05/15/2019 - Minutes 41 City of Tigard
• Committee for Community Engagement Minutes
4
MEETING DATE/TIME: Wednesday, May 15, 2019; 6:30 p.m.
MEETING LOCATION: Public Works, Sunrise Room (8777 SW Burnham St.)
Attendance:
Member Attendance Status
Basil Christopher Y
Bhushan Gupta Y
David Hanna Y
Joseph Lyons N
Connie Ramaekers Y
Christine Rehse Y
Taylor Sarman N
Lauren Rowles Y
Dolly Specht Y
Norma Trujillo Y
Liz Newton,Tigard City Council liaison
Nadine Robinson, City of Tigard liaison
1) Welcome and introductions
2) Police levy outreach presentation - Speakers: Chief Kathy McAlpine and Stefanie
Kouremetis Community Engagement Program Coordinator.
Icebreaker—How many patrol officers are there in the community (not staff in the
department-doesn't include commercial crimes unit, management, detectives or officers
at metro)
• 3 officers + supervisor
o day shift
o night shift (Sunday through Thursday).
• 4 officers + supervisor
o afternoon shift
o night shift (Friday and Saturday)
PD is required to call in officers, so they do not go below minimums.
• Why would the officers not be available?
o Tied up on a serious call.
o Transporting someone to jail (in Hillsboro.)
o Transporting someone to a hospital or mental health facility (which is out of
the city.)
• 40% of the time PD is operating with minimal patrol staff. The communication
challenge for PD is that they would rather the people engaged in illegal activity not
know how low staffing levels are at times.
• Since 2013 PD's calls for service have increased by 24% and staffing levels have not
kept up.
• The Chief would like to move to district policing as districts offer more opportunity
for community policing.
• The Police Department also has a goal is to get response time for priority 1 and 2
calls to 5 minutes or faster.
• The department is embracing new technology like online reporting and a new report
writing system to improve efficiency. They are trying to attack staff shortage problem
from multiple directions —not just adding positions. Car dashcam videos, electronic
transmission of digital evidence are also efficiency initiatives being used.
• Currently,Tigard City Council and staff are talking to the community to see if they
will support a local option levy. The request they are testing is for 8 patrol officers, 2
homeless outreach officers and improvements to the Safe Routes to School program.
Committee Comments:
• Dolly was surprised by low number of officers patrolling and the distances they have
to travel.
• Dave thinks the path is very clear—ask the community what they choose to do. Staff
and Council should take it door to door. Use all avenues to get the message out.
• Connie has noticed a lot less officers at school activities.
• Norma didn't find the information surprising. She sees police quite often in the
Tigard St area. She also sees them at Starbucks by her house.
• Bhushan asked what the communications plan is going to be. The Chief said staff, as
well as City Council,will be out in the community talking about the need for the levy.
She also said she is happy to go to HOA meetings or neighborhood events. Bhushan
would like the Chief and Council to go to his HOA's July BBQ. (The invitation has
been shared.)
• Dolly offered to set-up a meet and greet in her neighborhood.
• Councilor Newton said the Tigard City Council will be using feedback to decide what
the levy could look like.
• If PD would like more input from the committee, the committee would like to have
questions provided ahead of time so they can think about them.
3) Discuss and elect a CCE Vice-chair
Dave explained the role of the Vice-Chair. No one indicated they wanted to fill the
position. The decision was made to wait to elect the Vice Chair until the committee
positions are filled.
4) Review, discuss and adopt the March 20, 2019 meeting minutes
• Motion to approve the minutes was made by Christine
• Motion was seconded by Dolly and Basil.
• The motion passed with Bhushan's edit to remove the double "there"
5) Discussion of the draft annual report to City Council
• No revisions suggested.
• Motion to approve the report for submittal was made by Dolly
• Motion was seconded by Christine.
• The motion passed.
6) Discussion of the focus group notes
No comments or edits
7) Information Sharing
• Ice cream socials in Dolly's neighborhood were very successful.
• Stefanie and Jim Wolf will help Dolhe with neighborhood watch questions.
• Basil shared that he would like a template for providing context for future topics.
He offered to put together a draft.
• Basil said he is optimistic the levy will pass.
• The committee requested a copy of the PPT the Chief used in her presentation.(It
is attached.)
• Bhushan will reach out to his neighborhood about why the levy is important. He
commented on how important community education will be and that the
committee shares the information.
• Dave noted that he appreciates Councilor Newton's level of engagement with the
CCE.
Adjourned at 8 p.m.