1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,600 Having arrived on this 15th of September, 2026, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:05,720 it is my honor to call to order the city 3 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:07,560 of Racine Common Council. 4 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:09,040 Our first order of business, as always, 5 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:10,080 is the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:11,880 If you could please rise as you are able 7 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:13,720 and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. 8 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:17,520 I pledge allegiance to the flag 9 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:19,720 of the United States of America 10 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,480 and to the Republic for which it stands, 11 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,840 one nation, under God, indivisible, 12 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:27,840 with liberty and justice for all. 13 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:30,840 Thank you. 14 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,360 President Jorgensen, were there any absences for this evening? 15 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,960 Yes, Alderman has asked to be excused. 16 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:52,800 Alderman? 17 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:53,620 Yes. 18 00:00:53,620 --> 00:00:54,460 Thank you. 19 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:58,800 And Alderman Jorgensen, would you like to make a motion 20 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,520 regarding the minutes of the September 1st, 2026 meeting? 21 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:03,080 I would, I'd move to approve the minutes 22 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,320 for the September 1st, 2026 meeting 23 00:01:05,320 --> 00:01:08,040 and September 9th, 2026 meeting. 24 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:09,280 Has been moved and seconded. 25 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,880 Any discussion on the minutes of September 1st, 2026? 26 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:14,720 And, oh, I'm sorry, there's two of them there, actually. 27 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,560 For September 1st and September 9th, 2026. 28 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,320 President Jorgensen, would you restate your motion? 29 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:27,280 Yes, move to approve the minutes 30 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:29,200 for the September 1st, 2026 meeting 31 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,320 and September 9th, 2026 meeting. 32 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:33,880 So motion and the second on that item, 33 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,280 any discussion on either of those minutes? 34 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,000 Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye. 35 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:40,840 Aye. 36 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:42,040 Opposed? 37 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:43,360 That motion carries. 38 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:47,680 We will then move on to the proclamations 39 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:49,920 that we have for this meeting. 40 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:13,200 The first proclamation we have is regarding suicide prevention month, 41 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,360 and it reads, a proclamation is the city of Racine, 42 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,600 whereas September is recognized as National Suicide Prevention Month 43 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,560 to raise awareness, reduce stigma surrounding mental health 44 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,000 and promote life-saving resources and support, 45 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,960 whereas suicide prevention month encourages open conversation 46 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:29,320 about mental health, 47 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,880 educates the public on warning signs and prevention strategies 48 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,320 and connects individuals to evidence-based treatment 49 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:36,920 and support services, 50 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:39,840 whereas suicide impacts individuals, families, friends, 51 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:41,960 co-workers and entire communities, 52 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,440 making awareness and early intervention essential to life, 53 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:47,200 essential to saving lives, 54 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,880 whereas the city of Racine supports the dedicated efforts 55 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,200 of mental health professionals, educators, 56 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,400 first responders, community organizations, 57 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,200 and the city's youth and family in promoting mental wellness 58 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:01,000 and suicide prevention and encouraging open, honest conversation 59 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,560 that make it easier for people to ask for help. 60 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,360 Now, therefore, I, Corey Mason, Mayor of the city, 61 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,440 were seen to hereby proclaim September 2026 62 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:10,400 is National Suicide Prevention Month, 63 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,280 and September 10th, 2026 is National Suicide Prevention Day. 64 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,320 We encourage all residents to promote mental wellness 65 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:19,840 and help build a community where every individual knows 66 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:22,640 that hope and support are available this ninth day 67 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:24,520 of September 2026. 68 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:32,360 Our next proclamation is regarding Hispanic Heritage Month, 69 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,000 and it reads as a proclamation from the city of Racine, 70 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,920 whereas the Hispanic and Latino presence 71 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,120 in America spans centuries, 72 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:41,720 long-predating Spain's colonization 73 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:43,240 of what is now the United States, 74 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,120 and has remained integral to the building, defense, 75 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:47,880 and cultural revolution of our nation 76 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:49,520 since the Revolutionary War. 77 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:51,920 And whereas Hispanic Heritage Month was first established 78 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,000 in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week 79 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,480 and expanded to a month-long observance in 1988 80 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,160 by President Ronald Reagan to honor the rich histories, 81 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:02,440 cultures, and contributions of Hispanic 82 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,840 and Latino-Americans toward democracy. 83 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,560 And whereas the celebration begins on September 15th, 84 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:10,320 marking the independence anniversaries of Costa Rica, 85 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:12,960 El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, 86 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,840 followed by Mexico's Independence Day on September 16th, 87 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,080 and Chile's on September 18th, 88 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,400 reflecting a shared legacy of resilience, freedom, 89 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:22,960 and collective determination across Latin America. 90 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,200 And whereas the 2026 national theme, 91 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,160 pioneers of change, shaping the future together, 92 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,360 recognizes the innovators, leaders, and visionaries 93 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:33,480 within Hispanic and Latino communities 94 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:35,800 whose courage, creativity, and advocacy 95 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:37,720 continue to shape a more just, 96 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,320 supportable, and inclusive future for all. 97 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:42,360 And whereas Hispanic and Latino-Americans 98 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:45,800 enrich Racine through their roles in business, 99 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,960 education, art, public service, faith, 100 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,920 and community advocates from serving in the U.S. military 101 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,640 to advancing movements for equity and justice, 102 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,640 they remain powerful changemakers and social stewards 103 00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:59,640 whose contributions strengthen the economic 104 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:01,440 and public fabric of our city. 105 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,280 Now, therefore, I, Cory Mason, Mayor of the city of Racine, 106 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:07,680 do hereby proclaim September 15th through October 15th, 107 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,280 2026 as Hispanic Heritage Month in the city of Racine, 108 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:13,160 and encourage all residents to celebrate 109 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:16,600 the vibrant contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities, 110 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,000 foster equity, and building lasting alliances 111 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:21,800 that shape a shared and promising future. 112 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,280 In witness here of, I have here in two set my hand 113 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:26,880 and caused the seal of the city to be affixed 114 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:31,380 on this day, beginning on the 15th of September. 115 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:39,680 We also have a resolution regarding digital equity week. 116 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:42,000 It reads, whereas broadband services 117 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,480 are essential infrastructure for the 21st century 118 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,480 and play an important role in providing access 119 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,600 to knowledge and opportunities from communities locally 120 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:52,000 and around the world. 121 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,200 And whereas digital equity ensures all individuals 122 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,080 and communities have the information technology 123 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,400 capacity needed for full participation in our society, 124 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,640 democracy, and is necessary for civic 125 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,240 and cultural participation, lifelong learning, 126 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,280 and access to essential services. 127 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:11,240 And whereas the COVID-19 pandemic underscored 128 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,280 the critical need for reliable broadband infrastructure 129 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:16,160 and digital equity across the city, 130 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:18,040 and while nearly 100% of residents 131 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:19,880 have access to internet service, 132 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,320 an affordability gap of nearly $6 per month continues 133 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:25,400 to prevent some residents from connecting, 134 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,760 leaving approximately 30% of residents without internet. 135 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:30,320 Whereas the city of Racine remains committed 136 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,640 to advancing digital inclusion and equity 137 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,440 by ensuring that all individuals and communities, 138 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:36,640 particularly those who are most disadvantaged, 139 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,240 have meaningful access to and the ability 140 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:41,400 to effectively use information 141 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,480 and communication technologies. 142 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,880 And whereas the digital divide round table established 143 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,400 in 2023 became the digital coalition 144 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:50,840 of Southeast Wisconsin in late 2025 145 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:53,120 to ensure digital equity and opportunity for all 146 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,680 in the city of Racine and Southeast Wisconsin 147 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:57,400 through a community-centered collaborative effort 148 00:06:57,400 --> 00:06:59,400 that adopts to ongoing needs, 149 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:01,320 build a strong resilient ecosystem, 150 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,200 and establishes Racine and now Southeast Wisconsin 151 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:06,600 as a digital equity leader in the state. 152 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:07,960 Now, therefore, I, Corey Mason, 153 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:09,240 mayor of the city of Racine, 154 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,560 do hereby proclaim October 4th through 10th 155 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,000 as digital inclusion week in the city of Racine 156 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:15,920 and ask the people of Racine to join me 157 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:17,680 in raising awareness of digital equity 158 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:19,640 and broadband access issues 159 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,040 and do all we can to close the digital divide 160 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,640 and witness where I appear and to set my hand 161 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,400 and cause the seal of the city of Racine to be affixed. 162 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:30,640 We are missing the coastal awareness one, 163 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,080 so look for that online on the city's Facebook page 164 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,400 and we will move on to a very special presentation 165 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:38,720 that we wanted to do tonight. 166 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,600 If I could ask Mr. Turner, both chiefs, Chief Hanson 167 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,000 and Chief Ramirez and Representative Cruz 168 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,120 to please come up to the front here. 169 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,720 So tonight, we are going to honor a very special public servant 170 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,720 that I've had the pleasure of working with for two decades now. 171 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:16,720 And I have a proclamation that I will read here, 172 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:18,720 and I'm joined by Representative Cruz 173 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,720 and both both the chiefs that have worked with him as well. 174 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:24,720 We were not about 20 years old, 175 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:26,720 but we were not about 20 years old, 176 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:28,720 but we were not about 20 years old, 177 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:30,720 but we were not about 20 years old, 178 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:32,720 but we were not about 20 years old, 179 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:34,720 but we were not about 20 years old, 180 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:36,720 but we were not about 20 years old, 181 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:38,720 but we were not about 20 years ago. 182 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:42,720 I was a youngish newly elected state representative, 183 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:44,720 excited to be in this state assembly, 184 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,720 but realizing that I had a lot to learn, 185 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,720 and I had the good fortune when I was seated in my seat 186 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,720 on the state assembly in 2007 to be seated next to Bob Turner. 187 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,720 And it was a real relief and a pleasure to sit next to Bob. 188 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:00,720 I can't tell you how many times I need to lean over 189 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:02,720 and say, Bob, what are we doing on this one? 190 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:04,720 Or how does this one affect Racine? 191 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,720 And so I had the pleasure of serving with him 192 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,720 for a good chunk of my tenure as a state legislator. 193 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:13,720 And then once I became mayor, 194 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,720 we needed to look for people that we could really trust 195 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,720 to serve on the police and fire commission. 196 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:21,720 And for those of you who don't know, 197 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,720 Bob has extraordinary service as a former military police officer 198 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,720 during his time in the service during the Vietnam War 199 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,720 and brings years of experience having served on the city council 200 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,720 while simultaneously while he was in the state legislature at times. 201 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:40,720 And so he's just been a tremendous colleague and friend 202 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:44,720 when I needed to think of who we could tap to trust to serve 203 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:46,720 on the police and fire commission. 204 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:48,720 It was an easy, easy decision. 205 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:53,720 So we are here to honor Bob and his service with several proclamations 206 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:55,720 and adorations. 207 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,720 And so I will read ours and then I'll hand it over to Representative Cruz 208 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:00,720 and then to the chiefs and then Bob, 209 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:02,720 if you'd honor us with a few words, that would be great. 210 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:04,720 But the proclamation reads, 211 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,720 whereas Robert Turner has devoted more than five decades 212 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,720 to public service in the city of Racine and the state of Wisconsin, 213 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,720 beginning with his military service in the United States Air Force security police 214 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:20,720 during the Vietnam War, including during the 1968 Tetotents offensive. 215 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:22,720 And whereas upon returning home, 216 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:25,720 Bob Turner continued his dedication to public service 217 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:27,720 through his work at J.I.K.'s Company 218 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,720 and his election to the Racine Common Council in 1976. 219 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,720 Where he served with distinction for 28 years. 220 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,720 During this time, he also served concurrently as a representative 221 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:41,720 in the state assembly for 14 years, demonstrating an extraordinary commitment 222 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:44,720 to Racine by holding both roles simultaneously, 223 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,720 including the pleasure that I had to serve alongside him 224 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,720 between 2006 and 2012. 225 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,720 In 1990, Turner was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly, 226 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,720 becoming the first African-American elected to the assembly from outside Milwaukee 227 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,720 and went on to represent Racine for 11 consecutive terms, 228 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:05,720 championing policies that strengthen representation, accountability, 229 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,720 and opportunity for residents across the city and state. 230 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:11,720 And whereas Turner's leadership extended beyond elected office, 231 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:15,720 including his candidacy for mayor in the 2009 special election, 232 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:20,720 and continued engagement in civic affairs following his retirement 233 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:22,720 from the assembly in 2013. 234 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:26,720 In 2018, I had the honor of appointing representative Turner 235 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:28,720 who has received police and fire commission, 236 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,720 where he served with integrity, fairness, 237 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:34,720 and a steadfast commitment to public safety and community trust. 238 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,720 And whereas throughout Black History Month, the city of Racine 239 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:41,720 recognizes individuals whose leadership has shaped our community, 240 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,720 and Robert Turner stands as an historic figure whose contributions 241 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:46,720 continue to move Racine forward. 242 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,720 Now, therefore, I, Corey Mason, mayor of the city of Racine, 243 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,720 do hereby recognize Robert L. Turner for his outstanding service 244 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:56,720 to the Racine Police Fire Commission, 245 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:58,720 his historic achievements in public office, 246 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,720 and his enduring commitment to the people Racine in witness 247 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:04,720 where of this resolution is presented with gratitude 248 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,720 and deep respect at the common council meeting tonight, 249 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:11,720 and set here in my hand and has caused the seal of the city 250 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:13,720 of Racine to be affixed. 251 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:14,720 Wow. 252 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:20,720 CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 253 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,720 I'm going to ask Representative Cruz to come out for the safety words. 254 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:29,720 CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 255 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:31,720 Thank you. 256 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:32,720 Hi, everyone. 257 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:33,720 I'm Representative Cruz. 258 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:35,720 I represent Assembly District 62. 259 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:39,720 I had the honor and privilege to serve on the Police and Fire 260 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,720 Commission with Bob Turner. 261 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:49,720 And I would like to think that we challenged one another in many ways, 262 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:54,720 but I was truly, and I am truly grateful for the ways in which he challenged me 263 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:59,720 and helped me to grow and be ready for my position in the Assembly. 