called Violence Prevention Partnership held at Roseland University Prep High School we sat through an hour of representatives of the VPP and the city, including SRPD Chief Cregan telling us more money must be directed to law enforcement.
Many in the audience did not support this official position by the city of Santa Rosa.
May I volunteer to help with graffiti removal especially when it is gang related from Nortenos and Surenos “tagging” places in Roseland and the West 9th St. Neighborhoods? Already I have proposed a Graffiti Removal Veterans in Neighborhoods team to help undertake this crucial effort without increased costs to the city for labor. No response was received from the city about this while more graffiti keeps appearing. Plus the gang graffiti stays in place for long periods of time.
Give us the paint and supplies and we will step up to do the job. Please help us to help our neighborhoods.
Sincerely,
Duane De Witt
Santa Rosa, Ca. 95402