UPADATED: Breaking news from Councilmemeber David Carson's Public Safety Committee Meeting. - Attended by Bob Yoder
Dave Carson, Chair of the Council's Public Safety Committee held his monthly meeting Thursday morning, 8/30, at Fire Station #12 on 148th Ave. Mr. Carson okayed Councilmember Kim Allen's request to put School Resource Officers (SRO) on the agenda. I attended the meeting.Mr. Carson and the Mayor announced Lake Washington School District (LWSD) has authorized a third SRO for better coverage of Rose Hill JH, Redmond JH, and Redmond High School. SRO coverage will no longer be split between Rose Hill and Redmond Junior Highs. Each junior high school will now have their own officer. Redmond High School will continue to have their own SRO.
Mayor Marchione said "internal redeployment" within the Police Department will not require hiring an additional employee. Citizens approved funding for these three SRO's in the last Public Safety levy but LWSD only recently gave the green light to staff both Junior Highs. According to Councilmember Allen, it will take a month or so to re-order Redmond officers to make it happen.
As last year's Chairman of the Pubic Safety Committee, Ms. Allen has been pushing for additional SRO coverage at Redmond's schools. Allen stated yesterday, "I want us to get out ahead on these things because the community will want to know as school starts up."
Ken Wong, staff director of the Teen Center, works closely with he SRO's. A third SRO will add continuity and better connection of students with their SRO's.
Ms. Kim Allen is running for re-election of her Council Seat #4 in November. (Ms. Chen filed for the position on the last day of registration.)
CONTACT:
Kim Allen
Redmond City Councilmember, #4
kim@kimonthecouncil.com
http://www.kimonthecouncil.com/
Website: Cops for the Cure, Register: to join and or donate to Kim's Team.
425-894-8237
Bob, great to have you at the meeting! I just wanted to correct one small thing about how things get on the agenda for any of the Council Committees. Any member of the committee can request topics be discussed at our committee meetings, so while it may be technically the perogative of the Chair to control the agenda, I think that I can speak for all of the members in saying that we don't like to work that way.
ReplyDeleteAs an example of how members can work cooperatively even on a topic like our readiness for H1N1 (or other disaster), Councilmember Allen requested that we discuss the city's readiness for such potential outbreaks and I had the opportunity to add the presence of former Redmond City Councilman and Evergreen Hospital's E.R. Medical and Emergency Preparedness Director, Dr. Warren Appleton through a conversation with a hospital representative at the Preparedness Fair during the Redmond Town Center Summer Concert Series.
That's led to a greater level of cooperation between the City and Evergreen Hospital when (not if) we have to deal with a natural disaster or a pandemic infection and further coordination will occur because of this renewed connection.
This is an local example of what President Reagan famously said that "there is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit".
Thanks for your additional details of the committee process, Dave. I'm happy you appreciated my attendance (and my writing it up.) I hope other residents will stop into your meetings to see how you earn your wage repping us.
ReplyDeleteIt's great you are starting to hold some meetings off-site and trying to "meet us citizens half way".
I plan to write a story on the Fire Station 12 meeting so your news helped...and now I can quote you!
Thanks for you & your committee members' good works (and those councilmenbers on the other committees)! Got it!
I ran on the idea of openness and it wasn't just a campaign theme that I thought would get me elected; I really thought at the time that being more open and accessible to residents was the direction we should go.
ReplyDeleteI actually stole the idea from the other committee that I sit on (Parks and Human Services) where Chairman Myers has been doing this for a while. Of course, Parks locations are far more numerous than Police or Fire Stations, but I do think that it's great to be able to meet the crews who are on duty and have some insight into the facilities that we have.
These facilities require ongoing maintenance and attention to keep the high level of service that our officers and firefighters deliver to the citizens of Redmond. Without the right tools in good working order, our city cannot count on sustaining that level and I don't think that's an acceptable alternative.