264 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,720 So I'm really proud to present this to you, 265 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:07,720 whereas Robert Bob Turner was elected to represent District 61 266 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,720 in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1990, 267 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,720 making history as the first black member of the legislature 268 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:18,720 elected from Racine and from outside Milwaukee 269 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:23,720 and serve the people of Racine and of the state and the Wisconsin State Assembly 270 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:28,720 for more than two decades from 1991 to 2013 271 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,720 during this time holding significant leadership roles, including 272 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:37,720 Minority Caucus Chairperson, Minority Caucus Vice Chairperson, 273 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,720 and Minority Caucus Sergeant at Arms, 274 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:45,720 and whereas Representative Turner's service on Assembly Committee reflects 275 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:50,720 a far-reaching knowledge of and contribution to state government, 276 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,720 including serving on ways and means throughout his tenure in the Assembly, 277 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,720 as Chairperson of Criminal Justice in 2009, 278 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,720 and of Transportation in 1993, 279 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:06,720 Vice Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Council Special Committee 280 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,720 for Criminal Justice Funding and Strategies in 2011, 281 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:14,720 and of the Joint Legislative Council Special Committee on Justice, 282 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,720 Reinvestment Initiative, Oversight in 2009, 283 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:22,720 and his record as a legislator demonstrates attention 284 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:27,720 to a wide range of issues and unfailing attention to issues of concerns 285 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:29,720 with Veterans Affairs, 286 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:34,720 and whereas upon his first election to the Wisconsin State Assembly, 287 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:39,720 Robert L. Turner had already compiled an extensive record of public service 288 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,720 including on the Racine City Council beginning in 1976 289 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:49,720 and continuing to 2004 as a member of the State Elections Board 290 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:55,720 from 1987 to 1990, which he chaired in 1990, 291 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,720 and as a United States Air Force veteran with service in Vietnam. 292 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:04,720 Now therefore be it resolved that Representative Angelina Cruz, 293 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,720 Representative Greta Newbauer, and Senator Robert Wurch, 294 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,720 together with the Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus, 295 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:17,720 recognized the exemplary public service of Representative Robert L. Turner 296 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:21,720 and extend deep gratitude for his many contributions, 297 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,720 dated this 15th day of September 2026. 298 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:27,720 Thank you so much, Bob. 299 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,720 APPLAUSE 300 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,720 Now I'd like to ask the Chiefs to come up and say a few words. 301 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:47,720 Good evening. 302 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,720 I met Commissioner Robert Turner back sometime around January of 2021. 303 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,720 He was the President and it was instrumental 304 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,720 and for me to become Assistant Chief and eventually Chief of Police, 305 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:01,720 and I'm very grateful for that. 306 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:06,720 He's always been a supporter of the Police Department. 307 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:08,720 We have many, many conversations. 308 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,720 The Racine Police Department has a little plaque for you, 309 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:14,720 Robert, for your service on the commission. 310 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:17,720 And it's a certificate appreciation. 311 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,720 And it's a City of Police Department, 312 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:23,720 City of Racine Police Department hereby presents 313 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,720 this certificate appreciation to Robert Turner. 314 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:28,720 For your dedication, commitment, 315 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:33,720 and service to the Racine community by your service on the Police and Fire Commission. 316 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,720 Data Today's date September 15th, 2026. 317 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:39,720 So congratulations. 318 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,720 I have just a couple of other things that we want to give him. 319 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:55,720 Each Commissioner also gets a badge for serving on the commission 320 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,720 on the Fire and Police and Fire Commission. 321 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:01,720 Here we have one in Lucite for him. 322 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:02,720 So here you go, Robert. 323 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:04,720 We put your badge on Lucite. 324 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:12,720 In just a couple of tokens of appreciation, 325 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,720 I still consider you a police officer because you always come into scenes 326 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:18,720 or you come into the Police Department 327 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:20,720 and you probably wore that badge. 328 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,720 So with a little appreciation here, 329 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,720 we're going to give you a police patch. 330 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,720 So you can wear on your shoulder if you wish. 331 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,720 And also it's something that I always give out to people who do excellent work 332 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:35,720 as a Chief's Coin. 333 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,720 In this case, Robert Turner is the well-deserving of that coin. 334 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:40,720 So congratulations. 335 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:52,720 I've known Robert Turner for virtually my entire career on the Fire Department. 336 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:54,720 And that goes back a long, long ways. 337 00:17:54,720 --> 00:18:00,720 Over the years, he has been a mentor and helpful in everything that we have done 338 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:01,720 on the Fire Department. 339 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:06,720 And we appreciate his support of the community through his legislative activities 340 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:11,720 and his wisdom and insight on the Police and Fire Commission. 341 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:15,720 With that, on behalf of the Racine Fire Department and of all public safety, 342 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:20,720 folks in the city here, thank you for your many years of service to this community. 343 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,720 And we appreciate you deeply for what you have given us 344 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,720 and hopefully we can make you proud in the future. 345 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:27,720 Congratulations. 346 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:29,720 Thank you. 347 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:30,720 Thank you. 348 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:31,720 Thank you. 349 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:32,720 Thank you. 350 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:33,720 Thank you. 351 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,720 Now, I realize that I'm just getting old. 352 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,720 All things I've been doing over the years. 353 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,720 But again, it couldn't be done without the help of my fellow commission members 354 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:46,720 and the support of the city attorney's office, the mayor, 355 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,720 have the confidence in the mean head of the Police Department and Fire Commission. 356 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:51,720 And all the members of the council, who I serve with, 357 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:55,720 my friends and the audience and my women's family. 358 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:57,720 I know it's my friend, Tertala, and his wife, 359 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:00,720 and Carl Hopper, who's a member of the Police and Fire Commission. 360 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:05,720 And I talk to you, my friend, 361 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,720 who's from Chicago for me, Mike Seale, 362 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,720 and I see our good friend, 363 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:13,720 who also served with me, 364 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:14,720 who felt a veteran. 365 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,720 I think it's not like I see he's... 366 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:21,720 Hold on a minute, think that... 367 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,720 Hold on. 368 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:25,720 I didn't get there. 369 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:26,720 Keyfare, right, yeah. 370 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:27,720 Keyfare, 371 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:28,720 who's a fellow veteran? 372 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:29,720 He then serves Marine Corps, 373 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:30,720 who was an efforts. 374 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,720 I said, well, I did build you guys out of Vietnam, 375 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:35,720 and we got over-ran in Saigon. 376 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:36,720 He, also, my good friend, 377 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:41,720 and my fine brother I drink beer. 378 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:43,720 Oh, can see to pass this... 379 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,480 I'm still in there for sarcastically, 380 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:57,200 I know I'm a pastor, I know I'm a real pastor, I'm a real pastor, and in his son, and he's 381 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:03,080 lovely wife, I'm a son of your wife, I'm a son of your brother, Terry. 382 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:07,920 So again, I'll be brief, at first I thought this was my celebration of my birthday, when 383 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:13,120 I served my birthday was on the 14th of September, so I have to work with my birthday, I must 384 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:14,120 do something right. 385 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:17,360 And the second I thought I saw the police chief, and in fact, she asked me, maybe it would 386 00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:20,560 be an arrest for something I did, and if we had a call. 387 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,880 But none of it would be impossible without the help of people who I've been around on 388 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:28,680 my career, and my son's here tonight, for I'll return to my sister's hand. 389 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:37,640 That's a stand, Robert, that's my oldest son, and he used to be a deputy chef in Las 390 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:41,640 Vegas, and I was supposed to be here tonight, and my husband had a big family, I had a 391 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:46,280 friend of mine, and I had them all who had to use the feel of the help of everybody. 392 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:50,080 All the hard roads we've seen, I won't call the name, because I may miss someone, if I 393 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:54,920 do miss someone, it's not from the head, it's not from the head, and I said, again, it's 394 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:59,600 just all your pleasure to come here and see Sandra White, who I served on the City Council 395 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:06,960 many years, and I noticed that, all I see was I served on the City Council, but anyway, 396 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:12,120 I want to thank the Mayor for the honor, it has a coach of me, and I know the Mayor 397 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:17,320 mother, if I knew the Mayor, a rich school at Parkside, I'm not until the age, but so 398 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:22,920 the Parkside, I knew it was there, too, and I got to thank the City Trustees, and for 399 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:29,320 his suggestions, and also the Koreans, obviously the Koreans are dumb, and she was the Secretary 400 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:33,440 who made sure that everybody built time for all the meetings that they needed, and kept 401 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:38,240 it in minutes, although Carl was our official Secretary of Carl Hobart, but she made sure 402 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,840 everything was done right, and again, it's the place of the honor to be recognized by 403 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:45,480 the city we've seen, but things have done, I will do it again in a heartbeat, although 404 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,720 we should have got some money for this, but I will do it again tomorrow, thank you for 405 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,120 showing up, all the afternoon, I'll see you in the wedding. 406 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:13,840 We're gonna stand in formal for just a couple minutes, and then we'll resume the meeting. 407 00:22:33,440 --> 00:23:00,160 Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, 408 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,160 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, 409 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:17,040 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, 410 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:42,800 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, 411 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:46,800 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, 412 00:23:46,800 --> 00:24:12,560 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, 413 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:16,560 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, 414 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:31,200 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much, thank you so much, thank you, thank you, 415 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:38,720 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, 416 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,480 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, 417 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:46,400 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, 418 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:48,320 elected officials or staff. 419 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,440 This time is not intended to be a debate or discussion. 420 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,000 The Common Council shall not hear personal complaints 421 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,640 or attacks against any city employee or elected official 422 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,280 or any matter related to an individual claim, 423 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,760 citation, appeal, or lawsuit. 424 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:05,720 Profane, disruptive, threatening, or conduct 425 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:08,200 that otherwise impedes the safe, orderly, 426 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,360 and effective conduct of the Common Council meeting 427 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:14,360 is equally unacceptable during the public comment period 428 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,280 as it is during all of their portions of city meetings. 429 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,080 Candidates for public office may not use this opportunity 430 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:21,840 to campaign for office. 431 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:23,800 Speakers during the public comment period 432 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:25,960 shall follow all rules of the Common Council 433 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:27,520 and rulings of the chair, 434 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:29,600 including a decision to terminate the remarks 435 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,000 if the speaker does not adhere to these rules. 436 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,720 Public comments shall be limited to ideas or concerns 437 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:36,480 regarding the city of Racine. 438 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,880 We encourage you to submit any detailed concerns 439 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,680 in writing to the city clerk's office 440 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:41,960 or your aldermen, 441 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:43,600 where they can be properly documented 442 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:45,400 and directed for response. 443 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,400 There will be three speakers this evening. 444 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,400 The first one is Diane Kaneki, excuse me, 5101, right AV. 445 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:55,600 And as you approach the DSC, 446 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:57,600 I just want to let you know there's a three minute clock 447 00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:58,600 that we'll turn on. 448 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:00,000 One of the three minutes are up, 449 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,240 the microphone gets turned off, 450 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,840 that's not a reflection on what anybody's saying. 451 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:05,400 It is just a three minute limit that we have 452 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:07,440 and an effort to treat everybody equally. 453 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:09,840 You may begin. 454 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,800 Hello, I like to speak about homelessness 455 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,280 to marginalized communities. 456 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:18,760 A few years ago when I first transitioned 457 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:20,960 and even before I transitioned, 458 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:24,960 I was homeless because also due to domestic abuse 459 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,840 from a boyfriend and also from a girlfriend 460 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:29,360 because I'm bi. 461 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:33,000 But when I did stay in a homeless shelter as trans, 462 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,000 part of the problem that I had was basically, 463 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,920 I always went here, well, you're not storming, 464 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:39,720 you're not storming, you're not storming. 465 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:41,840 And this is part of the reason today why 466 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:43,400 I appear without wearing my wig, 467 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:45,280 because some days I don't wear my wig. 468 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:49,520 And for many people who are trans, they have hair loss, 469 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:51,120 but sometimes when they're in the shelter, 470 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:52,640 if they're in the bed shelter, 471 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,000 they're expected to wear the wig 24-7. 472 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,360 As many people know that it's extremely hard to do. 473 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:02,160 It's very hot and also I have syncopies 474 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,440 so on hot days, there are many days I do go with my wig 475 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,600 or even when I meet friends sometimes I go with my wig. 476 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:10,200 The reason I have my Barbies with me 477 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:12,680 is also to demonstrate my models 478 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:17,680 that also trans, trans people are F to M as Randy 479 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,360 or M to F as Sandy. 480 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:22,640 But what happens in shelter sometimes Sandy 481 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:24,840 will be put on the men's side 482 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,160 while Randy will be put on the women's side. 483 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:29,400 But as Sandy has put on the men's side, 484 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:33,120 she could experience great abuse, great trauma 485 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,680 and may even have to be rescued. 486 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:40,120 So what I'm trying to say though is basically, 487 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:44,120 we've seen it has a good history of managing shelters, 488 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:47,160 but you still have to be watchful 489 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,760 because there are many times that people 490 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,280 who are trans sometimes are afraid to go 491 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:57,160 or sometimes even afraid to talk with certain social groups 492 00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,320 because they're afraid of bias, 493 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:01,880 whether it's different types of social aspects, 494 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,120 whether they're an all group based upon 495 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:08,360 what they think of society, how they believe in society, 496 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:10,040 what they actually believe. 497 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:12,280 So the person has to be open-minded 498 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:13,920 and has to be accepting. 499 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,040 It's right the book, Humans of New York. 500 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:17,800 We've seen it as a multicultural city, 501 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:19,720 multi-generational city. 502 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:21,200 Not everyone dresses the same, 503 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:23,120 not everyone lives the same. 504 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:28,160 So what happens and regards to homelessness 505 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,680 and even domestic abuse, it has to be open-minded 506 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:33,160 and I'd like to mention that we've seen it. 507 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:34,800 Kenosha actually is only two communities 508 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,000 that have a domestic abuse shelter 509 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:38,960 in all of Southeast Wisconsin 510 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:41,360 and even considering all of the Chicago area. 511 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:45,480 So I speak to speak on a forward basis 512 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:47,480 rather than as a reactionary 513 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:50,320 or on a tombstone basis when something has happened. 514 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:51,160 Thank you. 515 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:56,840 The next speaker is Madeline Thompson at 1906 Erie Street. 516 00:28:58,480 --> 00:28:59,880 Hello. 517 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:03,680 Sorry, well nervous I don't public speak often. 518 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:05,600 Sometimes you just wake up and gotta remind somebody 519 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:07,320 that they're an elected official. 520 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:10,000 Hello, I'm here to speak again 521 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:11,880 against the Flock Surveillance Company. 522 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:13,360 I know we're seeing police department 523 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:14,720 feels very strongly pro 524 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,640 about the crime-fighting aspect of this tool, 525 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:19,640 but I would also hope they feel just as strongly 526 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:21,240 about public trust. 527 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:23,120 The cameras only further dig out the canyon 528 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,320 of distrust the public has with the police. 529 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:28,720 We already have two officers that we are aware of 530 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:30,920 that have been investigated for misusing 531 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:32,960 their access to the Flock data. 532 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:35,000 Since we're in the police department 533 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,480 is allowed to audit that access internally, 534 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:38,880 we don't know how many more there could be 535 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:40,480 or what punishment they faced 536 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:41,720 if there even was a punishment. 537 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:42,600 We don't even know where they are. 538 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:43,960 They don't have to tell us though. 539 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,360 We just got trust that everything's working out. 540 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,760 Furthermore, Flock is building onto a project called Nova. 541 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,480 Nova is an AI searchable database of people. 