2014-07-22 PUBLIC SAFETY - Laserfiche WebLink

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we will strive to provide excellent customer service no matter what the circumstances of the contact with the public are. In the future, Chairman Benavides would like to see how we measure the effectiveness of some of the programs offered by the Police Department. He also wants the Police Department to work with the City's new Communications Manager when doing outreach to the community. Michele Martinez wanted to know how some of our programs are funded, from grants or Department - funded? She said we want to be sure we are allocating fiords strategically, and we should make assessments on current ones to see which are successful. Perhaps we can keep some or merge them together. We may also want to partner with other agencies. Committee Member Roman Reyna agrees with community oriented policing, but we need to have that trust factor with the community or the program will not be effective. On Homeless Efforts Overview: Chairman Benavides states that there will be an RFP process in hiring an operator, and the City needs to be on board from the beginning. He says there has been talk of a check -in center, a transitional housing area possibly at the Transportation Center, before going over to the approved site at Normandy. We want people to have a dignified place to live besides converted garages. Look at best practices, other options, pre -sale requirements. The City of Costa Mesa did something recently regarding this issue, need to look at what they have done. Michele Martinez comments that the community forum in the beginning of July was not appropriate because all the non - profits that attended were speaking, without giving the actual residents an opportunity to give their own input. Residents don't want to hear about the programs the non - profits have to offer, they are concerned with this issue being in their own backyards. As the City moves forward with true community engagement, Ms. Martinez believes the residents should have time to voice their concerns instead of setting up a bunch of presentations from other groups. She also wants to make sure we provide dignified housing for residents in Santa Ana. Homeowners can take advantage of those people who live in converted garages, and we do not want these people to become homeless. We should be using people like Scott Kutner and Margarita Macedonio from the Community Development Agency as a resource. Committee Member Roman Reyna said he believes that some of the residents were upset that so much of the process had already taken place prior to their involvement.