542 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:56,760 You're clothing, your face, your tattoos. 543 00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:58,680 We're seeing that turn the service down 544 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:00,760 when it's signed up but we still sign the contract 545 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:02,880 so we still install the infrastructure. 546 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:04,160 It's a little camera swaparoo 547 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,680 and the next thing you know, you're all in a database. 548 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:11,640 You may think to yourself, 549 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,640 why don't commit crimes, so no worries. 550 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,720 But uh-oh, worries, very much worries. 551 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,600 There are document incidences of this Flock system 552 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:21,320 flagging the wrong vehicle 553 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:22,440 and then innocent people 554 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,240 are having their civil liberties taken away. 555 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:26,400 They're being pulled out of vehicles at gunpoint, 556 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:29,800 been arrested and held for crimes they didn't even commit 557 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,840 because the cop is working off bad intel. 558 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:34,640 I know our police need tools. 559 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:36,800 I want them to have tools. 560 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,800 But I need tools that also don't harm the community 561 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,880 and make the public just trust in them even worse. 562 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,520 I also just wanna say I think it's crazy 563 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,800 that Florida State Highway removed all the cameras 564 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:51,520 and we haven't. 565 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:53,800 In a what world is Florida more progressive than us? 566 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:55,640 Their state bird is bath salts. 567 00:30:58,440 --> 00:30:59,480 I sometimes are just so mad. 568 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,080 I just can't stop myself from saying expletors 569 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:02,520 and I have so much more to say. 570 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:05,520 But the biggest thing that I want to say 571 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,240 is that we have an obligation 572 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:08,680 and I'm speaking to the white people in this room, 573 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,480 we have an obligation to use our privilege for good. 574 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:13,920 We have an obligation to stand up for injustice. 575 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,320 We have an obligation to dismantle systems 576 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:18,240 that oppress minority people. 577 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:19,600 So that's why I'm here today 578 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:21,440 because this is just a tipping point. 579 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,680 The ICE agents, ICE goons are already using the system 580 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:27,760 to track down and terrorize immigrants. 581 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:29,480 Is that acceptable to us? 582 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:30,880 Are we better than Florida or not? 583 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,160 Should we get our state bird to be the bath salts? 584 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:36,280 I don't know, but I think receding deserves better 585 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:38,200 and I think you guys can make a better decision 586 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,640 and all the remark I really wish you'd pay attention to me. 587 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:41,480 Thank you. 588 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,960 The last speaker is Josh Jeffers from Wawa Tosa. 589 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:54,440 Good evening everyone. 590 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:55,840 My name is Joshua Jeffers. 591 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:59,240 I'm the president and CEO of J. Jeffers & Company. 592 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,640 We're a real estate development firm 593 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:04,560 that owns the properties at the former 594 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:06,120 Horlick Multimilk factory, 595 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,800 now known as Bell City Square. 596 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:11,640 And one of the topics that will be heard tonight 597 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:16,640 is a proposed loan modification for the avenues property. 598 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,680 So for anyone who's a little bit unfamiliar with this, 599 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,440 we've completed now four phases of development 600 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:28,040 at the former Horlick Multimilk complex. 601 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,560 The first phase was the Arabella Apartments, 602 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,040 which is 60 affordable housing units 603 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,680 that was completed in 2021. 604 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,120 Then in 2022, we completed the second phase, 605 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:42,600 which is 86 market rate apartment units 606 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,640 in a building now known as the William Apartments. 607 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:48,600 Phase three is called the avenues. 608 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:53,000 This was 167 units of new construction market rate housing, 609 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:54,920 one of the first market rate housing developments 610 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:57,720 built and were seen in a very long time. 611 00:32:57,720 --> 00:32:59,520 We're very proud of that project 612 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:01,480 and that is actually the subject 613 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:03,040 that you'll be hearing about a little bit later. 614 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:05,600 We have a $5 million loan 615 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:07,440 from the city of Racine on this property 616 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:11,040 that we're seeking some modifications to. 617 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:15,320 And then I also wanted to mention last year in 2025, 618 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:18,760 we completed our fourth phase of development here, 619 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:21,480 which is a commercial phase of development 620 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,960 that resulted in 95,000 square feet of commercial space. 621 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:27,160 Some of our anchor tenants there 622 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,960 are the inclusive bean coffee shop and Lee's deli, 623 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,440 which just recently opened up there. 624 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:35,880 So in total, over the last five or six years 625 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:38,160 that we've been working on this site, 626 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,120 we've completed 313 apartment units, 627 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,800 about 95,000 square feet of commercial space. 628 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,440 And we've invested over $110 million 629 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,320 into transforming what was once a blighted, 630 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,200 brown field factory complex 631 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:57,440 into what is now a vibrant, safe neighborhood 632 00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,400 with all lead certified buildings 633 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,360 and has had a little bit for everyone there 634 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,280 just in terms of housing inclusiveness and jobs creation. 635 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,520 So I just wanna say again, 636 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,760 I appreciate you hearing our matter 637 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:13,920 and I can be available for any questions 638 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:14,960 that might come up. 639 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:15,800 Thank you. 640 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:19,080 This concludes the public comment segment. 641 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:23,840 We now move on to the public hearing 642 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:25,520 on the zoning code rewrite. 643 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:27,920 The planning commission had two meetings 644 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,640 in the last month regarding the public 645 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,760 and had a public hearing there on the zoning code rewrite. 646 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:34,600 Under state statute, 647 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:36,280 we are required to do a public hearing 648 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:38,760 on any changing to zoning code. 649 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,520 We have no speakers currently signed up to speak 650 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,160 to the zoning code rewrite on that item. 651 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:49,040 So we'll then move on to communications introduced to council. 652 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,840 The first one would be items referred 653 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:55,480 to public works and services. 654 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,160 Alderman, would you like to make a motion 655 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:00,160 regarding the items to be referred 656 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:02,720 to public works and services? 657 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:03,560 Yes, I would. 658 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:05,040 Thank you, Mayor. 659 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,440 I move to have the following items referred 660 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,200 to the public works and services committee. 661 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:15,720 Item 081326, communication sponsor by myself, 662 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:18,560 requesting use of city right of way 663 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:20,960 for the annual holiday parade on Saturday, 664 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:24,680 November 14th, 2026. 665 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,680 Item 081626, communication sponsor by myself, 666 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:32,840 submitting bid results for contract 2026, 413, 667 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:37,640 lateral lining 2026, greater north Bay phase one. 668 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:42,280 Item 081726, communication sponsor by myself, 669 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,760 submitting amendment 13 party contract 670 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:50,760 for state project ID 22901002, city of Racine, 671 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:56,160 state street and main street bridges over route river. 672 00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:02,240 And item 0827-26, communication sponsor by myself, 673 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:07,440 submitting bid results for contract 2026, 412, 674 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:11,720 CCTV 2026, televising, city wide. 675 00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:15,000 So second on the referral of these items, 676 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:16,480 all those in favor of referring these items 677 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,680 to public working services, please say aye. 678 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:19,280 Aye. 679 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,320 Opposed, that motion carries. 680 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:26,040 We now look for a referral motion, Alderman, Pete. 681 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:27,720 Would you like to make a motion regarding the items 682 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:30,480 to be referred to public safety and licensing? 683 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:32,760 I would like to refer to the following items, 684 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:35,360 the public safety and licensing committee. 685 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:40,360 Item number 081026, communications sponsor by myself, 686 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:44,800 submitting a new application for a class B retail 687 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:48,400 fermented malt beverage and intoxicating liquor license 688 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:53,400 for B-A-A-4, LLC, DBA, Old English Pub, 689 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,760 which is located at 2416 Lakeville Avenue, 690 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:02,040 Brandon Thomas, agent 14th district. 691 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:06,920 Item number 081126, communications sponsor by myself 692 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:09,960 for the license premises report 693 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:11,840 that the public safety and licensing committee 694 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:14,400 review the police department report. 695 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:18,000 Item number 81226, communications, 696 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:19,760 which is sponsored by myself, 697 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:24,760 requesting any consideration and any formal expression 698 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,720 of concern or other actions pursuant to the police report. 699 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:33,760 Item 081426, communications sponsor by myself, 700 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:38,520 submitting a new application for a class B retail 701 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:42,760 fermented malt beverage and intoxicating liquor license 702 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:47,760 for Sarah Ventura, LLC, DBA, La Quince, Del Barro, 703 00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:53,800 restaurante, Salon, Fiesta, located at 1518 704 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:58,040 Washington Avenue, Sarah Guzman, Alberts, 705 00:37:58,040 --> 00:37:59,480 agent third district. 706 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:02,680 So motion and a second to refer these items 707 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:06,040 to public safety and licensing. 708 00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:08,640 All those in favor, please say aye. 709 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:10,440 Opposed, that motion carries. 710 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:12,200 We now move on to committee reports. 711 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:13,560 Elder land is not here. 712 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:15,520 So the vice chair, Elder Horton, 713 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,440 will be handling this report. 714 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:19,120 Elder Horton, do you have any items 715 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:20,200 for separate consideration? 716 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:22,440 Yes, I do, yes, I have five. 717 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:23,600 Please read the first one. 718 00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:28,920 0795-26, communications sponsor by Mayor Mason 719 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:31,560 regarding their renegotiation or termination 720 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:33,720 of the flock camera system in the city 721 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:35,800 of racing, recommendation from the finance 722 00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:38,880 and personnel committee on 9882026 723 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:42,880 to maintain the contract through 123126. 724 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:44,880 Physical note funds are appropriated 725 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,640 in the 2026 budget, much approved. 726 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:50,640 There's a motion and a second to approve, 727 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:55,360 item 0795-26, Elder Jorgensen. 728 00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:57,280 Thank you. 729 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:00,520 I would move to make an amendment 730 00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:02,760 that would direct the city attorney 731 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:05,440 to terminate the contract with flock safety, 732 00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:07,800 effective immediately with the intention 733 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:10,520 that all flock equipment will be covered 734 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:13,040 in a way to disable them without damage 735 00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:15,200 until they can be physically removed. 736 00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:18,360 With a 30 day grace period to be provided 737 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:20,200 to the police department so that they can retain 738 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:23,200 any data for ongoing investigations 739 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:25,640 with the cameras disabled during that time period. 740 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:29,040 There's a motion to amend the item 741 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:33,280 to terminate the contract, cover the cameras safely 742 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:35,560 without damaging them and giving the police 743 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:37,120 department a 30 day grace period 744 00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:40,320 to acquire additional information. 745 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:42,560 Elder Jorgensen, would you like to speak to your amendment? 746 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:43,400 Thank you. 747 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:46,440 So we discussed this at length 748 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,240 at the finance and personnel committee. 749 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:52,680 We had flock representatives in attendance. 750 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:56,600 They came to supposedly answer questions 751 00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:58,680 all the walking away from that meeting. 752 00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:00,080 I didn't really feel like there were a lot 753 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:02,440 of questions answered through me. 754 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,320 There were numerous questions posed 755 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:07,080 and I think the most crucial, 756 00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:09,960 which is really what's different here. 757 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:12,680 What have other communities gotten wrong? 758 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:16,720 There's a few dozen communities in the state 759 00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:18,840 that have taken this same issue up 760 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,440 and looked at it and looked at I think most importantly 761 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:23,680 what the public wants. 762 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:25,560 And it made the decision that they wanted 763 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:26,760 to terminate the contract. 764 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:27,920 It's what their residents wanted. 765 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:30,120 It's what they felt was right. 766 00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:32,440 And so here we have the opportunity in the city 767 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:34,160 to do the same thing, 768 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:36,960 to look at what flock is and what it represents 769 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:41,680 and what it does and look at what our constituents, 770 00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:44,400 the folks that we're supposed to be representing 771 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:46,200 overwhelmingly want, 772 00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:48,480 which is this contract to be terminated. 773 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:51,320 I don't know if you've seen me polling on it. 774 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:54,200 I know an alder put up a post on Facebook 775 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:57,360 and I read through the vast majority of the comments 776 00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:01,880 and it was overwhelming that the general population 777 00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:03,320 does not want these cameras. 778 00:41:04,360 --> 00:41:07,520 One of the comments that I think really stuck with me 779 00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:09,680 from that meeting is an alder made the comment 780 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:14,040 that well everyone has the drive safe and save discount. 781 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:15,440 They sign up on their phones 782 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:17,560 and their phones collect more data 783 00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:19,560 than what flock would do. 784 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:22,400 But you're missing a really important nuance 785 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,200 with that statement. 786 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:25,680 And that's that, 787 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:29,440 that discount is a choice that a person has. 788 00:41:29,440 --> 00:41:32,000 They can choose to enroll in that program or not. 789 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:36,400 They can choose to have their phone on them 790 00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:38,760 and to do that and participate in the program or not. 791 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:41,200 There is no way to opt out of flock cameras 792 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:42,320 to be tracked and monitored. 793 00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:43,960 There's no opt in, opt out. 794 00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:46,520 That would be our decision 795 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:49,560 on if we want to have the city participate in that or not. 796 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:52,920 There's numerous other comments around of, 797 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:56,040 well, if you use social media, 798 00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:58,280 that has more data that gets tracked on you 799 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:00,040 than what flock would have. 800 00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:03,120 Once again, that is a choice that somebody gets to make. 801 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:06,600 If we continue this contract with flock, 802 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:09,480 we aren't giving residents in the city of Racina choice 803 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:10,960 whether or not they're going to be monitored 804 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:12,560 with this camera system. 805 00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:14,600 We're making the choice for them. 806 00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:16,800 And as we've seen from the public coming out 807 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:18,760 and speaking on this issue numerous times, 808 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,320 I've received received a number of phone calls 809 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:23,960 and emails on this of residents asking 810 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:28,960 that we do not continue this contract and we end it now. 811 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:31,360 So that's, that's why I made that motion tonight. 812 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:33,760 I truly believe that the will of the people 813 00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:35,120 should be the law of the land. 814 00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:37,720 And that's the opportunity before us this evening. 815 00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:42,040 Alderman Pervone. 816 00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:42,880 Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 817 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:45,720 I'm in support of Alderman Pervone since motion. 818 00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:48,440 I've spoken a lot on this since it's come up, 819 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:49,760 had a lot of constituents reach out, 820 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:51,720 people reach out the community 821 00:42:51,720 --> 00:42:52,880 and just trying to listen. 822 00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:56,640 And we heard, you know, there are some of my colleagues 823 00:42:56,640 --> 00:43:00,160 that are afraid of making a knee jerk reaction 824 00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:03,120 to a particular item like this. 825 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:06,120 But in a lot of the ways, public sentiment 826 00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:09,440 is public perception is reality. 827 00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:12,440 When we are in an environment like this, 828 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:14,600 it's different than when you're using your phone 829 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:16,680 or when you're signing up for apps 830 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:19,640 and you're allowing that and you're consenting to that 831 00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:21,760 versus when you're giving the government money 832 00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:23,720 to then use these tools. 833 00:43:23,720 --> 00:43:25,080 It's not like the tool isn't useful, 834 00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:26,600 especially for our police department 835 00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:27,920 and a lot of the crimes that they do. 836 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:30,240 This gives them the opportunity to download any data 837 00:43:30,240 --> 00:43:31,640 that might be there. 838 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:34,320 But at the same time, bags up these cameras 839 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:36,160 so they cannot collect more data. 840 00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:38,440 When I was at the finance and personnel committee, 841 00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:40,040 when I've seen everything else happening 842 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:42,480 in the surrounding municipalities and communities, 843 00:43:42,480 --> 00:43:44,560 regardless if their crime rate was the same 844 00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:45,720 or wasn't the same as us, 845 00:43:45,720 --> 00:43:47,680 if we're comparing apples to oranges, 846 00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:52,000 it didn't really matter in the sense that 847 00:43:54,440 --> 00:43:57,480 the answers that we're getting from the flock representatives 848 00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:00,320 just did not hold. 849 00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:03,000 They did not meet the expectations 850 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:04,760 to where I would be able to then go 851 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:07,240 and reiterate that to my constituency, 852 00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:09,200 to the residents, to my friends and family, 853 00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:10,320 they reach out. 854 00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:13,320 People from both sides of the ideological aisle 855 00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:15,600 are against this and I think we would be 856 00:44:18,400 --> 00:44:23,400 in deep, deep waters if we decided to ignore a directive 857 00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:27,080 like this, especially when it's not about following 858 00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:28,160 what's the latest trend, 859 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:30,240 it's about these are serious grievances 860 00:44:30,240 --> 00:44:32,640 that our chief has even acknowledged 861 00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:34,080 that he understands both sides. 862 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:37,000 He defends the usefulness of the tool, 863 00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:38,560 not the company itself. 864 00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:43,320 And what the representatives told us was not sufficient. 865 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:47,480 And in fact, a surgeon had emailed us earlier today 866 00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:49,280 that what he was told by a flock representative 867 00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:51,760 was not correct and he had to go back and correct 868 00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:52,760 that not his fault, 869 00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:54,280 he's just doing what he's trying to do 870 00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:57,640 to make sure we're making the best informed decision. 871 00:44:57,640 --> 00:45:00,880 But when we're flip-flopping like that 872 00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:02,680 and if the city attorney's confused 873 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:04,120 or the mayor's confused or I'm confused 874 00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:06,280 and all of us are wondering what's going on, 875 00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:09,120 there's obviously an error in the messaging 876 00:45:09,120 --> 00:45:12,480 and it wasn't a misstatement or misrepresentation by flock, 877 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:14,560 he was just flat out negligence. 878 00:45:14,560 --> 00:45:18,040 So that is my view and this is why I'm supporting 879 00:45:18,040 --> 00:45:20,680 all the Dergensen's motion to do this, 880 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:22,960 effective immediately with bagging the camera 881 00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:25,600 so no more further data can be collected 882 00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:29,040 and then giving our police department the opportunity 883 00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:33,600 to download any data they need for ongoing investigations 884 00:45:33,600 --> 00:45:35,000 and if something like this 885 00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:38,120 for a tool like this where to come before council again 886 00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:41,240 at that time is when it's gonna face the scrutiny it deserves 887 00:45:41,240 --> 00:45:43,560 but right now we need to address what's at hand 888 00:45:43,560 --> 00:45:46,320 and I am in support of the motion, thank you. 889 00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:47,320 Thank you. 890 00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:49,760 Aldo Horton, I realize you made the initial motion 891 00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:50,640 for the committee report. 892 00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:52,720 I didn't ask if you wanted to speak to your original motion, 893 00:45:52,720 --> 00:45:54,640 do you want to speak on the amendment or the amendment? 894 00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:56,640 Of course, please proceed. 895 00:45:56,640 --> 00:45:59,040 Yeah, so first of all I understand 896 00:45:59,040 --> 00:46:02,080 what President Dergensen is saying 897 00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:03,720 and all the people on the saying. 898 00:46:03,760 --> 00:46:05,480 And like I said and I said again, 899 00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:08,480 unless you're on the other side of the aisle 900 00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:11,920 of losing the loved one and homicide rate 901 00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:15,000 and received is down 22%. 902 00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:17,680 It's a difference when you're saying to solve this case, 903 00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:21,320 to solve this murder if you're on the other side of it. 904 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:24,080 And so for the public safety part of it, 905 00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:27,920 as far as the contract ended on the 31st of this year, 906 00:46:27,920 --> 00:46:30,280 it was already said that it was not gonna be in a budget 907 00:46:30,280 --> 00:46:33,280 for next year so that's no fight on that. 908 00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:35,880 But the fact of what do we replace it with? 909 00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:40,760 The last meeting we had on finance and personnel, 910 00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:44,600 it went from 30 days to 45 days 911 00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:46,400 and it actually reached 90 days, 912 00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:48,320 which would be the end of the year. 913 00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:51,880 And so I agree that the flock represent 914 00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:53,160 the people that came from flock 915 00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:55,560 probably didn't answer all the questions, 916 00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:59,400 but also really would like to know how many orders went 917 00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:02,000 and seeing how flock really worked. 918 00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:03,760 And so I asked the PD, how many people? 919 00:47:03,760 --> 00:47:06,920 I think it was four or five, but it's 15 of us. 920 00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:09,240 I'm not law enforcement. 921 00:47:09,240 --> 00:47:10,560 I don't work for law enforcement, 922 00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:13,560 but we're taking away a tool 923 00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:17,000 and the question tonight is what do we replace it with? 924 00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:20,640 So do we go without from here until the end of the year? 925 00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:23,600 It's not in the budget for 27. 926 00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:25,480 There was some financial things in there 927 00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:28,760 in the actual, some financial obligations. 928 00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:31,920 We asked the city attorney, like, okay, 929 00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:35,320 if the flock cameras are removed, who pays for them? 930 00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:40,320 We were directed that we are not to touch any other equipment. 931 00:47:40,560 --> 00:47:42,120 So there's still some things there 932 00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:45,440 that's gonna be some type of financial obligation. 933 00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:49,080 And then it was said that we've already paid them for 2026. 934 00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:51,480 So if we didn't pay them already for 2026, 935 00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:54,400 so that's just like free money or taxpayers money, 936 00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:57,120 that we say, hey, you paid already, we good. 937 00:47:57,120 --> 00:47:58,760 Make sure you're gone, 938 00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:02,080 but we're gonna let you go for the rest of the three months. 939 00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:05,840 I am open to whatever, but I just don't leave 940 00:48:05,840 --> 00:48:09,640 the police department at a disadvantage. 941 00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:14,360 They also said, hey, we're in the midst of investigation 942 00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:18,320 of sobbing a crime. 943 00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:21,560 And so if you guys feel that 30 days is enough, 944 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,480 and that the police department can do this in 30 days 945 00:48:24,520 --> 00:48:27,440 because I was told today it would take six months 946 00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:28,960 to put some in place. 947 00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:31,240 So it's our city, it's our responsibility 948 00:48:31,240 --> 00:48:33,520 to make sure that public safety 949 00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:36,200 and also our constituents are being taken care of. 950 00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:39,440 So public safety, no one's gonna come here 951 00:48:39,440 --> 00:48:41,960 if the city has a high crime rate. 952 00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:44,480 Everything that we build and everything that we have, 953 00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:47,920 there's no need to come in here because I wouldn't. 954 00:48:47,920 --> 00:48:51,200 So if this is what the body would like to do, 955 00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:52,800 then I'm open to it. 956 00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:53,640 Thank you. 957 00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:56,880 I'll be back. 958 00:48:58,680 --> 00:48:59,520 Thank you. 959 00:49:01,720 --> 00:49:04,280 Having been someone who's had a car stolen, 960 00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:12,080 I know what a useful tool that this can be. 961 00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:16,240 I can't describe the feeling to you waking up, 962 00:49:16,240 --> 00:49:20,440 walking out my door and seeing my car missing 963 00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:21,600 from my driveway. 964 00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:26,360 The pit of my stomach that I experienced. 965 00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:31,160 For a moment thinking maybe I parked it in our other driveway 966 00:49:31,160 --> 00:49:35,520 and going over there and there was no car over there either. 967 00:49:37,440 --> 00:49:39,240 Fortunately it was recovered. 968 00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:45,080 Prior to flock, my daughter was hit just on our same block 969 00:49:45,080 --> 00:49:47,320 by a hit and run driver. 970 00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:48,800 Driver took off. 971 00:49:52,440 --> 00:49:56,360 Fortunately she wasn't hurt but the car was badly damaged. 972 00:49:57,320 --> 00:50:00,800 Just two weeks ago her car was sitting out on the street. 973 00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:05,600 The car side swiped it at 12.30 in the morning. 974 00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:07,720 Never stopped, never left a note. 975 00:50:09,320 --> 00:50:13,520 Hopefully they'll find that car due to the technology 976 00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:14,680 that's out there. 977 00:50:16,080 --> 00:50:18,720 There were a lot of objections brought up the other night 978 00:50:18,720 --> 00:50:20,280 at the finance committee. 979 00:50:21,600 --> 00:50:26,320 But there were no facts or figures that were tied 980 00:50:26,320 --> 00:50:28,600 to those objections. 981 00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:33,600 They were generalizations that flock is selling our data 982 00:50:34,880 --> 00:50:38,400 and we found out flock wasn't selling our data. 983 00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:43,160 That this is being anybody that's part of flock 984 00:50:43,160 --> 00:50:44,880 can grab our data. 985 00:50:44,880 --> 00:50:47,000 No, that wasn't the truth. 986 00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:49,720 The police department would share it 987 00:50:49,720 --> 00:50:53,360 and they have shared it just like other departments around us 988 00:50:53,360 --> 00:50:56,160 have also shared that data. 989 00:50:57,960 --> 00:51:00,800 We were told that someone was pulled out of their car 990 00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:02,880 because of flock. 991 00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:06,880 I looked into it and it was the investigator error 992 00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:08,640 that caused that to happen. 993 00:51:08,640 --> 00:51:10,960 And regardless if you had flock or not, 994 00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:15,360 if a license plate was tagged, they're gonna get stopped. 995 00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:21,360 Are we gonna remove license plate readers from squad cars too? 996 00:51:22,360 --> 00:51:24,440 Is the next step getting rid of the cameras 997 00:51:24,440 --> 00:51:27,120 that are on our intersections? 998 00:51:27,120 --> 00:51:29,800 Or what about the camera system DOT operates 999 00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:31,240 along the interstate? 1000 00:51:31,240 --> 00:51:33,560 I feel like my privacy is violated 1001 00:51:33,560 --> 00:51:36,280 because I don't know what data they're collecting. 1002 00:51:36,280 --> 00:51:37,320 Oh, that was another thing. 1003 00:51:37,320 --> 00:51:39,680 They're collecting all this data on us. 1004 00:51:39,680 --> 00:51:42,360 Our traffic routes and everything else. 1005 00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:44,720 Then appear that was the case. 1006 00:51:45,520 --> 00:51:48,160 There was a traffic study component 1007 00:51:48,160 --> 00:51:50,640 that could be bought by DPW 1008 00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:55,640 that basically does very similar to what we already do. 1009 00:51:56,200 --> 00:51:59,960 But they don't have all that data five years back. 1010 00:51:59,960 --> 00:52:02,360 It would start the day of the contract. 1011 00:52:03,840 --> 00:52:06,760 We were told the data gets retained indefinitely 1012 00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:08,000 and that's not the case. 1013 00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:10,600 I don't know if they even have a server big enough 1014 00:52:10,600 --> 00:52:13,600 to retain all the data that's out there 1015 00:52:13,600 --> 00:52:14,880 that would need to be. 1016 00:52:17,800 --> 00:52:21,000 As Alderman Horda mentioned, 1017 00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:23,480 we've paid for this until the end of the year. 1018 00:52:23,480 --> 00:52:26,200 The police department, I think, has demonstrated 1019 00:52:26,200 --> 00:52:28,200 that this is a very useful tool. 1020 00:52:28,200 --> 00:52:30,400 They offer to show it to everyone. 1021 00:52:30,400 --> 00:52:34,120 They explain in nauseum how they utilize it. 1022 00:52:36,040 --> 00:52:37,560 And I think we're handcuffing them 1023 00:52:37,560 --> 00:52:40,240 if we take a valuable tool like this away. 1024 00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:43,360 I'm gonna be voting against the amendment. 1025 00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:46,520 I think it was a reasonable accommodation 1026 00:52:46,520 --> 00:52:49,800 to extend it until the end of the year. 1027 00:52:49,800 --> 00:52:52,280 The mayor's already said whether it's right or wrong 1028 00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:54,680 that he's not funding it in the budget. 1029 00:52:54,680 --> 00:52:58,240 And unless I can come up or Alderman Hordin can come up 1030 00:52:58,240 --> 00:53:01,360 or somebody else that might support this type of technology 1031 00:53:01,360 --> 00:53:03,520 can come up with the money, 1032 00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:08,520 it looks like it's not gonna be a part of the 2027 budget. 1033 00:53:08,520 --> 00:53:10,680 I can deal with that. 1034 00:53:10,720 --> 00:53:13,680 Just like Alderman Hordin stated that, 1035 00:53:13,680 --> 00:53:16,320 you know, if that's what's gonna happen. 1036 00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:19,080 Yes, I put a Facebook poll out there. 1037 00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:23,760 I've only got a handful of people contacting me. 1038 00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:26,880 And it was about 50-50, actually. 1039 00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:29,480 People that supported it and people that didn't. 1040 00:53:30,440 --> 00:53:33,040 We had a couple people show up at the last meeting 1041 00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:35,400 when it was referred as a communication. 1042 00:53:35,400 --> 00:53:37,320 We had one person show up tonight. 1043 00:53:38,320 --> 00:53:42,960 That's not a groundswell of support against this. 1044 00:53:42,960 --> 00:53:45,240 And then we were told that all these communities 1045 00:53:45,240 --> 00:53:48,280 are getting rid of it and, you know, 1046 00:53:48,280 --> 00:53:50,120 somehow we should do the same thing 1047 00:53:50,120 --> 00:53:52,520 because they've done all the research. 1048 00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:56,160 Nobody's explained to me why those other communities 1049 00:53:56,160 --> 00:53:57,440 have got rid of it. 1050 00:53:59,920 --> 00:54:01,440 And what about the hundreds of communities 1051 00:54:01,440 --> 00:54:03,400 that have kept it? 1052 00:54:03,400 --> 00:54:04,840 Nobody's talking about that 1053 00:54:04,840 --> 00:54:07,720 because we're gonna talk about the handful of communities 1054 00:54:07,720 --> 00:54:09,240 and we're gonna join them 1055 00:54:10,920 --> 00:54:14,120 because somehow they must be smarter than us. 1056 00:54:14,120 --> 00:54:17,120 And therefore, we have to jump on the bandwagon into it. 1057 00:54:18,160 --> 00:54:20,320 I'm not defending Flock. 1058 00:54:20,320 --> 00:54:23,840 I don't know if it's the right technology out there. 1059 00:54:23,840 --> 00:54:26,480 A lot of these communities are going to ax on 1060 00:54:26,480 --> 00:54:29,800 or whatever that other alternative is. 1061 00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:32,000 And it's still the same kind of technology. 1062 00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:36,760 What's different about that than Flock? 1063 00:54:36,760 --> 00:54:41,240 Well, I know the Trump family has bought into axon 1064 00:54:41,240 --> 00:54:43,920 or bought a lot of stock in it. 1065 00:54:43,920 --> 00:54:45,720 Kind of interesting that right after that, 1066 00:54:45,720 --> 00:54:49,240 all of the anti-flock stuff started coming out. 1067 00:54:49,240 --> 00:54:51,480 But I'm not into conspiracy theories. 1068 00:54:54,080 --> 00:54:55,900 So I'm not implying anything. 1069 00:54:58,680 --> 00:55:01,000 But that seems to be the argument about Flock. 1070 00:55:02,040 --> 00:55:04,160 A lot of conspiracy theories out there 1071 00:55:04,160 --> 00:55:09,160 about why it's not good for a community. 1072 00:55:11,360 --> 00:55:12,720 Every time I walk down the street, 1073 00:55:12,720 --> 00:55:16,360 how many families or households 1074 00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:20,000 are recording me on their doorbells? 1075 00:55:21,240 --> 00:55:22,440 Probably quite a bit. 1076 00:55:24,360 --> 00:55:26,360 When I walk into a restaurant, 1077 00:55:27,640 --> 00:55:30,920 am I being recorded as I'm eating my dinner? 1078 00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:35,160 When I walk into a store, 1079 00:55:36,640 --> 00:55:40,120 are they tracking my movements in that store, 1080 00:55:40,120 --> 00:55:41,560 watching what I'm buying? 1081 00:55:43,240 --> 00:55:44,080 I don't know. 1082 00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:47,320 I didn't consent to that. 1083 00:55:47,320 --> 00:55:50,440 Oh, maybe I did because I walked inside of it. 1084 00:55:50,440 --> 00:55:52,920 But I sure didn't consent to the ring doorbells 1085 00:55:52,920 --> 00:55:54,960 recording my every movement 1086 00:55:54,960 --> 00:55:57,560 as I walk down Main Street taking my walk. 1087 00:55:58,640 --> 00:56:00,040 But there it is. 1088 00:56:00,040 --> 00:56:01,400 What happens to that? 1089 00:56:02,320 --> 00:56:06,120 This Amazon or whoever sponsors ring doorbell 1090 00:56:06,120 --> 00:56:09,640 have all that data out there that they're keeping. 1091 00:56:11,400 --> 00:56:13,440 See, we can go down this slippery slope 1092 00:56:13,440 --> 00:56:16,480 and come up with all these alternatives 1093 00:56:16,480 --> 00:56:19,640 and things that might be happening. 1094 00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:25,840 But nobody has been able 1095 00:56:25,840 --> 00:56:30,440 to give me a verified documented case 1096 00:56:30,480 --> 00:56:32,120 of all these things that were brought up 1097 00:56:32,120 --> 00:56:33,560 why we should get rid of it. 1098 00:56:35,720 --> 00:56:37,000 It's all hearsay. 1099 00:56:38,160 --> 00:56:41,520 In the flock company told us, 1100 00:56:41,520 --> 00:56:42,480 no, that's not the case. 1101 00:56:42,480 --> 00:56:43,280 That's not the case. 1102 00:56:43,280 --> 00:56:44,960 That's not the case. 1103 00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:47,320 I don't know how much clearer that could be. 1104 00:56:47,320 --> 00:56:49,960 The police department has assured us 1105 00:56:49,960 --> 00:56:51,360 that safeguards are in place. 1106 00:56:51,360 --> 00:56:52,960 This is how they use it. 1107 00:56:55,960 --> 00:56:58,720 That they don't retain the data. 1108 00:56:58,720 --> 00:57:00,600 That after 30 days, it goes away. 1109 00:57:00,600 --> 00:57:03,560 Flock acknowledged that after 30 days, it goes away. 1110 00:57:06,920 --> 00:57:10,680 And unfortunately, it would have compromised investigations 1111 00:57:10,680 --> 00:57:14,880 so they weren't able and open session to go into detail 1112 00:57:14,880 --> 00:57:18,720 about how it has been utilized 1113 00:57:18,720 --> 00:57:22,160 in some of their maybe higher profile cases. 1114 00:57:22,160 --> 00:57:23,920 But it's a tool that's had result. 1115 00:57:23,920 --> 00:57:25,720 And as Alderman Horton said, 1116 00:57:25,800 --> 00:57:28,920 violent crime is down 22%. 1117 00:57:28,920 --> 00:57:33,920 Our clearance rate, I believe, has been on the rise 1118 00:57:34,440 --> 00:57:39,440 as a result of them utilizing the various tools that they have. 1119 00:57:40,200 --> 00:57:43,360 Once again, I'll be voting against the amendment. 1120 00:57:43,360 --> 00:57:48,360 I believe that the compromise was extending it 1121 00:57:49,160 --> 00:57:50,800 to the end of the year. 1122 00:57:50,800 --> 00:57:54,400 And then the mayor will not fund it. 1123 00:57:54,400 --> 00:57:55,880 It goes away. 1124 00:57:55,880 --> 00:57:58,520 And the police department has their tool and it gives them 1125 00:57:58,520 --> 00:58:01,520 some time to come up with some alternatives in the meantime. 1126 00:58:01,520 --> 00:58:02,360 Thank you. 1127 00:58:04,240 --> 00:58:05,760 Other Pete. 1128 00:58:05,760 --> 00:58:07,280 Thank you, Your Honor. 1129 00:58:07,280 --> 00:58:11,120 I'm gonna take us, try to keep it short to the point. 1130 00:58:11,120 --> 00:58:14,000 Our neighboring communities, 1131 00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:17,120 as well as our own county sheriff department, 1132 00:58:17,120 --> 00:58:20,000 have presented both the pros and cons. 1133 00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:23,080 I won't mention the municipality, 1134 00:58:23,080 --> 00:58:27,920 but the company itself tried to sell the same data 1135 00:58:27,920 --> 00:58:32,800 that we're talking about back to their own public works department, 1136 00:58:32,800 --> 00:58:36,840 which implies that they're monetizing the data. 1137 00:58:36,840 --> 00:58:41,840 Many comments have been made tonight about AI and its ability. 1138 00:58:41,840 --> 00:58:44,440 I even think about my own ring camera 1139 00:58:44,440 --> 00:58:48,200 and how frequently I delete the information. 1140 00:58:48,200 --> 00:58:51,480 That information is stored in databases. 1141 00:58:51,560 --> 00:58:54,200 When I sit here listening and I'm thinking, 1142 00:58:54,200 --> 00:58:57,280 are you familiar with a data center? 1143 00:58:57,280 --> 00:58:59,600 That's what they do. 1144 00:58:59,600 --> 00:59:03,360 The other point is it's not the technology. 1145 00:59:03,360 --> 00:59:06,320 And I agree that we should the police departments 1146 00:59:06,320 --> 00:59:10,240 as the other municipalities in our own sheriff department 1147 00:59:10,240 --> 00:59:13,240 pointed out they need the technology. 1148 00:59:13,240 --> 00:59:17,440 And so my colleagues have already stated they're invaluable. 1149 00:59:17,440 --> 00:59:22,520 However, it's the company that is putting us, 1150 00:59:22,520 --> 00:59:27,840 taking up public trust, violating public trust. 1151 00:59:27,840 --> 00:59:30,120 We talk about accountability. 1152 00:59:30,120 --> 00:59:35,600 How can our citizens have trust our accountability 1153 00:59:35,600 --> 00:59:38,960 if they can't trust our judgment with the companies 1154 00:59:38,960 --> 00:59:40,720 that we do business with? 1155 00:59:40,720 --> 00:59:44,960 I think I understand about the budget issue and not funding, 1156 00:59:45,000 --> 00:59:49,280 but I think as the other municipalities already pointed out, 1157 00:59:49,280 --> 00:59:52,640 it is necessary technology, 1158 00:59:52,640 --> 00:59:55,600 but we need to find another source. 1159 00:59:55,600 --> 00:59:56,600 Thank you. 1160 00:59:59,240 --> 01:00:00,240 Other Frazier? 1161 01:00:01,880 --> 01:00:04,840 I'm gonna reserve my comments to the end. 1162 01:00:04,840 --> 01:00:08,080 I'm gonna ask the police chief if he can come up here. 1163 01:00:08,080 --> 01:00:10,480 I have some questions for him. 1164 01:00:10,480 --> 01:00:12,080 The chief would approach the DS. 1165 01:00:15,840 --> 01:00:18,600 Stay your question on the freezer. 1166 01:00:18,600 --> 01:00:24,600 Chief, can you talk about how your agency has used a flock? 1167 01:00:24,600 --> 01:00:25,960 How long have you been able to flock? 1168 01:00:25,960 --> 01:00:26,960 How have you used it? 1169 01:00:26,960 --> 01:00:28,520 How has it been helpful? 1170 01:00:28,520 --> 01:00:31,760 Just to build some context. 1171 01:00:31,760 --> 01:00:32,960 Good evening. 1172 01:00:32,960 --> 01:00:34,480 Thank you for the opportunity to speak. 1173 01:00:34,480 --> 01:00:37,960 Flock or the automated license plate reader 1174 01:00:37,960 --> 01:00:39,960 has been very valuable to the city of Racine 1175 01:00:39,960 --> 01:00:43,560 and certainly in catching the bad folks. 1176 01:00:43,960 --> 01:00:46,960 People who commit crimes that includes homicides, 1177 01:00:46,960 --> 01:00:49,360 shootings, stolen autos, hit and runs, 1178 01:00:49,360 --> 01:00:51,360 missings and the like. 1179 01:00:51,360 --> 01:00:52,720 It's available too. 1180 01:00:52,720 --> 01:00:55,320 We've had it since 2022, 1181 01:00:55,320 --> 01:00:57,400 and the contract currently would run out. 1182 01:00:57,400 --> 01:01:01,000 It's, we signed the contract through 2027, 1183 01:01:01,000 --> 01:01:04,000 through that of 2027. 1184 01:01:04,000 --> 01:01:07,400 Public safety is my number one priority. 1185 01:01:08,880 --> 01:01:11,000 Having tools do our job, 1186 01:01:11,000 --> 01:01:13,640 having tools that keep the city of Racine safe 1187 01:01:13,640 --> 01:01:16,200 is my number one priority, 1188 01:01:16,200 --> 01:01:18,800 along with you guys, I would imagine. 1189 01:01:20,200 --> 01:01:22,520 The tools available to protect our residents. 1190 01:01:24,560 --> 01:01:27,040 Whether it's flock, whether it's axon, 1191 01:01:27,040 --> 01:01:30,160 we have a lot of tools and they don't aren't cheap. 1192 01:01:31,200 --> 01:01:33,960 I'm not gonna go into the narrative of what's going on, 1193 01:01:33,960 --> 01:01:37,320 but I'll just tell you how it's helped us. 1194 01:01:37,320 --> 01:01:38,960 And I've got a statement here, 1195 01:01:38,960 --> 01:01:40,720 if I'm allowed and go ahead. 1196 01:01:42,840 --> 01:01:46,080 As please see, my responsibility is to use the tools 1197 01:01:46,080 --> 01:01:48,840 available to protect our residents. 1198 01:01:48,840 --> 01:01:51,560 I'll also respect in their rights, 1199 01:01:51,560 --> 01:01:54,160 maintaining public trust as it was brought up here tonight 1200 01:01:54,160 --> 01:01:56,520 and ensuring that law enforcement operates responsibly 1201 01:01:56,520 --> 01:01:58,240 and transparently. 1202 01:01:58,240 --> 01:02:00,800 I think we do a pretty good job of that. 1203 01:02:00,800 --> 01:02:03,480 I support continuing the automated license plate reader 1204 01:02:04,760 --> 01:02:07,560 system because it has the potential to provide investigators 1205 01:02:07,560 --> 01:02:09,440 with valuable leads. 1206 01:02:09,440 --> 01:02:12,440 I can assure that up until yesterday, 1207 01:02:12,440 --> 01:02:15,320 we use that tool to arrest a homicide suspect 1208 01:02:16,440 --> 01:02:18,480 that occurred in Mount Pleasant 1209 01:02:18,480 --> 01:02:20,000 and it had never been received. 1210 01:02:21,520 --> 01:02:23,880 Fortunately, that person was taken into custody. 1211 01:02:26,040 --> 01:02:28,400 As I said, that available in homicide shootings, 1212 01:02:28,400 --> 01:02:31,240 so in vehicles, burglaries, hit runs and the like. 1213 01:02:33,120 --> 01:02:37,200 At the same time, I understand and respect the concerns 1214 01:02:37,520 --> 01:02:39,760 surrounding privacy and the possibility 1215 01:02:41,560 --> 01:02:44,280 that technology could be misused. 1216 01:02:44,280 --> 01:02:45,480 I understand that. 1217 01:02:45,480 --> 01:02:46,960 We're not a perfect society. 1218 01:02:48,800 --> 01:02:50,800 Those concerns should not be dismissed. 1219 01:02:52,560 --> 01:02:54,400 Any law enforcement tool that collects 1220 01:02:54,400 --> 01:02:55,920 provides access to information 1221 01:02:55,920 --> 01:02:58,040 about our community must have clear rules. 1222 01:02:58,920 --> 01:03:02,480 Appropriate safeguards, accountability and oversight. 1223 01:03:02,480 --> 01:03:05,280 We have that here in the City of Racine Police Department. 1224 01:03:08,040 --> 01:03:11,080 Currently, I've implemented strict actist controls, 1225 01:03:11,080 --> 01:03:14,160 legitimate law enforcement use requirements, 1226 01:03:14,160 --> 01:03:18,520 auditing of searches, appropriate data retention limits, 1227 01:03:18,520 --> 01:03:21,920 employee training and transparency with the public 1228 01:03:21,920 --> 01:03:24,160 about how the system is being used. 1229 01:03:26,360 --> 01:03:29,120 The system is also achieving the public safety goals 1230 01:03:29,120 --> 01:03:30,480 for which it was implemented. 1231 01:03:31,560 --> 01:03:32,400 We got it. 1232 01:03:32,400 --> 01:03:34,960 This was what we were gonna use it for. 1233 01:03:34,960 --> 01:03:37,080 To help solve crime, to help reduce crime. 1234 01:03:37,080 --> 01:03:42,080 We have reduced shootings and shots fired 1235 01:03:42,080 --> 01:03:44,960 by 57% since 2022. 1236 01:03:44,960 --> 01:03:48,840 If that's not an accomplishment, I don't know what is. 1237 01:03:48,840 --> 01:03:49,680 We're gonna continue that 1238 01:03:49,680 --> 01:03:52,760 because we want people to come and live and receive. 1239 01:03:52,760 --> 01:03:54,000 Racine needs to thrive. 1240 01:03:54,000 --> 01:03:54,840 We need jobs. 1241 01:03:54,840 --> 01:03:55,880 We need schooling. 1242 01:03:55,880 --> 01:03:56,760 We need education. 1243 01:03:56,760 --> 01:03:59,880 We need people to get to the thrive in the city. 1244 01:03:59,880 --> 01:04:01,440 We need businesses to come downtown. 1245 01:04:01,440 --> 01:04:04,200 I live downtown and I hear it all. 1246 01:04:04,200 --> 01:04:05,280 Trust me, I hear it all. 1247 01:04:05,320 --> 01:04:06,480 I hear it from everybody. 1248 01:04:10,600 --> 01:04:12,440 The most important questions should not be simply 1249 01:04:12,440 --> 01:04:14,280 to be whether we have cameras. 1250 01:04:14,280 --> 01:04:15,560 Questions should be whether those cameras 1251 01:04:15,560 --> 01:04:17,560 are helping us solve crimes. 1252 01:04:17,560 --> 01:04:19,200 Recover stolen property. 1253 01:04:19,200 --> 01:04:20,840 Identify dangerous offenders. 1254 01:04:20,840 --> 01:04:23,480 And believe me, we all have dangerous offenders 1255 01:04:23,480 --> 01:04:25,040 and make our community safer. 1256 01:04:27,320 --> 01:04:30,000 And whether they're doing it so in a responsible 1257 01:04:32,080 --> 01:04:33,720 and accountable manner. 1258 01:04:34,720 --> 01:04:38,480 I'm not asking the council to choose between 1259 01:04:38,480 --> 01:04:40,480 public safety and privacy. 1260 01:04:40,480 --> 01:04:42,840 I believe we can protect both. 1261 01:04:43,800 --> 01:04:46,760 It's extremely important to protect both. 1262 01:04:46,760 --> 01:04:49,720 I also believe that whether whatever the decision 1263 01:04:49,720 --> 01:04:52,840 the council ultimately makes regarding flock 1264 01:04:52,840 --> 01:04:55,600 or the automated license plate reader system, 1265 01:04:55,600 --> 01:04:58,280 there must be a clear strategy in place 1266 01:04:58,280 --> 01:05:01,320 to ensure that public safety is not compromised 1267 01:05:01,320 --> 01:05:02,680 during any transition. 1268 01:05:04,720 --> 01:05:06,960 If the decision is made to discontinue the system 1269 01:05:06,960 --> 01:05:09,640 at the end of the year, we should not simply turn it off 1270 01:05:09,640 --> 01:05:12,440 without having another effective system in place. 1271 01:05:13,880 --> 01:05:17,400 Developing, procuring, implementing and training personnel 1272 01:05:17,400 --> 01:05:20,880 on an alternative system does take several months. 1273 01:05:22,040 --> 01:05:23,720 We need to account for the timeline now 1274 01:05:23,720 --> 01:05:27,640 rather than create a gap in our investigative capabilities. 1275 01:05:29,200 --> 01:05:31,160 Removing the current system without a replacement 1276 01:05:31,200 --> 01:05:36,200 or transition a plan could put the community 1277 01:05:36,560 --> 01:05:38,400 unnecessary risk. 1278 01:05:38,400 --> 01:05:41,800 Conversely, the council decides to continue the program. 1279 01:05:41,800 --> 01:05:44,680 We should establish clear benchmarks, safeguards 1280 01:05:44,680 --> 01:05:47,200 and regular reviews so that its continued use 1281 01:05:47,200 --> 01:05:49,600 is based on demonstrated value and responsible 1282 01:05:49,600 --> 01:05:51,760 and implementation. 1283 01:05:51,760 --> 01:05:54,160 Everyone here at the council was afforded the opportunity 1284 01:05:54,160 --> 01:05:55,320 to see how the system worked. 1285 01:05:55,320 --> 01:05:56,920 And some of you took advantage of it, 1286 01:05:56,920 --> 01:05:58,240 understand that some couldn't make it 1287 01:05:58,240 --> 01:06:00,400 because of scheduling things of that nature. 1288 01:06:01,800 --> 01:06:03,600 My recommendation is that if we continue 1289 01:06:03,600 --> 01:06:07,160 and automate a license plate reader system 1290 01:06:07,160 --> 01:06:08,880 with strong safeguards, regular review 1291 01:06:08,880 --> 01:06:13,520 and transparent reporting to this council in our community, 1292 01:06:13,520 --> 01:06:17,400 if the council ultimately chooses a different approach, 1293 01:06:17,400 --> 01:06:20,280 I respectfully ask that we develop and implement 1294 01:06:20,280 --> 01:06:23,280 an alternative before eliminating a tool 1295 01:06:23,280 --> 01:06:25,360 that investigators currently rely on. 1296 01:06:26,360 --> 01:06:28,360 A goal should be straightforward. 1297 01:06:28,360 --> 01:06:30,360 Use technology responsibly. 1298 01:06:31,360 --> 01:06:33,360 Protect our residents. 1299 01:06:33,360 --> 01:06:35,360 Respect their rights or privacy rights 1300 01:06:35,360 --> 01:06:38,360 and remain accountable to the community we serve. 1301 01:06:38,360 --> 01:06:41,360 Whatever decision is made, 1302 01:06:41,360 --> 01:06:44,360 that decision should be implemented thoughtfully 1303 01:06:44,360 --> 01:06:48,360 with a clear plan that protects both public trust 1304 01:06:48,360 --> 01:06:50,360 and public safety. 1305 01:06:51,360 --> 01:06:53,360 So can you talk about, 1306 01:06:54,360 --> 01:06:58,360 because there's a lot that we have to uncover. 1307 01:06:59,360 --> 01:07:01,360 There's frustration with flock itself 1308 01:07:01,360 --> 01:07:02,360 and what they're doing. 1309 01:07:02,360 --> 01:07:06,360 There's frustration with how officers 1310 01:07:06,360 --> 01:07:08,360 are using the equipment. 1311 01:07:08,360 --> 01:07:11,360 So can you talk about in your role 1312 01:07:11,360 --> 01:07:14,360 how have you, what safeguards and left and right limits 1313 01:07:14,360 --> 01:07:17,360 have you implemented for the police department? 1314 01:07:17,360 --> 01:07:20,360 We restricted the use of the flock 1315 01:07:21,360 --> 01:07:23,360 to certain individuals, 1316 01:07:23,360 --> 01:07:25,360 mainly our investigators and supervisors. 1317 01:07:25,360 --> 01:07:29,360 In order to use that system, you have to have a case number. 1318 01:07:29,360 --> 01:07:32,360 Who's using it and the reason why you're using it 1319 01:07:32,360 --> 01:07:34,360 and it's got to get approved. 1320 01:07:35,360 --> 01:07:37,360 That system's in place. 1321 01:07:37,360 --> 01:07:40,360 We audit every single day. 1322 01:07:41,360 --> 01:07:47,360 Every single day we've been auditing for quite some time. 1323 01:07:48,360 --> 01:07:52,360 During an audit, we were able to find two individuals 1324 01:07:52,360 --> 01:07:55,360 that have allegedly misused it. 1325 01:07:56,360 --> 01:07:59,360 That's because of the auditing system we have in place. 1326 01:08:00,360 --> 01:08:03,360 The system has been valuable in it. 1327 01:08:03,360 --> 01:08:05,360 It's a license plate. 1328 01:08:05,360 --> 01:08:07,360 You read it, you're out in public. 1329 01:08:07,360 --> 01:08:08,360 It's a tip. 1330 01:08:08,360 --> 01:08:09,360 You still have to verify it. 1331 01:08:09,360 --> 01:08:11,360 You've got to verify who's driving the vehicle. 1332 01:08:11,360 --> 01:08:12,360 There's a lot of things that go, 1333 01:08:12,360 --> 01:08:14,360 it's just like someone would call in. 1334 01:08:14,360 --> 01:08:16,360 You still have to verify it. 1335 01:08:17,360 --> 01:08:20,360 It's a useful tool and it's been extremely useful 1336 01:08:20,360 --> 01:08:22,360 and certainly in our violent crime. 1337 01:08:23,360 --> 01:08:24,360 Thanks. 1338 01:08:25,360 --> 01:08:27,360 I just wanted to add, 1339 01:08:27,360 --> 01:08:29,360 I'm the only person on this console 1340 01:08:29,360 --> 01:08:31,360 that is active law enforcement. 1341 01:08:33,360 --> 01:08:35,360 Pretty much everyone knows that. 1342 01:08:35,360 --> 01:08:37,360 Here's what I'll say. 1343 01:08:37,360 --> 01:08:39,360 For me, this is kind of difficult 1344 01:08:39,360 --> 01:08:41,360 because I have to separate between law enforcement 1345 01:08:41,360 --> 01:08:43,360 and elected official. 1346 01:08:44,360 --> 01:08:47,360 It's very, very difficult considering 1347 01:08:47,360 --> 01:08:50,360 I use this stuff every day with the sheriff's office. 1348 01:08:51,360 --> 01:08:53,360 With that being said, 1349 01:08:53,360 --> 01:08:55,360 to order Jorgensen's point, 1350 01:08:55,360 --> 01:08:56,360 or to Pabon's point, 1351 01:08:56,360 --> 01:09:00,360 Flock did not give us any type of comfort 1352 01:09:01,360 --> 01:09:05,360 that they are not about how they're handling 1353 01:09:05,360 --> 01:09:08,360 the information that's being used at the same time. 1354 01:09:08,360 --> 01:09:12,360 I also understand active investigations 1355 01:09:12,360 --> 01:09:14,360 are very, very important. 1356 01:09:14,360 --> 01:09:17,360 I need the community to really understand this. 1357 01:09:18,360 --> 01:09:20,360 There are investigations that are happening 1358 01:09:20,360 --> 01:09:22,360 that have been ongoing for months 1359 01:09:22,360 --> 01:09:25,360 and we use this tool to help us. 1360 01:09:26,360 --> 01:09:29,360 Getting rid of the tool eliminates 1361 01:09:29,360 --> 01:09:31,360 the police department's ability 1362 01:09:31,360 --> 01:09:34,360 to get leads on investigations. 1363 01:09:37,360 --> 01:09:39,360 I am not an advocate of Flock. 1364 01:09:39,360 --> 01:09:42,360 I look forward to us transitioning away from Flock 1365 01:09:42,360 --> 01:09:44,360 and going to another alternative, 1366 01:09:44,360 --> 01:09:46,360 but at the same time, 1367 01:09:46,360 --> 01:09:49,360 and I don't know who can answer my secondary question, 1368 01:09:49,360 --> 01:09:51,360 but to order Jorgensen's point, 1369 01:09:51,360 --> 01:09:53,360 to his motion, 1370 01:09:53,360 --> 01:09:56,360 if we say that Flock has 30 days 1371 01:09:56,360 --> 01:09:58,360 to remove the cameras, 1372 01:09:58,360 --> 01:10:00,360 does that allow the police department, 1373 01:10:00,360 --> 01:10:01,360 within those 30 days, 1374 01:10:01,360 --> 01:10:04,360 to actively use the information, 1375 01:10:04,360 --> 01:10:07,360 or to actively access information, 1376 01:10:08,360 --> 01:10:11,360 or is it just, you know, 1377 01:10:11,360 --> 01:10:13,360 Wednesday, September 16th, 1378 01:10:13,360 --> 01:10:16,360 30 day notice has been inputted 1379 01:10:16,360 --> 01:10:20,360 and Flock's systems are no longer valid, 1380 01:10:20,360 --> 01:10:23,360 and we have 30 days to use the information 1381 01:10:23,360 --> 01:10:25,360 that we currently have. 1382 01:10:25,360 --> 01:10:29,360 So I think that there needs to be clarification on that 1383 01:10:29,360 --> 01:10:31,360 because- 1384 01:10:31,360 --> 01:10:33,360 So the other feature is that a question you're posing to 1385 01:10:33,360 --> 01:10:34,360 all the Jorgensen or- 1386 01:10:34,360 --> 01:10:35,360 Yes, yeah, if you were- 1387 01:10:35,360 --> 01:10:36,360 If you were Jorgensen would- 1388 01:10:36,360 --> 01:10:37,360 If you were to- 1389 01:10:37,360 --> 01:10:38,360 To heal to that question? 1390 01:10:38,360 --> 01:10:39,360 I would. 1391 01:10:39,360 --> 01:10:42,360 So the way the motion is intended to work 1392 01:10:42,360 --> 01:10:45,360 is that the cameras would be covered 1393 01:10:45,360 --> 01:10:47,360 effective immediately, 1394 01:10:47,360 --> 01:10:48,360 so I'm guessing tomorrow, 1395 01:10:48,360 --> 01:10:49,360 the next day. 1396 01:10:49,360 --> 01:10:51,360 However, we did hear from the police department, 1397 01:10:51,360 --> 01:10:54,360 there are concerns around, you know, 1398 01:10:54,360 --> 01:10:56,360 there's data that's currently there 1399 01:10:56,360 --> 01:10:57,360 that they're planning on using. 1400 01:10:57,360 --> 01:11:00,360 So I did actually pose this question in committee 1401 01:11:00,360 --> 01:11:02,360 to the Flock representatives, 1402 01:11:02,360 --> 01:11:04,360 and they said that they would be able to do it. 1403 01:11:04,360 --> 01:11:06,360 So the plan would be the cameras would be covered 1404 01:11:06,360 --> 01:11:08,360 and disabled right away, 1405 01:11:08,360 --> 01:11:11,360 so there'd be no new data being generated, 1406 01:11:11,360 --> 01:11:13,360 but the data that's currently in it 1407 01:11:13,360 --> 01:11:15,360 with the police department would have 30 days 1408 01:11:15,360 --> 01:11:16,360 to access and retain it, 1409 01:11:16,360 --> 01:11:19,360 so that it wouldn't disrupt any current investigations 1410 01:11:19,360 --> 01:11:21,360 that they were planning to use it for. 1411 01:11:21,360 --> 01:11:23,360 Okay, so then going back to the chief, 1412 01:11:23,360 --> 01:11:26,360 how does that help you if the cameras are covered 1413 01:11:26,360 --> 01:11:30,360 and no new information is being provided? 1414 01:11:30,360 --> 01:11:32,360 Okay, I have a team with me here 1415 01:11:32,360 --> 01:11:34,360 that will be able to more get into the details 1416 01:11:34,360 --> 01:11:37,360 on that specific question here. 1417 01:11:37,360 --> 01:11:39,360 D.C. Matoria, 1418 01:11:39,360 --> 01:11:43,360 or Jason Smith, 1419 01:11:43,360 --> 01:11:44,360 these are the folks that, 1420 01:11:44,360 --> 01:11:46,360 my team here are the folks that look at this 1421 01:11:46,360 --> 01:11:50,360 every single day that oversee it every single day 1422 01:11:50,360 --> 01:11:53,360 and understand it much better than I do in detail 1423 01:11:53,360 --> 01:11:56,360 and are able to provide those details. 1424 01:11:56,360 --> 01:11:58,360 Okay, and before she speaks to it, 1425 01:11:58,360 --> 01:12:02,360 you know, I understand, you know, press her time, 1426 01:12:02,360 --> 01:12:06,360 and I want to honor everyone's time, 1427 01:12:06,360 --> 01:12:07,360 but I think that this is important, 1428 01:12:07,360 --> 01:12:09,360 because we're talking about public safety, 1429 01:12:09,360 --> 01:12:11,360 so if you can speak to that chief 1430 01:12:11,360 --> 01:12:13,360 about how that will impact you, 1431 01:12:13,360 --> 01:12:16,360 because I know that you're the commander of investigations. 1432 01:12:16,360 --> 01:12:19,360 Yeah, yeah, if you could just speak to that, 1433 01:12:19,360 --> 01:12:20,360 because I think that it's important 1434 01:12:20,360 --> 01:12:23,360 so that we all have a full picture. 1435 01:12:23,360 --> 01:12:27,360 Certainly, so covering the cameras 1436 01:12:27,360 --> 01:12:31,360 and not allowing any more data to come in 1437 01:12:31,360 --> 01:12:34,360 would absolutely 100% interfere 1438 01:12:34,360 --> 01:12:37,360 with some of our investigations and hamper them. 1439 01:12:37,360 --> 01:12:38,360 The information being, 1440 01:12:38,360 --> 01:12:40,360 what the information we have in there now 1441 01:12:40,360 --> 01:12:42,360 and having access to that is great, 1442 01:12:42,360 --> 01:12:48,360 but I'm more concerned about not having a tool 1443 01:12:48,360 --> 01:12:51,360 until without a replacement in place of it. 1444 01:12:51,360 --> 01:12:55,360 I deal directly with victims of crimes on a daily basis. 1445 01:12:55,360 --> 01:12:57,360 My people do that as well. 1446 01:12:57,360 --> 01:13:01,360 And for us to have the equipment there with bags over them 1447 01:13:01,360 --> 01:13:04,360 and say, I'm sorry, we're not going to be able to help you with that, 1448 01:13:04,360 --> 01:13:07,360 because, you know, that tool is covered 1449 01:13:07,360 --> 01:13:09,360 even though the equipment's there, 1450 01:13:09,360 --> 01:13:10,360 and we can't access that, 1451 01:13:10,360 --> 01:13:14,360 and we have nothing in place to replace it with. 1452 01:13:14,360 --> 01:13:16,360 It could take up to nine months 1453 01:13:16,360 --> 01:13:19,360 at least to get a new system into place. 1454 01:13:19,360 --> 01:13:22,360 The longer we leave, 1455 01:13:22,360 --> 01:13:29,360 the longer we leave ourselves without this very important tool, 1456 01:13:29,360 --> 01:13:32,360 it will affect our people and our investigations, 1457 01:13:32,360 --> 01:13:37,360 and we're very disappointing to my people and myself. 1458 01:13:37,360 --> 01:13:39,360 All right. 1459 01:13:39,360 --> 01:13:40,360 I think I'm done. 1460 01:13:40,360 --> 01:13:41,360 Thank you. 1461 01:13:41,360 --> 01:13:43,360 Okay. Thank you. 1462 01:13:43,360 --> 01:13:50,360 Dr. Davis. 1463 01:13:50,360 --> 01:13:55,360 Thank you, Mayor. 1464 01:13:55,360 --> 01:14:04,360 Dr. Mack, 1465 01:14:04,360 --> 01:14:12,360 Institute of Justice has a list of individuals 1466 01:14:12,360 --> 01:14:24,360 who were followed by their abuse of partner 1467 01:14:24,360 --> 01:14:28,360 by using the FLOC system. 1468 01:14:28,360 --> 01:14:30,360 So if you take a look at that, 1469 01:14:30,360 --> 01:14:32,360 that can give you some of that information. 1470 01:14:32,360 --> 01:14:37,360 San Jose, California, an unnamed officer 1471 01:14:37,360 --> 01:14:42,360 access FLOC data from his personal phone to locate a woman. 1472 01:14:42,360 --> 01:14:44,360 Prairie Grove, Illinois. 1473 01:14:44,360 --> 01:14:48,360 Part-time Prairie Grove police officer. 1474 01:14:48,360 --> 01:14:51,360 Trax former partners and others. 1475 01:14:51,360 --> 01:14:55,360 There's a Wisconsin unnamed. 1476 01:14:55,360 --> 01:14:59,360 Has a restraining order petition 1477 01:14:59,360 --> 01:15:05,360 and the ex-boyfriend used FLOC. 1478 01:15:05,360 --> 01:15:07,360 And there's another San Jose. 1479 01:15:07,360 --> 01:15:10,360 But if you take a look at the Institute for Justice, 1480 01:15:10,360 --> 01:15:15,360 there's an ongoing list that talks about individuals 1481 01:15:15,360 --> 01:15:18,360 where the FLOC was used, 1482 01:15:18,360 --> 01:15:21,360 and they were seeking, 1483 01:15:21,360 --> 01:15:23,360 these individuals were looking for safety. 1484 01:15:23,360 --> 01:15:27,360 They were trying to remove themselves from harmful places. 1485 01:15:27,360 --> 01:15:32,360 And the folks who were the officers 1486 01:15:32,360 --> 01:15:37,360 that were in positions utilize the FLOC. 1487 01:15:37,360 --> 01:15:42,360 So that's just wanted to give you some information on how it's been utilized by 1488 01:15:42,360 --> 01:15:47,360 domestic individuals who have been in domestic violence situations. 1489 01:15:47,360 --> 01:15:51,360 And the abusers have utilized the FLOC. 1490 01:15:51,360 --> 01:15:56,360 That's all. 1491 01:15:56,360 --> 01:15:58,360 Order hatches. 1492 01:15:58,360 --> 01:16:00,360 Thank you. 1493 01:16:00,360 --> 01:16:04,360 So I too am in favor of 1494 01:16:04,360 --> 01:16:07,360 Alder Jorgensen's motion. 1495 01:16:07,360 --> 01:16:11,360 I understand that mass surveillance is a real thing, 1496 01:16:11,360 --> 01:16:15,360 and if we as elected officials have a say so 1497 01:16:15,360 --> 01:16:19,360 in how our taxpayers dollars are being used, 1498 01:16:19,360 --> 01:16:23,360 I'd rather not use our funding towards mass 1499 01:16:23,360 --> 01:16:29,360 or a mass surveillance array. 1500 01:16:29,360 --> 01:16:33,360 In the finance and personnel committee meeting, 1501 01:16:33,360 --> 01:16:35,360 the FLOC representatives were there, 1502 01:16:35,360 --> 01:16:39,360 but I don't believe that they had any answers 1503 01:16:39,360 --> 01:16:43,360 from their position of the controversy. 1504 01:16:43,360 --> 01:16:48,360 And I did mention as well that this is a two-parted problem. 1505 01:16:48,360 --> 01:16:52,360 Misuse number one, but as well as privacy protection 1506 01:16:52,360 --> 01:16:55,360 for our community. 1507 01:16:55,360 --> 01:17:01,360 So I will be in support of Alder Jorgensen's motion. 1508 01:17:01,360 --> 01:17:07,360 And also if this is the only tool that our police department has 1509 01:17:07,360 --> 01:17:11,360 to use to solve crimes, I think that's a problem as well. 1510 01:17:11,360 --> 01:17:13,360 I understand that it is a tool. 1511 01:17:13,360 --> 01:17:19,360 However, this tool has an opposing side of it as well 1512 01:17:19,360 --> 01:17:21,360 that impacts our communities. 1513 01:17:21,360 --> 01:17:25,360 So that's all. 1514 01:17:25,360 --> 01:17:28,360 Otherwise. 1515 01:17:28,360 --> 01:17:31,360 So first I just wanted to thank you guys for reaching out 1516 01:17:31,360 --> 01:17:33,360 and giving us the opportunity to come in 1517 01:17:33,360 --> 01:17:37,360 and see how the technology is used. 1518 01:17:37,360 --> 01:17:39,360 I didn't know a lot about FLOC. 1519 01:17:39,360 --> 01:17:41,360 Like a lot of people just saw things on the news, 1520 01:17:41,360 --> 01:17:44,360 but of all the things I saw in the news, 1521 01:17:44,360 --> 01:17:47,360 it became clear that once again, this is not necessarily 1522 01:17:47,360 --> 01:17:49,360 the technology that's bad. 1523 01:17:49,360 --> 01:17:51,360 It is people that are using it in the wrong way. 1524 01:17:51,360 --> 01:17:55,360 So listening to the chief and going to that meeting this week 1525 01:17:55,360 --> 01:17:58,360 to see the audits that they have to go through, 1526 01:17:58,360 --> 01:18:01,360 I mean, they give a demonstration and they had to put in 1527 01:18:01,360 --> 01:18:03,360 Alder demo because they were going to get audited. 1528 01:18:03,360 --> 01:18:06,360 So they had to make sure that that was clear, 1529 01:18:06,360 --> 01:18:09,360 that it was for me getting this demonstration. 1530 01:18:09,360 --> 01:18:12,360 So, and we would go to a new tool. 1531 01:18:12,360 --> 01:18:16,360 So do we know enough about a new tool to ensure it's not going to 1532 01:18:16,360 --> 01:18:19,360 cause the same problem or explode in the same way? 1533 01:18:19,360 --> 01:18:23,360 Versus trusting our department to put safeguards in place 1534 01:18:23,360 --> 01:18:26,360 to use the tool in an appropriate way. 1535 01:18:26,360 --> 01:18:30,360 In a 20 minute meeting, there were so many misconceptions 1536 01:18:30,360 --> 01:18:33,360 that I was able to learn about the number of cameras. 1537 01:18:33,360 --> 01:18:35,360 Who owns them? 1538 01:18:35,360 --> 01:18:37,360 Do they record people? 1539 01:18:37,360 --> 01:18:40,360 All these things that people have asked me that I didn't know 1540 01:18:40,360 --> 01:18:43,360 the answers to, and yes, perception is reality, 1541 01:18:43,360 --> 01:18:47,360 so it's our job to educate, to change that perception, 1542 01:18:47,360 --> 01:18:50,360 and to let people know how these are actually used. 1543 01:18:50,360 --> 01:18:53,360 There are so many people that think there are so many more cameras 1544 01:18:53,360 --> 01:18:55,360 and I learned that some of those aren't even cameras, 1545 01:18:55,360 --> 01:18:57,360 they're just the noise detection. 1546 01:18:57,360 --> 01:19:00,360 So you've got people walking around neighborhoods thinking 1547 01:19:00,360 --> 01:19:03,360 they're being watched at every corner, not accurate. 1548 01:19:03,360 --> 01:19:08,360 So I think that we should, the contract goes to the end of the year, 1549 01:19:08,360 --> 01:19:12,360 take that time to figure out are the other systems better? 1550 01:19:12,360 --> 01:19:15,360 How can we work at the police department to make sure those guardrails 1551 01:19:15,360 --> 01:19:17,360 are in place so that we feel good about it? 1552 01:19:17,360 --> 01:19:22,360 Educate the community on how they're used and where they are, 1553 01:19:22,360 --> 01:19:24,360 and like how many there actually are. 1554 01:19:24,360 --> 01:19:27,360 I think there's a huge opportunity to learn here 1555 01:19:27,360 --> 01:19:31,360 and not just see, there were some bad actors, right? 1556 01:19:31,360 --> 01:19:33,360 They use the technology in a bad way. 1557 01:19:33,360 --> 01:19:36,360 That happens unfortunately with a lot of things, 1558 01:19:36,360 --> 01:19:40,360 but some of these communities that change to a different system, 1559 01:19:40,360 --> 01:19:42,360 I asked that question too, why did they change? 1560 01:19:42,360 --> 01:19:46,360 Well, they were getting body cameras and drones 1561 01:19:46,360 --> 01:19:49,360 and all these other things, and that company happened to bundle. 1562 01:19:49,360 --> 01:19:52,360 So we're assuming that these communities are making a change 1563 01:19:52,360 --> 01:19:54,360 because it's an outrage against flock, 1564 01:19:54,360 --> 01:19:56,360 and we don't even know if that's the actual truth. 1565 01:19:56,360 --> 01:19:58,360 So I just think this gives us time. 1566 01:19:58,360 --> 01:20:01,360 We've got the contract anyway, so that end of the year. 1567 01:20:01,360 --> 01:20:03,360 Let them finish their investigations, 1568 01:20:03,360 --> 01:20:06,360 let them not have a gap in the service, 1569 01:20:06,360 --> 01:20:09,360 and then like go into, if we do something different, 1570 01:20:09,360 --> 01:20:12,360 do it with our eyes wide open so we know we're making a better decision. 1571 01:20:12,360 --> 01:20:17,360 Father Herman. 1572 01:20:17,360 --> 01:20:19,360 Thank you, Mayor. 1573 01:20:19,360 --> 01:20:22,360 I have a question for the Chief. 1574 01:20:22,360 --> 01:20:24,360 State your question. 1575 01:20:24,360 --> 01:20:25,360 Thank you. 1576 01:20:26,360 --> 01:20:29,360 I believe that to make an informed decision, 1577 01:20:29,360 --> 01:20:34,360 there needs to be answers to both sides of the question, 1578 01:20:34,360 --> 01:20:39,360 and you were asked in the just moments ago, 1579 01:20:39,360 --> 01:20:43,360 how does flock help the police department? 1580 01:20:43,360 --> 01:20:47,360 But my question is, how has flock cameras been problematic 1581 01:20:47,360 --> 01:20:49,360 to the police department? 1582 01:20:49,360 --> 01:20:52,360 Because there are residents that do have concerns, 1583 01:20:52,360 --> 01:20:58,360 and I would like to know how has flock been problematic? 1584 01:20:58,360 --> 01:21:01,360 The problematic part just came in not so long ago 1585 01:21:01,360 --> 01:21:04,360 when we found two individuals, two officers, 1586 01:21:04,360 --> 01:21:07,360 that were allegedly misused in it. 1587 01:21:07,360 --> 01:21:10,360 State guards were put in and auditing. 1588 01:21:10,360 --> 01:21:12,360 The auditing trail got a lot better, 1589 01:21:12,360 --> 01:21:14,360 so it's much easier to audit it. 1590 01:21:14,360 --> 01:21:17,360 The other problems that I'm hearing is just the noise 1591 01:21:17,360 --> 01:21:20,360 and narrative that I hear outside that's being done. 1592 01:21:21,360 --> 01:21:25,360 I read the newspapers, I read the social media, 1593 01:21:25,360 --> 01:21:28,360 I read what other communities are doing, 1594 01:21:28,360 --> 01:21:32,360 and hear what some of the problems about monetizing the data 1595 01:21:32,360 --> 01:21:35,360 or collecting the data, I hear all that. 1596 01:21:35,360 --> 01:21:38,360 But when you start taking deeper dives into this, 1597 01:21:38,360 --> 01:21:40,360 a lot of it's a lot of noise. 1598 01:21:40,360 --> 01:21:41,360 Okay. 1599 01:21:41,360 --> 01:21:42,360 Thank you. 1600 01:21:42,360 --> 01:21:45,360 Thank you for that. 1601 01:21:45,360 --> 01:21:50,360 I believe that the overall crime rate in race scene 1602 01:21:50,360 --> 01:21:55,360 has decreased not because there is one specific tool 1603 01:21:55,360 --> 01:21:59,360 that assists in decreasing the crime rate. 1604 01:21:59,360 --> 01:22:04,360 I actually like to stress that there are multiple ways 1605 01:22:04,360 --> 01:22:07,360 in which the crime in race scene has decreased. 1606 01:22:07,360 --> 01:22:10,360 There has been community-centered partnerships, 1607 01:22:10,360 --> 01:22:13,360 there has been data-driven social programs, 1608 01:22:13,360 --> 01:22:16,360 there has been federal public safety grants, 1609 01:22:16,360 --> 01:22:22,360 there are programs like race scene violence, crime reduction 1610 01:22:22,360 --> 01:22:27,360 initiatives, group violence initiatives, 1611 01:22:27,360 --> 01:22:33,360 as well as better reporting in our police department. 1612 01:22:33,360 --> 01:22:38,360 Multitask forces working together to decrease our crime. 1613 01:22:38,360 --> 01:22:42,360 I also believe that there are grassroots community 1614 01:22:42,360 --> 01:22:47,360 programs like Voices for Black Mothers Against Crime. 1615 01:22:47,360 --> 01:22:52,360 I also believe programs and initiatives 1616 01:22:52,360 --> 01:22:55,360 like free firearms, safety gun locks, 1617 01:22:55,360 --> 01:22:58,360 and other things like that. 1618 01:22:58,360 --> 01:23:02,360 I believe that there are multiple ways 1619 01:23:02,360 --> 01:23:05,360 in which we can work together as a community 1620 01:23:05,360 --> 01:23:11,360 to decrease crime and to continue its progress 1621 01:23:11,360 --> 01:23:21,360 in that decrease other than one tool that can be problematic, 1622 01:23:21,360 --> 01:23:27,360 that can be used in a way to target people 1623 01:23:27,360 --> 01:23:30,360 that don't want to be targeted. 1624 01:23:30,360 --> 01:23:38,360 I think that we can support other programs 1625 01:23:38,360 --> 01:23:42,360 and initiatives in race scene that are doing just as well 1626 01:23:42,360 --> 01:23:48,360 in the efforts to decrease crime and deleting one of them 1627 01:23:48,360 --> 01:23:53,360 is not going to make the entire box of cards fall. 1628 01:23:53,360 --> 01:23:58,360 I believe that we can work with all of the other initiatives 1629 01:23:58,360 --> 01:24:05,360 to assist in decreasing crime and with as much money as we each year 1630 01:24:05,360 --> 01:24:11,360 put into our police department and our police officers. 1631 01:24:11,360 --> 01:24:14,360 I think that I am confident that the chief 1632 01:24:14,360 --> 01:24:19,360 and our police can work together with all of the other programs 1633 01:24:19,360 --> 01:24:23,360 to continue to do a great job in making our city safe. 1634 01:24:23,360 --> 01:24:25,360 Thank you, Chief. 1635 01:24:25,360 --> 01:24:33,360 I have a couple of random questions just to clarify things. 1636 01:24:33,360 --> 01:24:39,360 I was at the finance committee meeting when this was initially discussed. 1637 01:24:39,360 --> 01:24:42,360 Is there a difference, Chief, between what you call 1638 01:24:42,360 --> 01:24:45,360 the license plate readers and the flock cameras 1639 01:24:45,360 --> 01:24:49,360 or are the flock cameras simply license plate readers? 1640 01:24:49,360 --> 01:24:51,360 The flock has a number of systems. 1641 01:24:51,360 --> 01:24:55,360 We also have a flocked sound detection within our city. 1642 01:24:55,360 --> 01:24:59,360 And flock has an automated license plate reader 1643 01:24:59,360 --> 01:25:01,360 just like other companies do as well. 1644 01:25:01,360 --> 01:25:06,360 So if I remember correctly, also the contract that the city has 1645 01:25:06,360 --> 01:25:12,360 with the flock camera system is for license plate reading only. 1646 01:25:12,360 --> 01:25:13,360 Is that correct? 1647 01:25:13,360 --> 01:25:16,360 We have that flock has for the automated license plate reader. 1648 01:25:16,360 --> 01:25:19,360 We also have them in our squads, 1649 01:25:19,360 --> 01:25:21,360 but they operate a little differently. 1650 01:25:21,360 --> 01:25:23,360 I'm very familiar with those. 1651 01:25:23,360 --> 01:25:24,360 Okay. 1652 01:25:24,360 --> 01:25:32,360 So does the contract as it currently exists end in 2026? 1653 01:25:32,360 --> 01:25:36,360 Does it end December 31st of 2027? 1654 01:25:36,360 --> 01:25:37,360 It ends in 2027. 1655 01:25:37,360 --> 01:25:40,360 I don't have the exact date in front of me. 1656 01:25:40,360 --> 01:25:45,360 So the current contract that we have actually ends at some point in 2027. 1657 01:25:45,360 --> 01:25:46,360 That's correct. 1658 01:25:47,360 --> 01:25:49,360 2026 at this year. 1659 01:25:49,360 --> 01:25:50,360 Okay. 1660 01:25:50,360 --> 01:25:53,360 So if the cameras are removed by flock, 1661 01:25:53,360 --> 01:25:56,360 and they're the only ones that can remove the cameras, 1662 01:25:56,360 --> 01:26:01,360 is there an additional cost to the city for early removal 1663 01:26:01,360 --> 01:26:06,360 or removal of those cameras prior to if those cameras get removed 1664 01:26:06,360 --> 01:26:09,360 before the contract expires? 1665 01:26:09,360 --> 01:26:12,360 Question for the attorney that if he has a contract in front of him. 1666 01:26:12,360 --> 01:26:13,360 I don't mind if you're all right. 1667 01:26:13,360 --> 01:26:16,360 I'll direct your latest question to the city attorney. 1668 01:26:16,360 --> 01:26:18,360 I don't see that. 1669 01:26:18,360 --> 01:26:21,360 That exists in the contract that way. 1670 01:26:21,360 --> 01:26:23,360 So that's an unknown then? 1671 01:26:23,360 --> 01:26:24,360 No. 1672 01:26:24,360 --> 01:26:25,360 Okay. 1673 01:26:25,360 --> 01:26:30,360 So I know the mayor said in the finance committee that he did not intend 1674 01:26:30,360 --> 01:26:35,360 to fund flock cameras for 2027. 1675 01:26:35,360 --> 01:26:40,360 Does that mean there will be no axon or whatever it was called? 1676 01:26:40,360 --> 01:26:45,360 Any other kind of license plate reader cameras throughout the city? 1677 01:26:45,360 --> 01:26:46,360 No. 1678 01:26:46,360 --> 01:26:50,360 My mistake is for the flock product of their automated less plate readers. 1679 01:26:50,360 --> 01:26:53,360 We're talking about today. 1680 01:26:53,360 --> 01:26:54,360 Okay. 1681 01:26:54,360 --> 01:26:57,360 Well, thank you chief. 1682 01:26:57,360 --> 01:27:00,360 So I just comment to make. 1683 01:27:00,360 --> 01:27:05,360 The idea of the flock cameras became a big issue over the last couple of months 1684 01:27:05,360 --> 01:27:11,360 because there has been some officers in different jurisdictions that have 1685 01:27:11,360 --> 01:27:17,360 misused those that the camera system or the data that comes from those camera 1686 01:27:17,360 --> 01:27:19,360 systems. 1687 01:27:19,360 --> 01:27:22,360 I also know that flock cameras do do good. 1688 01:27:22,360 --> 01:27:26,360 The first time I was introduced with the notion of flock cameras when there was 1689 01:27:26,360 --> 01:27:31,360 a lot of discussion regarding the young woman in Milwaukee that had a blind date. 1690 01:27:31,360 --> 01:27:38,360 The date that she had killed her and dismembered her and I remember the police 1691 01:27:38,360 --> 01:27:43,360 and the investigators talking about it was the flock cameras that was able to 1692 01:27:43,360 --> 01:27:48,360 track her vehicle and then from that vehicle, the tracking the vehicle, 1693 01:27:48,360 --> 01:27:55,360 if they could find the pings from the cell towers to find the person that 1694 01:27:55,360 --> 01:27:59,360 murdered her and did those horrible things to her. 1695 01:27:59,360 --> 01:28:06,360 My other introduction to flock cameras was in December of 2023 when I was hit and 1696 01:28:06,360 --> 01:28:12,360 run at the intersection of Rapids drive in Northwestern Avenue. 1697 01:28:12,360 --> 01:28:18,360 There were three different eyewitnesses to that hit and run that were able to 1698 01:28:18,360 --> 01:28:25,360 provide the police officer that came to this accident and provide information, 1699 01:28:25,360 --> 01:28:30,360 and license plate, the vehicle description, the driver's description, the 1700 01:28:30,360 --> 01:28:35,360 description of the passenger was able to provide all that information. 1701 01:28:35,360 --> 01:28:40,360 It was not enough information though because there was no evidence other than 1702 01:28:40,360 --> 01:28:45,360 their testimony so the person that hit and ran got away with it. 1703 01:28:45,360 --> 01:28:48,360 So 30 days later I get a new vehicle. 1704 01:28:48,360 --> 01:28:53,360 We transfer my plates from my total vehicle to my new vehicle on a Friday 1705 01:28:53,360 --> 01:29:01,360 afternoon on Saturday I was pulled over by an officer in wind point that said 1706 01:29:01,360 --> 01:29:06,360 that the vehicle that I was driving the plates were not registered to that vehicle. 1707 01:29:06,360 --> 01:29:09,360 So I had to explain the whole thing, you know, that just transfer my plates, 1708 01:29:09,360 --> 01:29:12,360 blah, blah, blah, and then of course you let me go. 1709 01:29:12,360 --> 01:29:15,360 I offered him a granola bar and he wasn't interested. 1710 01:29:15,360 --> 01:29:21,360 The next day I'm on Brown Road and I got pulled over again for the very same reason. 1711 01:29:21,360 --> 01:29:27,360 So even though we won't have cameras on light poles or wherever the flight 1712 01:29:27,360 --> 01:29:33,360 cameras are located, we will still be monitored by some kind of camera system 1713 01:29:33,360 --> 01:29:39,360 from our squad cars and we want to have that because it is a tool. 1714 01:29:39,360 --> 01:29:44,360 And I appreciate the comments that were made by Elder Davis and Elder Weiss about 1715 01:29:44,360 --> 01:29:48,360 it's important to understand how these things work. 1716 01:29:48,360 --> 01:29:55,360 And it is true that like any technology it can be abused by some individuals, 1717 01:29:55,360 --> 01:29:59,360 whether on purpose or by accident. 1718 01:29:59,360 --> 01:30:05,360 I don't think we have to throw out the whole system because a few individuals 1719 01:30:05,360 --> 01:30:08,360 abuse the system. 1720 01:30:08,360 --> 01:30:13,360 I am concerned that the only discussion that we had in finance and here tonight 1721 01:30:13,360 --> 01:30:20,360 is about ending the contract or covering up those cameras whether it's tomorrow or 1722 01:30:20,360 --> 01:30:21,360 at the end of this year. 1723 01:30:21,360 --> 01:30:25,360 We have not had any discussion about what are we going to do going forward when 1724 01:30:25,360 --> 01:30:28,360 2027 rolls are all along. 1725 01:30:28,360 --> 01:30:32,360 And I don't think that's a conversation that should wait until we vote on a 1726 01:30:32,360 --> 01:30:39,360 budget in November because like the chief said, these programs take months not only to 1727 01:30:39,360 --> 01:30:42,360 install but also to train his staff on. 1728 01:30:42,360 --> 01:30:49,360 So I am not going to support the motion to end, you know, cover up the cameras. 1729 01:30:49,360 --> 01:30:56,360 I think the least we can do is extended until the end of 2026 to give the chief at 1730 01:30:56,360 --> 01:31:01,360 least something to work with going forward. 1731 01:31:01,360 --> 01:31:05,360 So thank you. 1732 01:31:05,360 --> 01:31:07,360 Alderman. 1733 01:31:07,360 --> 01:31:09,360 Thank you. 1734 01:31:09,360 --> 01:31:14,360 In a moment, I'm going to ask if I can direct a question to the chief. 1735 01:31:14,360 --> 01:31:16,360 You may state your question. 1736 01:31:16,360 --> 01:31:17,360 Thank you. 1737 01:31:17,360 --> 01:31:21,360 But I am going to make a couple of comments first. 1738 01:31:21,360 --> 01:31:28,360 I am not a person who jumps and makes a decision based off of emotion. 1739 01:31:28,360 --> 01:31:38,360 And when I do make a vote or align with a decision, it is after a lot of research. 1740 01:31:38,360 --> 01:31:47,360 And if possible, by inserting myself into that space and have a living experience in 1741 01:31:47,360 --> 01:31:48,360 that space. 1742 01:31:48,360 --> 01:31:54,360 And I'll give an example about, oh, it's been a long journey. 1743 01:31:54,360 --> 01:32:01,360 I began my journey to become an attorney following in my father's footsteps, who is also a 1744 01:32:01,360 --> 01:32:08,360 retired police officer and a retired attorney. 1745 01:32:08,360 --> 01:32:13,360 And I didn't just wake up one day and say, oh, then I'm going to do that. 1746 01:32:13,360 --> 01:32:19,360 I intentionally took a job at the racing county jail. 1747 01:32:19,360 --> 01:32:29,360 And I also interned at the DA's office in the juvenile court department. 1748 01:32:29,360 --> 01:32:36,360 Then I said, oh, well, I got to know something else about what actually happens with our 1749 01:32:36,360 --> 01:32:38,360 juveniles in the court system. 1750 01:32:38,360 --> 01:32:42,360 And I'm not going to listen to people who are just on the outside and they're not involved. 1751 01:32:42,360 --> 01:32:45,360 I'm going to do something else. 1752 01:32:45,360 --> 01:32:50,360 And I started substitute teaching at RUSD. 1753 01:32:50,360 --> 01:33:01,360 Those two experiences, along with law school, allow me to make decisions in both of my elected 1754 01:33:01,360 --> 01:33:08,360 positions from experience and research, not an emotional decision. 1755 01:33:09,360 --> 01:33:13,360 Because believe me, there are opportunities that come along. 1756 01:33:13,360 --> 01:33:22,360 Every time I am involved in a legislative decision, that if my emotions were allowed to take over, 1757 01:33:22,360 --> 01:33:28,360 I may not vote in a way that was in the best way of centering and focusing in on the communities 1758 01:33:28,360 --> 01:33:31,360 and constituency that I serve. 1759 01:33:31,360 --> 01:33:37,360 So it doesn't matter what I believe, what I think or what I like. 1760 01:33:37,360 --> 01:33:39,360 So I'll put that there. 1761 01:33:39,360 --> 01:33:47,360 Our conversation, whether it is justified or not, and whether it was initiated because of 1762 01:33:47,360 --> 01:33:55,360 some big corporate scheme and starting what we know they do start fires to get their way, 1763 01:33:55,360 --> 01:34:00,360 whether that's the case or not, yes, is an emotional way of going throughout the country 1764 01:34:00,360 --> 01:34:03,360 regarding the flock company. 1765 01:34:03,360 --> 01:34:10,360 However, the tool, the forensic tool that is used by the police across this country, 1766 01:34:10,360 --> 01:34:14,360 across this community and across our state is essential. 1767 01:34:14,360 --> 01:34:23,360 Whether you want to assign a large percentage of the 22% of reduced crime in the city of Racine, 1768 01:34:23,360 --> 01:34:31,360 whatever role that forensic tool has played in solving a crime is what we have to look at. 1769 01:34:31,360 --> 01:34:39,360 And so we're not going to just say we're vacating the tool, the forensic tool that the police, 1770 01:34:39,360 --> 01:34:45,360 and we're not going to insert ourselves into the role of deciding how the importance of that 1771 01:34:45,360 --> 01:34:52,360 also attached to all of the community initiatives that are necessary in rolling back and repositioning 1772 01:34:52,360 --> 01:35:00,360 our community when it comes to how we attack crime because crime happens for all sorts of reasons, 1773 01:35:00,360 --> 01:35:06,360 especially in a community that is in our position as we are financially. 1774 01:35:06,360 --> 01:35:17,360 We all know that finances, lack of employment and other variables play into why crime escalates or de-escalates. 1775 01:35:17,360 --> 01:35:22,360 So there are a lot of moving parts to fighting crime, absolutely. 1776 01:35:22,360 --> 01:35:29,360 However, my first question to the chief is going to be what percentage would you assign 1777 01:35:29,360 --> 01:35:38,360 if you had to of the 22% that you say and you have proven that crime has been reduced in the city of Racine, 1778 01:35:38,360 --> 01:35:41,360 because I am going to say what all the Horton said. 1779 01:35:41,360 --> 01:35:51,360 And what we all know as council members, the city of Racine has been flooded with the opinion that this is a community 1780 01:35:51,360 --> 01:36:00,360 that is anti new business, new revenue building opportunity because people see that we have a high crime rate. 1781 01:36:00,360 --> 01:36:08,360 We can't afford to have a narrative out there that we are not addressing the safety of our community, 1782 01:36:08,360 --> 01:36:20,360 and that has many facets to it, the personal and the tangible realities of what safety looks like 1783 01:36:20,360 --> 01:36:26,360 and what it looks like in 2026 and going forward 50 years when it comes to technology. 1784 01:36:26,360 --> 01:36:33,360 So the first question, sir, and thank you for your service and those that work with you, 1785 01:36:33,360 --> 01:36:40,360 what percentage of the 22% would you assign to the reduction of crime, 1786 01:36:40,360 --> 01:36:47,360 and how does that forensic tool actually benefit, and while we transition to another tool, 1787 01:36:47,360 --> 01:36:53,360 whether we have taken your contract or the working cameras to the end of the year, 1788 01:36:53,360 --> 01:37:02,360 to keep in mind that we have been given a timeframe of three, six or nine months in order to put in place another forensic tool, 1789 01:37:02,360 --> 01:37:11,360 what would you be doing between the time that we bagged the cameras and the time that we would be able to fully have installed 1790 01:37:11,360 --> 01:37:15,360 another forensic tool to help you with your duties? 1791 01:37:16,360 --> 01:37:20,360 I appreciate the question, and let me ask my team here. 1792 01:37:20,360 --> 01:37:22,360 I don't have that in front of me. 1793 01:37:22,360 --> 01:37:24,360 How does it contribute to the reduction of it? 1794 01:37:24,360 --> 01:37:28,360 I know it's been a useful tool to us in a number of cases, 1795 01:37:28,360 --> 01:37:33,360 as a number of crimes that I said, whether it's burglaries, shootings, 1796 01:37:33,360 --> 01:37:38,360 or shots fired, non-fatal shootings, certainly homicides and the like. 1797 01:37:38,360 --> 01:37:40,360 I have to look at my team. 1798 01:37:40,360 --> 01:37:42,360 Does anyone's got that data? 1799 01:37:46,360 --> 01:37:50,360 Thank you for your question, and thank you for bringing back up here. 1800 01:37:50,360 --> 01:37:59,360 I don't think that we can give you an exact percentage, but I can give you some real-world examples that just over this summer. 1801 01:37:59,360 --> 01:38:07,360 We've received tips about armed individuals looking to retaliate against another opposing side of town, 1802 01:38:07,360 --> 01:38:13,360 and we had a description of a vehicle in the place we were able to intercept that vehicle and arrest some known shooters 1803 01:38:13,360 --> 01:38:22,360 and known gang members who were supposedly in the process of going to do a shooting, 1804 01:38:22,360 --> 01:38:27,360 and we recovered crime guns from that vehicle that have been tied to other crimes. 1805 01:38:27,360 --> 01:38:35,360 That's sort of a regular occurrence for us, where we're able to stop things kind of before they happen. 1806 01:38:35,360 --> 01:38:49,360 By no means is ALPR technology or FLOC, the only reason or the singular reason that we are crime rate is down 22% are violent crime. 1807 01:38:49,360 --> 01:38:51,360 Where does she go? 1808 01:38:51,360 --> 01:38:59,360 The elder that listed all of our community partners and other things, all of those are very valuable, all the Herman, sorry. 1809 01:39:00,360 --> 01:39:07,360 All valid, all very important tools that we use together, and I would say our partnership with the county 1810 01:39:07,360 --> 01:39:12,360 and with the Department of Public Safety, and the tools that we have, and Voices of Black Mothers, 1811 01:39:12,360 --> 01:39:17,360 and multiple different community organizations out there that we work with are very important. 1812 01:39:17,360 --> 01:39:23,360 None of them are something that can replace this particular tool, but I can tell you that it's a regular occurrence 1813 01:39:23,360 --> 01:39:30,360 where we're able to stop violence and recover guns before the actual shooting happens. 1814 01:39:33,360 --> 01:39:35,360 Elder Allen, do you have the floor? 1815 01:39:38,360 --> 01:39:40,360 Am I alive? Okay. 1816 01:39:40,360 --> 01:39:45,360 And so the second part of my question of what would you be doing between a time? 1817 01:39:45,360 --> 01:39:48,360 The cameras were inoperable. 1818 01:39:48,360 --> 01:39:57,360 Until the time we are able to install another forensic tool, how would you navigate that timeframe with the training and et cetera? 1819 01:39:57,360 --> 01:40:04,360 And can you start that now, you know, before the end of the year, how does that work? 1820 01:40:04,360 --> 01:40:05,360 Yeah. 1821 01:40:05,360 --> 01:40:10,360 So, I mean, this is one tool of many tools and skills that we have that we utilize. 1822 01:40:10,360 --> 01:40:18,360 It does provide a huge resource that all of our other investigative tools and resources cannot do. 1823 01:40:18,360 --> 01:40:28,360 I think my investigators and officers are fully capable of, will be investigating the same way that we always have, 1824 01:40:28,360 --> 01:40:36,360 and would, but solving crimes and stopping things before they happen without that resource would not be possible. 1825 01:40:40,360 --> 01:40:46,360 I'll do the mark. 1826 01:40:46,360 --> 01:40:51,360 So, I know that there's been a lot of controversy with the FLOC system. 1827 01:40:51,360 --> 01:40:59,360 When I was at the committee meeting, I asked the FLOC representative if there's any ways that we can take that data 1828 01:40:59,360 --> 01:41:05,360 instead of putting it into a server outside of foreseen in their hands. 1829 01:41:05,360 --> 01:41:09,360 If we can have it here localized so we have control over it. 1830 01:41:09,360 --> 01:41:22,360 They said that their servers are more secure, but to me that was another way of dodging the question. 1831 01:41:22,360 --> 01:41:27,360 The thing is, this has been a thing for about two years. 1832 01:41:27,360 --> 01:41:38,360 Early 2025, civil liberty groups have shared issues with the data being shared. 1833 01:41:38,360 --> 01:41:47,360 I know that there's other tech companies that said that we are not selling your data. 1834 01:41:47,360 --> 01:41:56,360 We're not listening to you, but Apple, Amazon, and Google both were caught in lies when that happened. 1835 01:41:56,360 --> 01:42:05,360 I'm not in favor of FLOC at all, but I'm also not in favor of taking away tools from the police officers. 1836 01:42:05,360 --> 01:42:15,360 I know that City of Kenosha transferred over to Exxon, but from my understanding, with me and I had, 1837 01:42:15,360 --> 01:42:20,360 they were already in the process of changing over about a year ago. 1838 01:42:20,360 --> 01:42:31,360 I think that we should have a very good transition from FLOC to another system. 1839 01:42:31,360 --> 01:42:41,360 Again, I'm not for FLOC, and I'm not, but I can't fault for this because the safety of our system matters way more. 1840 01:42:45,360 --> 01:42:47,360 I'll repeat for a second time. 1841 01:42:47,360 --> 01:42:49,360 Thank you. 1842 01:42:50,360 --> 01:42:52,360 What's that? 1843 01:42:53,360 --> 01:42:56,360 Come me off your back. 1844 01:42:56,360 --> 01:42:57,360 Thanks. 1845 01:42:57,360 --> 01:42:58,360 Sorry. 1846 01:42:58,360 --> 01:43:00,360 Anyway, just a quick question for the police department. 1847 01:43:00,360 --> 01:43:10,360 How long does it take to transition from FLOC to a different system, and how would that affect your ongoing investigations? 1848 01:43:12,360 --> 01:43:14,360 It takes several months. 1849 01:43:14,360 --> 01:43:19,360 I could be anywhere from three plus up, but there's a process, obviously, because of the cost, 1850 01:43:19,360 --> 01:43:24,360 we'd have to bring it to a committee, then to the common council for approval and not approval. 1851 01:43:24,360 --> 01:43:29,360 There's a cost behind it to procure it. 1852 01:43:29,360 --> 01:43:35,360 Then you have to, once you procure it, you have to train individuals on it. 1853 01:43:35,360 --> 01:43:37,360 We ask all the same questions. 1854 01:43:37,360 --> 01:43:39,360 Who keeps the data? 1855 01:43:39,360 --> 01:43:41,360 How long is the data stored for it? 1856 01:43:41,360 --> 01:43:43,360 Very similar questions like that. 1857 01:43:43,360 --> 01:43:45,360 It'll take several months. 1858 01:43:45,360 --> 01:43:50,360 Right now we're going to go through budget season, so if we were to start it from 27, 1859 01:43:50,360 --> 01:43:56,360 we'd have to introduce it to the budget here in a month or two, and then you have to make a decision. 1860 01:43:56,360 --> 01:43:57,360 But it all depends. 1861 01:43:57,360 --> 01:43:58,360 You have to put RFP. 1862 01:43:58,360 --> 01:44:01,360 I'm not sure exactly just because of the cost. 1863 01:44:01,360 --> 01:44:04,360 Sometimes you have to put all those out there. 1864 01:44:05,360 --> 01:44:06,360 Thank you. 1865 01:44:07,360 --> 01:44:08,360 There could be other. 1866 01:44:08,360 --> 01:44:11,360 There are other vendors as well, besides Axon. 1867 01:44:11,360 --> 01:44:12,360 I'll do Kelly. 1868 01:44:12,360 --> 01:44:13,360 You have the floor. 1869 01:44:17,360 --> 01:44:18,360 Thank you. 1870 01:44:18,360 --> 01:44:22,360 I have a question or two for the police chief. 1871 01:44:22,360 --> 01:44:24,360 Please state your question. 1872 01:44:24,360 --> 01:44:25,360 Okay. 1873 01:44:25,360 --> 01:44:35,360 So how would you say that these cameras assist when we have stolen vehicles that come in and out of the city? 1874 01:44:36,360 --> 01:44:44,360 As soon as a vehicle is reported, so on goes a dispatch dispatch will put it out there over the dispatch over there. 1875 01:44:44,360 --> 01:44:48,360 And it goes out immediately where an officer can come across that vehicle right away. 1876 01:44:48,360 --> 01:44:51,360 It can also track it to where it's going to or the plate where it's going to. 1877 01:44:51,360 --> 01:44:54,360 And then the officers will descend onto that area. 1878 01:44:54,360 --> 01:44:55,360 Okay. 1879 01:44:55,360 --> 01:44:56,360 Thank you. 1880 01:44:56,360 --> 01:45:00,360 I also want to thank officers. 1881 01:45:00,360 --> 01:45:09,360 Mattana for the offer for, you know, getting a briefing on the flock system. 1882 01:45:09,360 --> 01:45:21,360 I am not saying I'm in favor of the brand flock, but I also know how absolutely important it is that we have this tool. 1883 01:45:22,360 --> 01:45:38,360 I sat through several meetings out at the county when they made the expansion to put cameras out by the highway because we do have an extreme amount of vehicles that come in and out of the city, whether it's Milwaukee, Chicago, whatever they're stolen vehicles. 1884 01:45:39,360 --> 01:45:52,360 And it's a tool that they could use when these vehicles come in, whether they're trafficking drugs, humans or whatever is going on, or it's just a stolen vehicle. 1885 01:45:52,360 --> 01:46:07,360 You know, I'd say I wouldn't know what the percentage of the crime reduction is, but I know that in my district, we all have our own districts. 1886 01:46:07,360 --> 01:46:10,360 We all made up differently. 1887 01:46:10,360 --> 01:46:13,360 Mine seems to be a hot spot for some reason. 1888 01:46:13,360 --> 01:46:18,360 Unfortunately, a month ago, I had a man that was shot and killed across the street from my house. 1889 01:46:18,360 --> 01:46:29,360 The gentleman got into a vehicle and I assume that these cameras probably pick them up and is probably part of the active investigation. 1890 01:46:29,360 --> 01:46:45,360 I would hate to have to go back to those family members that came to my home to talk to me and have to tell them that, you know, sorry, we can't grab this dad anymore or, you know, the car is still out there or whatever it is. 1891 01:46:45,360 --> 01:46:47,360 Now we can't do that. 1892 01:46:47,360 --> 01:46:50,360 We have to have some sort of a tool in place. 1893 01:46:50,360 --> 01:46:52,360 We can't just cut it off. 1894 01:46:52,360 --> 01:47:02,360 So I am not in favor of taking any sort of tools away from our police department. We have to have a better plan. We have to have something in place. 1895 01:47:02,360 --> 01:47:13,360 We have to be able to have a smooth transition as someone has already stated. So I will not be in favor of voting for this. 1896 01:47:14,360 --> 01:47:20,360 Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would like to direct the question to Chief Ramirez here regarding this. 1897 01:47:20,360 --> 01:47:29,360 So you said it could take several months to institute another potential, another program like this, correct? Up to nine months. Let's just throw that out there. Is that correct? 1898 01:47:29,360 --> 01:47:31,360 It would take several months. 1899 01:47:31,360 --> 01:47:41,360 Okay. So in the proposed three month time period that we would have between now and December, what would you see your department's role as just going out and trying to source another vendor? 1900 01:47:41,360 --> 01:47:49,360 What would you say? That would be certainly that's the first thing we would do. Okay. But that doesn't help you with the timeline implementation, training, so on and so forth. 1901 01:47:49,360 --> 01:47:53,360 Is that correct? That's correct. And how long would that normally take? If you had to estimate. 1902 01:47:53,360 --> 01:47:58,360 I would say anywhere from six to nine months. Okay. Six to nine months. 1903 01:47:58,360 --> 01:48:04,360 So we would still have to hard stop at the end of December when the funding runs out for this program. 1904 01:48:05,360 --> 01:48:19,360 If the council chooses. If the council chooses. And then you would still have another several months after that that you wouldn't have a tool in place because you're trying to acquire, go through all the necessary steps and then also train your employees, your officers. Is that correct? 1905 01:48:19,360 --> 01:48:22,360 That's correct. Yes. Okay. So the same thing. 1906 01:48:22,360 --> 01:48:24,360 I'm not willing. 1907 01:48:24,360 --> 01:48:36,360 To vote tonight to allow it to go another few months with potential risk that we if this is very I'm not willing to find out if there's more that can happen safeguards in place or not. 1908 01:48:36,360 --> 01:48:47,360 We we can take the knowledge we've learned from this and apply it to any potential future vendor we may use and scrutinize them as they so just they deserve to be scrutinized. 1909 01:48:47,360 --> 01:48:55,360 But to have it out here for another few months when the outcome again of still having to go out and still having to do those things is still going to be there. 1910 01:48:55,360 --> 01:49:06,360 Now, if you have to go out and you know within 30 days that you're going to have to utilize, you know, your resources to go out and look for these people, you could potentially start that process of training. 1911 01:49:06,360 --> 01:49:12,360 If you find and go to the proper committees sooner. If this were to end sooner. Is that correct? 1912 01:49:12,360 --> 01:49:26,360 Theoretically, as to purchasing their procuring a new system. That would take some time. It would take some time, but it takes a lot of time. Right. But if you're doing it in 30 days versus 90 days that you know you're going to be going out there and looking for this. 1913 01:49:26,360 --> 01:49:29,360 Is it going to be more beneficial for you. 1914 01:49:29,360 --> 01:49:40,360 As to what having the automated license plate reader system would be beneficial to the to the police department ultimate to the city. Correct. The procurement would take some time. 1915 01:49:40,360 --> 01:49:53,360 It takes time. It just it has to go to the committees. It has to go to come. And it's got to be since the request was to ended at the 2026. If the request was to end the 26, you'd have to get her go to the budget. The budget's got to get approved. 1916 01:49:53,360 --> 01:50:07,360 Usually done sometime November. And then once it's approved to be able to use. I can probably have to direct some of those questions to the to the finance director as far as exactly how the procurement, how the money to spend them, how to spend that money. 1917 01:50:07,360 --> 01:50:19,360 But if you know that let's say in 30 days, this is going to end instead of at the end of the year, you're able to get more of a jumpstart on that process and potentially find someone maybe in November, December to start training. 1918 01:50:19,360 --> 01:50:27,360 So now you're in June for having officers fully trained how to use it versus you stop in December. Now you're in September. Does that make sense? 1919 01:50:28,360 --> 01:50:38,360 We're already looking at other systems right now. Okay. Right. So if the city attorney could, if I could direct a question to the city attorney, Mr. Mayor, please take your question. 1920 01:50:38,360 --> 01:50:50,360 Would are the bargaining processes for any potential contract? Are those, would those be able to start sooner than the end of what we have with Flock? So Flock ended in 30 days. 1921 01:50:50,360 --> 01:51:02,360 Please get their data and they find somebody. Are we able to start those conversations sooner than if they were to end December 31st? Are those conversations allowed to happen before a contract technically ends? 1922 01:51:02,360 --> 01:51:09,360 The discussions with the successor vendor could take place, yes, without waiting for the contract to be end. 1923 01:51:10,360 --> 01:51:23,360 Okay. So we have the opportunity to still do that and be proactive knowing that I don't think that, again, extending it out is going to be that much more beneficial. 1924 01:51:23,360 --> 01:51:29,360 So I'm still in favor of the original, of the motion by Elder Dorgensen. Thank you. 1925 01:51:30,360 --> 01:51:32,360 Elder Mack for a second time. 1926 01:51:32,360 --> 01:51:39,360 A little confused by the conversation I just heard. The handwriting is on the wall. Flock is gone. 1927 01:51:39,360 --> 01:51:46,360 Whether it's gone 30 days or 90 days is what's being disputed tonight. 1928 01:51:47,360 --> 01:52:00,360 So with the handwriting on the wall, the police department, I'm assuming, and I think the chief alluded to the fact that they are looking at alternatives to Flock. 1929 01:52:01,360 --> 01:52:13,360 By getting rid of it, now does not put the police department at an advantage in finding a new vendor. 1930 01:52:13,360 --> 01:52:23,360 And I think the city attorney stated that very clearly that we can negotiate with someone else. 1931 01:52:24,360 --> 01:52:31,360 It's done all the time when you have a contract with someone and, you know, there's an alternative out there. 1932 01:52:31,360 --> 01:52:38,360 What we are doing is taking away a valuable tool immediately. 1933 01:52:38,360 --> 01:52:43,360 Yeah, they have some data that they can look back on from the past 30 days. 1934 01:52:44,360 --> 01:52:52,360 But if we pass this tonight, it takes away that tool tomorrow. 1935 01:52:56,360 --> 01:52:58,360 I don't think that's a good thing. 1936 01:52:58,360 --> 01:53:02,360 They've stated it's not a good thing. 1937 01:53:02,360 --> 01:53:07,360 That there's active investigations and it's been a tool that's been used. 1938 01:53:08,360 --> 01:53:17,360 I appreciate the fact that there's a list of victims out there that was abused by police officers who abused the system. 1939 01:53:20,360 --> 01:53:35,360 I was probably where Alderman Jorgensen is sitting tonight, a month ago, until I met with one of the vendors that some of us have met up at the League of Municipalities Conference. 1940 01:53:37,360 --> 01:53:40,360 He made a social call. 1941 01:53:40,360 --> 01:53:42,360 We got to talking. 1942 01:53:42,360 --> 01:53:45,360 I said, you know, I don't understand Flock. 1943 01:53:45,360 --> 01:53:48,360 Could you help me understand it? 1944 01:53:48,360 --> 01:53:51,360 He is a vendor for an alternative. 1945 01:53:51,360 --> 01:53:53,360 We weren't talking about the alternative. 1946 01:53:53,360 --> 01:53:57,360 We weren't talking about the advantages of what he's selling. 1947 01:53:58,360 --> 01:54:09,360 He very clearly laid out what Flock is, and he said the most important part about Flock is that there is that audit capability in there. 1948 01:54:09,360 --> 01:54:14,360 Cops that are misusing it are getting caught now. 1949 01:54:14,360 --> 01:54:17,360 He said that wasn't happening before. 1950 01:54:18,360 --> 01:54:32,360 I'm sure the chief can tell you any cop can use tools out there that aren't being audited to do the same nefarious activities. 1951 01:54:32,360 --> 01:54:35,360 Here again, it's one or two. 1952 01:54:35,360 --> 01:54:41,360 It's not the majority of them, but this system they're getting caught. 1953 01:54:42,360 --> 01:54:45,360 When they were using some of the other tools, they weren't getting caught. 1954 01:54:45,360 --> 01:54:47,360 They were flying under the radar. 1955 01:54:47,360 --> 01:54:56,360 So I'm still sticking by my position that I'm voting against the amendment. 1956 01:54:56,360 --> 01:54:59,360 I think we should let it play out until the end of the year. 1957 01:54:59,360 --> 01:55:06,360 The mayor has made it very clear that we are not going to contract with Flock in 2027, 1958 01:55:06,360 --> 01:55:17,360 and it gives the police department time to utilize this to hopefully transition to something else and come January 1st. 1959 01:55:17,360 --> 01:55:21,360 Hopefully, we'll be close to having something in place. 1960 01:55:21,360 --> 01:55:22,360 Thank you. 1961 01:55:24,360 --> 01:55:25,360 I'll do a phrase here for a second time. 1962 01:55:25,360 --> 01:55:26,360 Okay. 1963 01:55:26,360 --> 01:55:33,360 So my only hesitation with this motion is that if we bag the cameras, the tools can't be used. 1964 01:55:34,360 --> 01:55:38,360 In my mind, I'm thinking I don't really care to see Flock go to the end of the year, 1965 01:55:38,360 --> 01:55:46,360 but at least give the police department more time to actually utilize the tool so that they can handle their investigations. 1966 01:55:46,360 --> 01:55:48,360 Well, at the same time, we can walk through them. 1967 01:55:48,360 --> 01:55:52,360 They can look out other alternatives to it. 1968 01:55:52,360 --> 01:55:59,360 The problem with the motion, like I said, is the motion passes to now tonight. 1969 01:55:59,360 --> 01:56:10,360 We bagged the cameras tomorrow, and then the belief is the police department has the ability to use the data from the last 30 days. 1970 01:56:10,360 --> 01:56:17,360 My issue with that is that it does not help the police department with what they're currently doing. 1971 01:56:17,360 --> 01:56:23,360 The thing about Flock is it is a tool that can also do live tracking. 1972 01:56:23,360 --> 01:56:38,360 So when we as law enforcement are sitting in our cars, we get Flock alerts in our car and on our computers that tell us that this car wanted for whatever it is, is at this place. 1973 01:56:38,360 --> 01:56:40,360 And it helps us in real time. 1974 01:56:40,360 --> 01:56:48,360 Now, I understand the hesitation with LPRs, but again, I have to kind of play devil's advocate. 1975 01:56:48,360 --> 01:56:50,360 What are we going to do? 1976 01:56:50,360 --> 01:57:01,360 When we go to an alternative organization and potentially face these problems. LPRs are not going away. 1977 01:57:01,360 --> 01:57:05,360 I just want to let that be known. LPRs are not going away. 1978 01:57:05,360 --> 01:57:13,360 So whether it's Flock, whether it's Axon, or whether it's some other agency or organization, it's not going away. 1979 01:57:13,360 --> 01:57:17,360 So I understand the frustration. I have the frustration. I have the same frustrations. 1980 01:57:17,360 --> 01:57:30,360 I have the same hesitations, but my mind right now is on enabling the police department to do the best that they can and move with their best foot forward. 1981 01:57:30,360 --> 01:57:35,360 And right now, as this motion currently stands, it handicaps them tomorrow. 1982 01:57:35,360 --> 01:57:41,360 They can't use the cameras. They can't use the information again. 1983 01:57:41,360 --> 01:57:47,360 And I'm saying it for a third time. The information that they're going to have access to will be old information. 1984 01:57:47,360 --> 01:57:54,360 And in today's climate, we know that news expires and gets old very quick. 1985 01:57:54,360 --> 01:58:07,360 And we're trying to track whomever for whatever, whether it's a homicide suspect, a robbery suspect, a silver alert, because people do go missing, you know, dementia cases or whatever. 1986 01:58:08,360 --> 01:58:12,360 That's valuable time that the police department won't have. 1987 01:58:12,360 --> 01:58:17,360 So I know it's not appropriate to amend the motion. 1988 01:58:17,360 --> 01:58:21,360 Actually, a motion to amend the amendment would be in order at this time. 1989 01:58:21,360 --> 01:58:22,360 Okay. 1990 01:58:22,360 --> 01:58:28,360 So I'm not saying you have to. I'm just saying if you're wondering if it's in order to amend, to offer an amendment to an amendment. 1991 01:58:28,360 --> 01:58:35,360 So I'm not going to move prematurely. I think we should take this vote. And then if it fails, then we'll deal with that. 1992 01:58:38,360 --> 01:58:43,360 Other Jorgensen for a second time. Thank you. So it's been brought up tonight. 1993 01:58:43,360 --> 01:58:48,360 You know, if we don't have the flock cameras, whatever will we do to solve crime? 1994 01:58:48,360 --> 01:58:55,360 I would like to kind of bounce around to some of the other communities that have had this same thing come up. 1995 01:58:55,360 --> 01:59:02,360 Because I don't believe that other communities experience with this as just noise. 1996 01:59:02,360 --> 01:59:08,360 I think it's important to try to learn from what other communities have shared publicly about this. 1997 01:59:08,360 --> 01:59:13,360 And so we'll start right here at home, Racine County. 1998 01:59:13,360 --> 01:59:16,360 This is a quote from the Sheriff's Office. 1999 01:59:16,360 --> 01:59:23,360 The Sheriff's Office has since learned that flock generates a separate data set from information collected by its cameras 2000 01:59:23,360 --> 01:59:29,360 and markets that data set to other government and private customers through its traffic analytics product. 2001 01:59:29,360 --> 01:59:37,360 The Sheriff's Office statement reads, flock has confirmed that this aggregated data set has retained for up to five years, 2002 01:59:37,360 --> 01:59:41,360 separate from and in addition to the 30 day retention period. 2003 01:59:41,360 --> 01:59:49,360 The Sheriff's Office understood to apply to all information generated by its cameras for public safety and crime solving purposes. 2004 01:59:49,360 --> 01:59:55,360 So they removed their cameras. I guess I don't feel any left safe in Racine County. 2005 01:59:55,360 --> 02:00:01,360 They removed them and there was quite a few news stories of them going out and removing them right away. 2006 02:00:01,360 --> 02:00:06,360 So they were able to do it. And somehow the Earth kept turning. 2007 02:00:06,360 --> 02:00:10,360 We'll go to Oshkosh. 2008 02:00:10,360 --> 02:00:13,360 So here I think was very interesting. 2009 02:00:13,360 --> 02:00:17,360 They had moved forward to extend a flock contract. 2010 02:00:17,360 --> 02:00:23,360 Their police chief had learned some more information about flock and actually raised a caution flag and said, 2011 02:00:23,360 --> 02:00:29,360 I think we need to go back. This isn't what we thought it was going to be. 2012 02:00:29,360 --> 02:00:36,360 So to quote from here, 2013 02:00:36,360 --> 02:00:40,360 the police chief had actually raised that flag and said, look, 2014 02:00:40,360 --> 02:00:51,360 there is a mapping tool that lets you see what license plates pass by specific cameras at that point in time during the 30 day window of the data retention. 2015 02:00:51,360 --> 02:00:56,360 They went to remove their contract and ended with a flock immediately. 2016 02:00:56,360 --> 02:01:00,360 Oshkosh is still there last time I checked. 2017 02:01:00,360 --> 02:01:04,360 I actually went out and contacted the Mayor of Shabogan. 2018 02:01:04,360 --> 02:01:14,360 The Mayor of Shabogan had another one. They covered up their cameras right away because they believed that it was wrong. 2019 02:01:14,360 --> 02:01:21,360 And actually I obtained an email from flock to the city of Shabogan offering to sell them their data. 2020 02:01:21,360 --> 02:01:23,360 Here's a quote from that sales email. 2021 02:01:23,360 --> 02:01:29,360 Public Works gets its own login to a live dashboard showing traffic volume, 2022 02:01:29,360 --> 02:01:32,360 vehicle types, speed data and long-term trends. 2023 02:01:32,360 --> 02:01:35,360 Five years of data updated every 30 minutes. 2024 02:01:35,360 --> 02:01:38,360 They chose to end it in Shabogan unanimously. 2025 02:01:38,360 --> 02:01:41,360 Once again, Shabogan is still there. 2026 02:01:41,360 --> 02:01:48,360 And what was unique about Shabogan as well is this was a joint effort. 2027 02:01:48,360 --> 02:01:52,360 And so this is their police chief. Shabogan police chief, Kurt Zemple, 2028 02:01:52,360 --> 02:02:04,360 quote, we believe it's in the best interest of our city and particularly the trusting relationship between our police department and community to discontinue usage of flock services immediately. 2029 02:02:05,360 --> 02:02:12,360 I think a good way to sum this up. I'll use a kind of abstract analogy here. 2030 02:02:12,360 --> 02:02:17,360 But if you have flesh eating bacteria, eating your arm, you don't tell the doctors, 2031 02:02:17,360 --> 02:02:22,360 hey, I know this thing might kill me. It's really bad. There's nothing good about flesh eating bacteria. 2032 02:02:22,360 --> 02:02:29,360 However, I want to go do a few months of research into what arms, what robotic arms I could replace it with. 2033 02:02:29,360 --> 02:02:32,360 I want to see what the alternatives are. 2034 02:02:33,360 --> 02:02:40,360 That is against the advisement of any doctor would say, you have to get it removed now. 2035 02:02:40,360 --> 02:02:45,360 You can't continue to let the infection grow and fester. 2036 02:02:45,360 --> 02:02:55,360 And here we have another police chief of a city in our state saying that he believes that it's in the public's best interest to remove them immediately. 2037 02:02:55,360 --> 02:03:00,360 So I don't believe the statement of, well, I don't like flock. I'm still going to vote to keep them for now. 2038 02:03:00,360 --> 02:03:04,360 Those are incongruent with each other. We've heard over and over and over it. 2039 02:03:04,360 --> 02:03:11,360 Multiple dozens of times across the state that organizations and municipalities have taken this up, looked at it, 2040 02:03:11,360 --> 02:03:17,360 and said, you know what? There's too many concerns. We owe it to the public to stop this immediately. 2041 02:03:17,360 --> 02:03:20,360 Now, there's other things that can be investigated. That could be done in the future. 2042 02:03:20,360 --> 02:03:27,360 But to say that we're going to continue to let the flesh eating bacteria gnaw away at us while we investigate other things in the future. 2043 02:03:28,360 --> 02:03:37,360 It's just not safe for the public. When we talk about, you know, we have all of these safeguards in place. We locally have that. 2044 02:03:37,360 --> 02:03:43,360 We did learn that we share with other municipalities. They're not beholden to our police and fire commission. 2045 02:03:43,360 --> 02:03:48,360 They don't follow our same rules. This our city council doesn't oversee how other organizations are doing. 2046 02:03:48,360 --> 02:03:55,360 So we're sharing that data today. At this point, I feel like the best path forward for us, the most prudent, 2047 02:03:55,360 --> 02:04:02,360 is to join other organizations, much like Shabogan Police Chief Kurt Zemple. 2048 02:04:02,360 --> 02:04:09,360 And in the best interest of our city, and particularly the trusting relationship between our police department and community, 2049 02:04:09,360 --> 02:04:13,360 to discontinue the usage of flock services immediately. 2050 02:04:16,360 --> 02:04:22,360 There is no one left in the queue. Everybody in attendance is spoken on this matter at least once. 2051 02:04:22,360 --> 02:04:29,360 Again, what is before us is an amendment to the main motion that would terminate the contract, cover the cameras, 2052 02:04:29,360 --> 02:04:37,360 and give a 30-day grace period for the police to use flock camera data for ongoing investigations. 2053 02:04:37,360 --> 02:04:41,360 We do have somebody participating remotely, so the electronic voting does not work. 2054 02:04:41,360 --> 02:04:46,360 When the clerk calls your name, please vote as you wish. 2055 02:04:46,360 --> 02:05:09,360 Alder Pabone, Alder Frazier, Alder Weiss, Alder Davis, Alder Mack, Alder Jurgensen, Alderman Weidner, Alder Horton, Alder Hodges, Alder Allen. 2056 02:05:16,360 --> 02:05:34,360 Alder Pete, Alder DeMark, Alder Kelly, No. Alder Harmon. 2057 02:05:35,360 --> 02:05:43,360 Six eyes, eight nose. 2058 02:05:43,360 --> 02:05:50,360 That amendment fails. Alder Frazier, did you want to make a different amendment to the motion? 2059 02:05:50,360 --> 02:05:58,360 Yeah, so I think that instead of, I think we allow the police department, 2060 02:05:58,360 --> 02:06:06,360 so it's kind of in line with what Alder Jurgensen is saying, but instead of bagging the cameras tomorrow, 2061 02:06:06,360 --> 02:06:14,360 we can bag them 30 days from now, so it allows them 30 days to use the information current, 2062 02:06:14,360 --> 02:06:26,360 the current information in real time, and then simultaneously they can look to vendors for, you know, replacement options. 2063 02:06:27,360 --> 02:06:28,360 So that would be my motion. 2064 02:06:28,360 --> 02:06:33,360 So, Alder Frazier, I just want to make sure of stating what your intention is. 2065 02:06:33,360 --> 02:06:41,360 Then your amendment would be to terminate the contract, not cover the cameras for the next 30 days, 2066 02:06:41,360 --> 02:06:46,360 and allow the police to use that data for ongoing investigations. 2067 02:06:46,360 --> 02:06:48,360 Is that a fair description of your amendment? 2068 02:06:48,360 --> 02:06:49,360 Yes, sir. 2069 02:06:50,360 --> 02:06:52,360 Alder Frazier has made that amendment. 2070 02:06:52,360 --> 02:06:55,360 Alder Papone has seconded that motion. 2071 02:06:55,360 --> 02:06:57,360 Alder Frazier, would you like to speak to your motion? 2072 02:06:57,360 --> 02:06:59,360 Yeah, so here's my thing. 2073 02:06:59,360 --> 02:07:02,360 Policing is not a one-size-fits-all. 2074 02:07:02,360 --> 02:07:08,360 What happens in Racine County cannot be compared to the city of Racine. 2075 02:07:08,360 --> 02:07:13,360 I'll tell you right now, the issues in Racine County are not the same as the city of Racine. 2076 02:07:13,360 --> 02:07:17,360 Racine County is not as dense as the city is. 2077 02:07:17,360 --> 02:07:23,360 And so the things that we do and the tactics that we use are not the same as the city. 2078 02:07:23,360 --> 02:07:26,360 Oshkosh Shabogan, the same thing. 2079 02:07:26,360 --> 02:07:34,360 The leaders in those municipalities felt it necessary that they could lead their municipality without this tool. 2080 02:07:34,360 --> 02:07:42,360 Here we have our police chief in the leadership of our police department who are subject matter experts of our community 2081 02:07:42,360 --> 02:07:48,360 saying that this tool is too valuable to just let go within a blink of an eye. 2082 02:07:48,360 --> 02:07:55,360 And so for me, if they are subject matter experts and they do the job day in, day out far better than any one of us can, 2083 02:07:55,360 --> 02:07:59,360 I think we should take heed to what they're saying. 2084 02:07:59,360 --> 02:08:04,360 Still taking into consideration what the community is saying because I don't want to discredit them. 2085 02:08:04,360 --> 02:08:10,360 I think it's important that we allow the police department to do their job. 2086 02:08:10,360 --> 02:08:18,360 And so if we allow them for the next 30 days to have this tool and use it and then at the end of the 30 days, 2087 02:08:18,360 --> 02:08:26,360 which would be what, October 15th, then from there, then we have to figure it out. 2088 02:08:26,360 --> 02:08:31,360 And I know the chief has already talked about looking to different vendors. 2089 02:08:31,360 --> 02:08:39,360 So hopefully there will be some progress there and he'll be able to come back to us to say, you know, what his findings are. 2090 02:08:40,360 --> 02:08:41,360 Thank you. 2091 02:08:43,360 --> 02:08:44,360 Alder Mack. 2092 02:08:45,360 --> 02:08:48,360 Thank you. I'm going to vote against this. 2093 02:08:48,360 --> 02:08:53,360 I think the original motion from the committee was pragmatic and practical. 2094 02:08:53,360 --> 02:08:56,360 We paid for the system through the end of the year. 2095 02:08:56,360 --> 02:09:00,360 The police departments acknowledge that it is a tool that they actively use. 2096 02:09:00,360 --> 02:09:02,360 That they put safeguards in place. 2097 02:09:02,360 --> 02:09:08,360 That there are parameters around how they use it. 2098 02:09:08,360 --> 02:09:13,360 And I think it addresses a number of the concerns that have been raised. 2099 02:09:13,360 --> 02:09:19,360 This would allow the PD to continue using this until the end of the year. 2100 02:09:19,360 --> 02:09:21,360 As I mentioned, we've already paid for it. 2101 02:09:21,360 --> 02:09:29,360 And even if a vendor was found tomorrow, we'd have to go through the process of bringing it through the finance committee, 2102 02:09:29,360 --> 02:09:32,360 bringing it to the council. 2103 02:09:32,360 --> 02:09:40,360 In addition, we'd have to find money within this year's budget in order to pay for it. 2104 02:09:40,360 --> 02:09:55,360 And so it would be much cleaner to, if they found someone tomorrow, to work within the budget process and be able to hit the ground running the first of the year. Thank you. 2105 02:09:56,360 --> 02:09:58,360 Alder Provone. 2106 02:09:58,360 --> 02:09:59,360 Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 2107 02:09:59,360 --> 02:10:02,360 I'll speak obviously in support of Alder Fraser's motion. 2108 02:10:02,360 --> 02:10:05,360 I would prefer it to be more expedited. 2109 02:10:05,360 --> 02:10:10,360 But given what we've all hashed out already, we've all spoken on already. 2110 02:10:10,360 --> 02:10:14,360 This is, I still am not in favor of giving it through the end of the year. 2111 02:10:14,360 --> 02:10:18,360 So I will be voting yes for this amendment. Thank you. 2112 02:10:18,360 --> 02:10:20,360 Alder Allen. 2113 02:10:20,360 --> 02:10:21,360 Thank you. 2114 02:10:21,360 --> 02:10:27,360 And thank you, Alder Fraser, for introducing the new motion. 2115 02:10:27,360 --> 02:10:33,360 Again, it would be wonderful if this was 19, anything. 2116 02:10:33,360 --> 02:10:40,360 And we were not looking at technology and how it is just part of our everyday infrastructure. 2117 02:10:40,360 --> 02:10:48,360 And no, I do not like the idea of invasive tools in my daily life. 2118 02:10:48,360 --> 02:10:51,360 And to speak to President Georgensen, yes. 2119 02:10:51,360 --> 02:10:53,360 We all signed up for social media. 2120 02:10:53,360 --> 02:10:58,360 We've all signed up for insurance discounts, et cetera, et cetera. 2121 02:10:58,360 --> 02:11:01,360 And all of that data has been sold everywhere. 2122 02:11:01,360 --> 02:11:02,360 Yes. 2123 02:11:02,360 --> 02:11:04,360 And it was my choice. 2124 02:11:04,360 --> 02:11:08,360 However, this is 2020. 2125 02:11:08,360 --> 02:11:16,360 And we are going forward into an era that the 1900s and anything before that. 2126 02:11:16,360 --> 02:11:19,360 It's not going to mirror at all. 2127 02:11:19,360 --> 02:11:21,360 So these tools are going to be with us. 2128 02:11:21,360 --> 02:11:32,360 And how we are going to be able to make everyone comfortable and make it palatable to us probably 2129 02:11:32,360 --> 02:11:40,360 is with the exercise that we will go through with our police and our leadership to make 2130 02:11:40,360 --> 02:11:49,360 sure that we next introduce a vendor of services that we are able to control more. 2131 02:11:49,360 --> 02:11:56,360 That doesn't have a data center states a way that's collecting and holding on to this data. 2132 02:11:56,360 --> 02:12:03,360 We have time to learn what that language is and how to handle that and what audit tools are put into place. 2133 02:12:03,360 --> 02:12:09,360 But it is not something that we can just say we're not going to use or can use. 2134 02:12:09,360 --> 02:12:17,360 Because the crimes are too intricate and our safety on that level, it matters. 2135 02:12:17,360 --> 02:12:24,360 You don't want to be the person who wakes up and finds out that someone you know was kidnapped. 2136 02:12:24,360 --> 02:12:30,360 You don't want to have to know that someone is being trafficked. 2137 02:12:31,360 --> 02:12:39,360 The stories and the things that I know of that are real time, real happening and not on your TV. 2138 02:12:39,360 --> 02:12:47,360 And what I know is in, I'm sorry, the city already seen as far as crime is concerned. 2139 02:12:47,360 --> 02:12:51,360 And what that looks like and what it looks like with children. 2140 02:12:51,360 --> 02:12:57,360 We can't afford to let go of the forensic tools that are available to us. 2141 02:12:57,360 --> 02:13:00,360 I know we look around and go, oh no, that doesn't happen here. 2142 02:13:00,360 --> 02:13:02,360 I can tell you things happen here. 2143 02:13:02,360 --> 02:13:07,360 And it's frightening and it's happening to our children. 2144 02:13:07,360 --> 02:13:14,360 So while I wish we were living in Wonderland and didn't need a tool like this, 2145 02:13:14,360 --> 02:13:19,360 I'm going to vote in support of at least this modification. 2146 02:13:19,360 --> 02:13:26,360 It gives us something and it gives us closer to finding the forensic tool that we can all like. 2147 02:13:26,360 --> 02:13:28,360 But no one's going to like it. 2148 02:13:28,360 --> 02:13:32,360 Not everybody likes peace soup, not everybody likes tomato soup, but people like soup. 2149 02:13:32,360 --> 02:13:39,360 So we're going to find some sort of recipe that works and we're going to put it into play. 2150 02:13:39,360 --> 02:13:41,360 Oh, there's your answer. 2151 02:13:41,360 --> 02:13:44,360 Yeah, I have a question for the police department. 2152 02:13:44,360 --> 02:13:48,360 Could direct your question to the chief of police. 2153 02:13:48,360 --> 02:13:53,360 So we've heard, you know, from across the state, you know, 2154 02:13:53,360 --> 02:13:55,360 Shibuya again, Steven's point. 2155 02:13:55,360 --> 02:13:58,360 Find a lot of county, Winnebago county, Racine county, Canola Shukkana, 2156 02:13:58,360 --> 02:14:02,360 Appleton, Ashash, Dane county, Verona, Monona, Fitchburg, Sturgeon Bay. 2157 02:14:02,360 --> 02:14:08,360 They moved to get rid of their equipment expeditiously, shall we say. 2158 02:14:08,360 --> 02:14:12,360 I feel like it really is summed up with the police chief of Shibuya. 2159 02:14:12,360 --> 02:14:16,360 And so I would ask what makes you feel like Racine is different, 2160 02:14:16,360 --> 02:14:20,360 that we're okay with the risks that have been called out by other departments 2161 02:14:20,360 --> 02:14:22,360 and they chose to end it. 2162 02:14:22,360 --> 02:14:25,360 In a lot of cases, they actually led the charge to end their relationship. 2163 02:14:25,360 --> 02:14:28,360 So what's different here that we're okay with block? 2164 02:14:28,360 --> 02:14:31,360 Well, tell you, green baits keep in their flock system. 2165 02:14:31,360 --> 02:14:36,360 We're closer to the size of green bait than we are any of those other communities that you mentioned. 2166 02:14:36,360 --> 02:14:39,360 We are an urban-like city. 2167 02:14:39,360 --> 02:14:45,360 We have real crime here and we have a lot of crime. 2168 02:14:46,360 --> 02:14:48,360 The other communities, they choose whatever they want to. 2169 02:14:48,360 --> 02:14:50,360 I mean, I can't control what they do. 2170 02:14:50,360 --> 02:14:54,360 I understand that the way they found out was through DP, 2171 02:14:54,360 --> 02:14:57,360 and Shibuya again was through DPW selling analytics. 2172 02:14:57,360 --> 02:15:00,360 There's companies that do this all the time, traffic analytics. 2173 02:15:00,360 --> 02:15:01,360 They get it from satellites. 2174 02:15:01,360 --> 02:15:06,360 They get it from other types of data that are being sold through Google, 2175 02:15:06,360 --> 02:15:07,360 all those types of things. 2176 02:15:07,360 --> 02:15:10,360 That's all out there right now. 2177 02:15:10,360 --> 02:15:11,360 Why they choose that? 2178 02:15:11,360 --> 02:15:12,360 That's up to them. 2179 02:15:13,360 --> 02:15:18,360 I think we chose not to use the traffic analytics. 2180 02:15:18,360 --> 02:15:21,360 We chose that in the city here. 2181 02:15:21,360 --> 02:15:24,360 But there are other departments that still have it. 2182 02:15:24,360 --> 02:15:29,360 I didn't hear those being mentioned, but there are a number of departments that still use this. 2183 02:15:29,360 --> 02:15:32,360 We are closer to more of a green bait, conosa size. 2184 02:15:32,360 --> 02:15:33,360 Canosas going with the accent. 2185 02:15:33,360 --> 02:15:36,360 They haven't been working with accent for quite some time now. 2186 02:15:36,360 --> 02:15:40,360 It just happened to be good time for conosa to say what they had to say. 2187 02:15:41,360 --> 02:15:42,360 I think it sounded good for them. 2188 02:15:42,360 --> 02:15:46,360 Of course, it got that, and they ran with it. 2189 02:15:46,360 --> 02:15:47,360 We are here. 2190 02:15:47,360 --> 02:15:49,360 You guys are the voices of people. 2191 02:15:49,360 --> 02:15:54,360 We're going to adjust our ways to however you guys desire to do that. 2192 02:15:54,360 --> 02:15:55,360 That's what we do. 2193 02:15:55,360 --> 02:15:57,360 We're down the middle on all this. 2194 02:15:57,360 --> 02:15:59,360 You heard me speak about this. 2195 02:15:59,360 --> 02:16:09,360 It's a valuable tool to us, along with other things that we do here. 2196 02:16:09,360 --> 02:16:12,360 I think we've made great progress in the city. 2197 02:16:12,360 --> 02:16:16,360 I think the focus should be more how do we sell this city for people to come in. 2198 02:16:16,360 --> 02:16:20,360 One of the things we can say is our crime rate has gone down. 2199 02:16:20,360 --> 02:16:23,360 We need to sell the city in different ways. 2200 02:16:23,360 --> 02:16:31,360 This is a narrative that I think has caught on quite a bit that people have really not done their research and learned about this tool. 2201 02:16:31,360 --> 02:16:37,360 This tool is available to whether it's flock, accent, or whatever other vendor there is out there. 2202 02:16:37,360 --> 02:16:43,360 You don't feel like Shabwigan, you felt like Shabwigan got caught up in a false narrative. 2203 02:16:43,360 --> 02:16:45,360 We looked into Shabwigan. 2204 02:16:45,360 --> 02:16:50,360 We looked into Shabwigan, and then people just catch on, just like any other thing. 2205 02:16:50,360 --> 02:16:53,360 It's up to the people they speak. 2206 02:16:53,360 --> 02:17:00,360 It got approved by the council just last week by them to terminate their contract. 2207 02:17:00,360 --> 02:17:03,360 You mentioned that what sets us apart is our size. 2208 02:17:04,360 --> 02:17:07,360 We're not similar to like an Appleton or an Oshkosh at all. 2209 02:17:07,360 --> 02:17:09,360 We're not similar to them at all. 2210 02:17:09,360 --> 02:17:12,360 The fox cities may have something else with the axon out there. 2211 02:17:12,360 --> 02:17:15,360 They may have something, you know, we're a much bigger city. 2212 02:17:15,360 --> 02:17:18,360 We believe the fifth largest city in the state. 2213 02:17:18,360 --> 02:17:25,360 I mean, Milwaukee also kept there with different limitations about sharing their data. 2214 02:17:25,360 --> 02:17:31,360 And so when to Bagel County, the fox city is all along and they're also removing their cameras. 2215 02:17:32,360 --> 02:17:33,360 And so it's another population. 2216 02:17:33,360 --> 02:17:37,360 Instead of you're looking by Metro, that's very similar in size to where we are. 2217 02:17:37,360 --> 02:17:43,360 We also have a Caledonia that has us currently as of today as well as Mount Pleasant. 2218 02:17:43,360 --> 02:17:45,360 They have theirs. 2219 02:17:45,360 --> 02:17:51,360 And I guess I wish I would like to see Racine step forward and look at all of the concerns 2220 02:17:51,360 --> 02:17:54,360 with it that other law enforcement agencies have raised. 2221 02:17:54,360 --> 02:18:00,360 If I can just back back in, not so long in the distance, we had body cameras that were 2222 02:18:00,360 --> 02:18:03,360 introduced to this city. 2223 02:18:03,360 --> 02:18:07,360 It was because bad police, bad police, bad police. 2224 02:18:07,360 --> 02:18:12,360 Okay, body cameras are more intrusive than any automatic license plate reader. 2225 02:18:12,360 --> 02:18:14,360 I can assure you of that. 2226 02:18:14,360 --> 02:18:15,360 We go into homes. 2227 02:18:15,360 --> 02:18:19,360 We see the worst of any human being there is. 2228 02:18:19,360 --> 02:18:22,360 We see the worst in what they say, what people say. 2229 02:18:22,360 --> 02:18:28,360 Do body cameras have a searchable heat map of? 2230 02:18:28,360 --> 02:18:31,360 There's a retention period of body cameras. 2231 02:18:31,360 --> 02:18:34,360 But is it a searchable heat map where vehicles are? 2232 02:18:34,360 --> 02:18:37,360 That is more intrusive than an automatic license plate reader. 2233 02:18:37,360 --> 02:18:38,360 I can assure you of that. 2234 02:18:38,360 --> 02:18:43,360 I guess the answer to the question is no, there's not a searchable heat map with body cameras. 2235 02:18:43,360 --> 02:18:44,360 A searchable heat van with body? 2236 02:18:44,360 --> 02:18:46,360 Yeah, where people are. 2237 02:18:46,360 --> 02:18:49,360 So I guess I thank you for answering my questions. 2238 02:18:49,360 --> 02:18:55,360 But that to me is a big difference between a body camera recording a police interaction 2239 02:18:55,360 --> 02:19:03,360 and being an unwilling participant in a searchable heat map of your location and where you go and where you currently are. 2240 02:19:03,360 --> 02:19:07,360 I'll be voting in support of this because the faster that we're able to remove flock, 2241 02:19:07,360 --> 02:19:12,360 I believe the faster that we will to make it safer for citizens here. 2242 02:19:12,360 --> 02:19:18,360 I wish it was much more expedient than it would be, but it's better than nothing. 2243 02:19:18,360 --> 02:19:23,360 So 30 days is much better than until the end of the year. 2244 02:19:24,360 --> 02:19:26,360 Thank you. 2245 02:19:26,360 --> 02:19:31,360 Well, I appreciate and respect the amendment made by the Alderman from the First District. 2246 02:19:31,360 --> 02:19:38,360 I want to articulate that I would be voting against his amendment because I don't think the 30 days until October 15th. 2247 02:19:38,360 --> 02:19:44,360 This is a substitute enough time for the police chief to do what we're asking him to do tonight. 2248 02:19:44,360 --> 02:19:52,360 And that is to find a replacement for the flock cameras and get that up and running and ready to train his officers 2249 02:19:52,360 --> 02:19:54,360 in this short of a period of time. 2250 02:19:54,360 --> 02:20:05,360 I think that the motion that ultimately was made at the finance committee last week is the appropriate motion for this body to support. 2251 02:20:05,360 --> 02:20:11,360 So I'll be voting against that, but I do appreciate the sentiment trying to find a compromise. 2252 02:20:11,360 --> 02:20:13,360 I understand that. 2253 02:20:13,360 --> 02:20:16,360 So thank you. 2254 02:20:16,360 --> 02:20:18,360 Otherwise. 2255 02:20:19,360 --> 02:20:24,360 I just wanted to ask the chief. 2256 02:20:24,360 --> 02:20:32,360 How much so everything that you talked about gap in services if we are to end in early active cases. 2257 02:20:32,360 --> 02:20:36,360 How much benefit is an additional 30 days to those concerns? 2258 02:20:36,360 --> 02:20:42,360 It's still certainly it impedes in doing in our progress on these cases. 2259 02:20:43,360 --> 02:20:48,360 The procurement procurement for the new vendor would all I mean it takes time. 2260 02:20:48,360 --> 02:20:53,360 It's certainly minimum three months, but it's still got to go through the council. 2261 02:20:53,360 --> 02:21:00,360 It's the committees and eventually approved in the budget process to move forward because you have to sign contracts 2262 02:21:00,360 --> 02:21:02,360 and they go through the city attorney's review. 2263 02:21:02,360 --> 02:21:04,360 There's a lot of stuff that go to it. 2264 02:21:04,360 --> 02:21:06,360 A lot of layers have to go through it. 2265 02:21:06,360 --> 02:21:11,360 So it would help with some of the active things, but there'd still be that extreme gap. 2266 02:21:12,360 --> 02:21:17,360 There's still be a gap in this for sure. 2267 02:21:17,360 --> 02:21:20,360 Any other discussion on. 2268 02:21:20,360 --> 02:21:23,360 Alder Frazier's amendment. 2269 02:21:23,360 --> 02:21:34,360 Okay, just to restate the amendment would be to terminate the contract in 30 days and to give police ongoing use of that data in that 30 day period. 2270 02:21:34,360 --> 02:21:37,360 But that after 30 days, the contract will be terminated. 2271 02:21:37,360 --> 02:21:39,360 Is that an accurate reflection of your amendment? 2272 02:21:39,360 --> 02:21:40,360 Alder Frazier. 2273 02:21:40,360 --> 02:21:45,360 Okay, when the clerk calls your name, please vote as you wish. 2274 02:21:45,360 --> 02:21:48,360 Alder Pabone. 2275 02:21:48,360 --> 02:21:50,360 Alder Frazier. 2276 02:21:50,360 --> 02:21:52,360 Alder Weiss. 2277 02:21:52,360 --> 02:21:54,360 Alder Davis. 2278 02:21:54,360 --> 02:21:56,360 Alder Mack. 2279 02:21:56,360 --> 02:21:58,360 Alder Jorgensen. 2280 02:21:58,360 --> 02:22:01,360 Alderman Weidner. 2281 02:22:01,360 --> 02:22:03,360 Alder Horton. 2282 02:22:03,360 --> 02:22:05,360 Alder Hodges. 2283 02:22:05,360 --> 02:22:07,360 Alder Allen. 2284 02:22:07,360 --> 02:22:09,360 Alder Pete. 2285 02:22:09,360 --> 02:22:12,360 Alder DeMar. 2286 02:22:12,360 --> 02:22:14,360 Alder Kelly. 2287 02:22:14,360 --> 02:22:15,360 No. 2288 02:22:15,360 --> 02:22:24,360 Alder Harmon. 2289 02:22:24,360 --> 02:22:28,360 Seven to seven. 2290 02:22:28,360 --> 02:22:30,360 So there's a, well, okay. 2291 02:22:30,360 --> 02:22:37,360 So there's certainly been a long and broad discussion around the tension between security and liberty here tonight. 2292 02:22:37,360 --> 02:22:43,360 I think it's the only item I can think of that everybody spoke to at least once. 2293 02:22:43,360 --> 02:22:56,360 You know, there's long been a debate in this country about what reasonable expectation of privacy our citizens should have from their government that was extended to people's homes in the 60s. 2294 02:22:56,360 --> 02:23:00,360 And more recently in 2018, it was extended to people's cell phones. 2295 02:23:00,360 --> 02:23:10,360 I think we have an emerging technology here that does raise questions about what expectations of privacy people should have when they move around the community. 2296 02:23:10,360 --> 02:23:16,360 And if it were just correcting some of the behavior of some of our officers, I might feel differently about it. 2297 02:23:16,360 --> 02:23:25,360 But I am deeply troubled by all this data being given to a private third party company that is doing things with us that to me is not transparent. 2298 02:23:25,360 --> 02:23:30,360 So as I stated in my state of the city address earlier, I am. 2299 02:23:30,360 --> 02:23:33,360 I'm glad that we are going to terminate this contract. 2300 02:23:33,360 --> 02:23:39,360 My vote on all the Frazier's amendment is to vote yes. 2301 02:23:39,360 --> 02:23:44,360 Eight eyes, seven nose. 2302 02:23:44,360 --> 02:23:47,360 So we're back to the main motion then as amended. 2303 02:23:47,360 --> 02:23:53,360 So this might feel redundant, but we just passed was an amendment to the, to the main motion. 2304 02:23:53,360 --> 02:23:58,360 So we need to vote on the motion as amended by older Frazier. 2305 02:23:58,360 --> 02:24:00,360 It has an identical effect. 2306 02:24:00,360 --> 02:24:04,360 When the clerk calls your name, please vote as you wish. 2307 02:24:04,360 --> 02:24:06,360 Alder Pabone. 2308 02:24:06,360 --> 02:24:08,360 Alder Frazier. 2309 02:24:08,360 --> 02:24:13,360 Alder Weiss. 2310 02:24:13,360 --> 02:24:19,360 It's, it seems like a redundancy, but it's, it's the same voted as the one we just took. 2311 02:24:19,360 --> 02:24:20,360 Yes. 2312 02:24:21,360 --> 02:24:23,360 Alder Davis. 2313 02:24:23,360 --> 02:24:25,360 Alder Mack. 2314 02:24:25,360 --> 02:24:27,360 Alder Jorgensen. 2315 02:24:27,360 --> 02:24:29,360 Alderman Weidner. 2316 02:24:29,360 --> 02:24:31,360 Alder Horton. 2317 02:24:31,360 --> 02:24:33,360 Alder Hodges. 2318 02:24:33,360 --> 02:24:35,360 Alder Allen. 2319 02:24:35,360 --> 02:24:37,360 Alder Pete. 2320 02:24:37,360 --> 02:24:39,360 Alder DeMarck. 2321 02:24:39,360 --> 02:24:41,360 No. 2322 02:24:41,360 --> 02:24:43,360 Alder Kelly. 2323 02:24:43,360 --> 02:24:44,360 No. 2324 02:24:44,360 --> 02:24:46,360 Alder Harmon. 2325 02:24:47,360 --> 02:24:52,360 Eight eyes, six nose. 2326 02:24:52,360 --> 02:24:53,360 Okay. 2327 02:24:53,360 --> 02:24:56,360 The motion as amended passes. 2328 02:24:56,360 --> 02:24:57,360 Alder Horton. 2329 02:24:57,360 --> 02:25:04,360 Were there any other items for separate consideration? 2330 02:25:04,360 --> 02:25:05,360 Yes, Sharna. 2331 02:25:05,360 --> 02:25:07,360 Please state the next item. 2332 02:25:07,360 --> 02:25:17,360 Zero, seven, nine, one dash, two, six, communication sponsored by Mayor Mason requesting to enter into an agreement with Habitat for Humanity to build four homes. 2333 02:25:17,360 --> 02:25:30,360 Recommendation from the Finance and Personnel Committee on nine, eight to approve the city of racing to enter into agreement with the city of racing community development authority and Habitat for Humanity to build four homes. 2334 02:25:30,360 --> 02:25:35,360 Move to approve. 2335 02:25:36,360 --> 02:25:38,360 Do you want to speak to your motion? 2336 02:25:38,360 --> 02:25:44,360 No, this is Alder from the sixth one in separate consideration on this item. 2337 02:25:44,360 --> 02:25:46,360 Alder Weidner, you have the floor. 2338 02:25:46,360 --> 02:25:47,360 Thank you. 2339 02:25:47,360 --> 02:25:52,360 I just had a question on this item in regards to the fiscal note. 2340 02:25:52,360 --> 02:26:01,360 I believe the question would be for the assistant director of city development. 2341 02:26:01,360 --> 02:26:03,360 Mr. 2342 02:26:03,360 --> 02:26:18,360 Williams. 2343 02:26:18,360 --> 02:26:22,360 Sorry, didn't prep you on this before the meeting, Jeff. 2344 02:26:22,360 --> 02:26:23,360 It's just a simple question. 2345 02:26:23,360 --> 02:26:24,360 You didn't need your laptop. 2346 02:26:24,360 --> 02:26:26,360 It's in regards to the fiscal note. 2347 02:26:26,360 --> 02:26:43,360 The two million dollars that in previously authorized home investment partnership program funds plus another $237,572 from two other programs for four homes. 2348 02:26:43,360 --> 02:26:47,360 And that comes out to about $560,000 per home. 2349 02:26:47,360 --> 02:26:52,360 That is going to be built on 16th and on homes, I believe it was. 2350 02:26:52,360 --> 02:26:55,360 And this is being done by Habitat for Humanity. 2351 02:26:55,360 --> 02:26:58,360 I'm wondering why the cost per home is so high. 2352 02:26:58,360 --> 02:26:59,360 So that was done. 2353 02:26:59,360 --> 02:27:00,360 It's over. 2354 02:27:00,360 --> 02:27:02,360 It's more than we think it's actually going to be. 2355 02:27:02,360 --> 02:27:07,360 It was done in an effort to make sure we allocated enough funding to it to not have to revisit this council. 2356 02:27:07,360 --> 02:27:09,360 So we don't expect it to be that high actually. 2357 02:27:09,360 --> 02:27:12,360 But there was demolition in some environmental remediation costs. 2358 02:27:12,360 --> 02:27:15,360 There was a church that was standing on that property as well. 2359 02:27:15,360 --> 02:27:16,360 So some of the cost is for that. 2360 02:27:16,360 --> 02:27:20,360 It's not as simple as the total dollars divided by the four homes. 2361 02:27:20,360 --> 02:27:22,360 So there's no other costs that are embedded in there as well. 2362 02:27:23,360 --> 02:27:26,360 I thought we had already demolished and did the remediation. 2363 02:27:26,360 --> 02:27:28,360 We'd already paid for that. 2364 02:27:28,360 --> 02:27:29,360 Oops. 2365 02:27:29,360 --> 02:27:30,360 Without our funding. 2366 02:27:30,360 --> 02:27:31,360 Correct. 2367 02:27:31,360 --> 02:27:32,360 It was with this pot of money. 2368 02:27:32,360 --> 02:27:33,360 So it was an over the home fund. 2369 02:27:33,360 --> 02:27:38,360 The home fund allows for from start inception all the way to completion of the project. 2370 02:27:38,360 --> 02:27:41,360 So we paid for demolition with the home funding as well as part of that. 2371 02:27:41,360 --> 02:27:45,360 So this total of $2.237 million. 2372 02:27:45,360 --> 02:27:47,360 It includes the demolition. 2373 02:27:47,360 --> 02:27:48,360 Yeah. 2374 02:27:48,360 --> 02:27:49,360 And all that. 2375 02:27:49,360 --> 02:27:51,360 Yeah, that's why it seems so high. 2376 02:27:51,360 --> 02:27:55,360 It includes demolition site prep, land cell division, environmental remediation and all that. 2377 02:27:55,360 --> 02:27:56,360 Okay. 2378 02:27:56,360 --> 02:27:57,360 Okay. 2379 02:27:57,360 --> 02:27:58,360 Thank you. 2380 02:27:58,360 --> 02:27:59,360 You're welcome. 2381 02:27:59,360 --> 02:28:01,360 We don't need to vote on this separate. 2382 02:28:01,360 --> 02:28:03,360 Mr. Mayor, if you just want to incorporate in. 2383 02:28:03,360 --> 02:28:07,360 And I just had that question on this item. 2384 02:28:07,360 --> 02:28:09,360 We do have a motion on the floor. 2385 02:28:09,360 --> 02:28:12,360 So we do have to take a vote on it. 2386 02:28:12,360 --> 02:28:16,360 Any other discussion on this item? 2387 02:28:16,360 --> 02:28:20,360 Seeing none when the clerk calls your name, please vote as you wish. 2388 02:28:20,360 --> 02:28:22,360 Alder Pabone. 2389 02:28:22,360 --> 02:28:25,360 Alder Frazier. 2390 02:28:25,360 --> 02:28:28,360 Alder Weiss. 2391 02:28:28,360 --> 02:28:31,360 Alder Davis. 2392 02:28:31,360 --> 02:28:32,360 I'm sorry. 2393 02:28:32,360 --> 02:28:33,360 Thank you. 2394 02:28:33,360 --> 02:28:34,360 Alder Mack. 2395 02:28:34,360 --> 02:28:36,360 Alder Jorgensen. 2396 02:28:36,360 --> 02:28:38,360 Alderman Weidner. 2397 02:28:38,360 --> 02:28:40,360 Alder Horton. 2398 02:28:40,360 --> 02:28:43,360 Alder Hodges. 2399 02:28:43,360 --> 02:28:45,360 Alder Allen. 2400 02:28:45,360 --> 02:28:48,360 Alder Pete. 2401 02:28:49,360 --> 02:29:01,360 If I could ask the council president to ask the alders in the hallway to let them know that we're in the middle of a vote. 2402 02:29:01,360 --> 02:29:03,360 Alder Kelly. 2403 02:29:03,360 --> 02:29:06,360 Alder Harmon. 2404 02:29:06,360 --> 02:29:10,360 We're in the middle of a vote. 2405 02:29:10,360 --> 02:29:13,360 And I believe. 2406 02:29:13,360 --> 02:29:14,360 Okay. 2407 02:29:14,360 --> 02:29:16,360 Alder Frazier. 2408 02:29:16,360 --> 02:29:17,360 Since he votes aye. 2409 02:29:17,360 --> 02:29:19,360 Alder DeMarque. 2410 02:29:19,360 --> 02:29:23,360 12 ayes. 2411 02:29:23,360 --> 02:29:27,360 There are 12 ayes, and zero noes. 2412 02:29:27,360 --> 02:29:29,360 The motion carries. 2413 02:29:29,360 --> 02:29:33,360 Alder Horton, did you have any other items for separate consideration? 2414 02:29:33,360 --> 02:29:34,360 I do. 2415 02:29:34,360 --> 02:29:39,360 0792-26, Communications Sponsored by Mayor Mason. 2416 02:29:39,360 --> 02:29:42,160 requesting to adopt the attached resolution 2417 02:29:42,160 --> 02:29:43,840 regarding the trade negotiations 2418 02:29:43,840 --> 02:29:47,200 underway between the U.S. and Canada. 2419 02:29:47,200 --> 02:29:49,560 Recommendation from the Finance and Personnel Committee 2420 02:29:49,560 --> 02:29:51,560 O9-8, MOOCs approval. 2421 02:29:52,560 --> 02:29:55,520 So a motion and a second to approve the resolution. 2422 02:29:55,520 --> 02:29:57,600 Discussion, Alderman Wider. 2423 02:29:57,600 --> 02:29:58,720 Thank you. 2424 02:29:58,720 --> 02:30:00,720 I have no quarrel with Canada. 2425 02:30:00,720 --> 02:30:02,440 We've seen businesses sell there 2426 02:30:02,440 --> 02:30:05,440 and Brandford is our sister city. 2427 02:30:05,440 --> 02:30:08,000 If this stopped at being a resolution 2428 02:30:08,000 --> 02:30:10,760 and supporting a fair trade, I would vote for it. 2429 02:30:10,760 --> 02:30:13,320 However, it does not stop there. 2430 02:30:13,320 --> 02:30:15,040 If you read the last page, 2431 02:30:15,040 --> 02:30:17,160 it ends with I, Corey Mason, Mayor, 2432 02:30:17,160 --> 02:30:20,800 do hereby proclaim blank as blank 2433 02:30:20,800 --> 02:30:24,800 with the blank still in it over the Mayor's signature line. 2434 02:30:24,800 --> 02:30:27,000 This is the Mayor's proclamation 2435 02:30:27,000 --> 02:30:29,520 with a council resolution in front of it. 2436 02:30:29,520 --> 02:30:32,440 And we're being asked to direct the Racine City Clerk 2437 02:30:32,440 --> 02:30:33,760 to mail it to the White House, 2438 02:30:33,760 --> 02:30:37,320 the Trade Representative, our Congressional delegation 2439 02:30:37,360 --> 02:30:39,200 and a foreign government. 2440 02:30:39,200 --> 02:30:41,960 That is not what this body is for. 2441 02:30:41,960 --> 02:30:45,240 And let's be practical about who it's addressed to. 2442 02:30:45,240 --> 02:30:48,440 The current administration has shown it keeps score 2443 02:30:48,440 --> 02:30:50,520 with cities that insulted. 2444 02:30:50,520 --> 02:30:51,520 Just two weeks ago, 2445 02:30:51,520 --> 02:30:54,680 this council approved borrowing $15.5 million 2446 02:30:54,680 --> 02:30:57,680 for the Lincoln Clinic 2447 02:30:57,680 --> 02:31:01,560 because we did not receive the $17 million in federal grants 2448 02:31:01,560 --> 02:31:04,720 back in 2025 that our finance director 2449 02:31:04,720 --> 02:31:05,960 had assured this council 2450 02:31:05,960 --> 02:31:08,080 that the city would be receiving. 2451 02:31:08,080 --> 02:31:10,640 Those assurances are documented. 2452 02:31:10,640 --> 02:31:15,080 Racine's housing and neighborhood program runs on HUD money. 2453 02:31:15,080 --> 02:31:17,600 Money Washington is already cutting 2454 02:31:17,600 --> 02:31:20,840 and every dollar of it has discretionary pieces 2455 02:31:20,840 --> 02:31:23,120 that can be delayed, can be denied 2456 02:31:23,120 --> 02:31:26,520 or can be audited without anyone ever having to tell us 2457 02:31:26,520 --> 02:31:29,320 why we would be getting audited. 2458 02:31:29,320 --> 02:31:31,040 Do we want that scrutiny? 2459 02:31:31,040 --> 02:31:33,280 Our own house is not in order. 2460 02:31:33,280 --> 02:31:37,440 This city has allocated 290,000 in federal funds 2461 02:31:37,440 --> 02:31:39,760 to renovate one home on Franklin Street 2462 02:31:39,760 --> 02:31:44,240 whose assessed value was one quarter of that amount, one home. 2463 02:31:44,240 --> 02:31:46,920 When that was questioned, the mayor stated that 2464 02:31:46,920 --> 02:31:49,440 we were creating generational wealth 2465 02:31:49,440 --> 02:31:52,360 and noted that the homeowner is a poll worker, 2466 02:31:52,360 --> 02:31:54,520 generational wealth for one family, 2467 02:31:54,520 --> 02:31:57,120 290,000 of federal money 2468 02:31:57,120 --> 02:32:00,840 and the qualification we were given was that she works the polls. 2469 02:32:00,880 --> 02:32:03,640 If we invite Washington to look closely 2470 02:32:03,640 --> 02:32:06,760 at how Racine spends HUD dollars, 2471 02:32:06,760 --> 02:32:08,600 that is the first thing they'll find 2472 02:32:08,600 --> 02:32:11,240 and I don't know how we would explain it. 2473 02:32:11,240 --> 02:32:15,280 Dear, I mentioned the 160,000 additional no bid contract 2474 02:32:15,280 --> 02:32:18,040 given to a politically connected G strategies 2475 02:32:18,040 --> 02:32:20,840 for questionable objectives and measures. 2476 02:32:20,840 --> 02:32:22,480 Otherwise, you're getting a bit of field 2477 02:32:22,480 --> 02:32:25,200 from the resolution regarding it. 2478 02:32:25,200 --> 02:32:27,280 Then I'm gonna make a motion. 2479 02:32:27,280 --> 02:32:29,960 I've moved to amend by striking the final, 2480 02:32:29,960 --> 02:32:32,240 be it further resolved clause 2481 02:32:32,240 --> 02:32:36,160 and the where as referencing threats and insults 2482 02:32:36,160 --> 02:32:39,080 and the now therefore do hereby proclaim 2483 02:32:39,080 --> 02:32:41,520 on the last page of the mayor's proclamation. 2484 02:32:42,880 --> 02:32:45,680 It's a motion to strike the last bit of the resolution. 2485 02:32:45,680 --> 02:32:46,680 Is there a second? 2486 02:32:47,600 --> 02:32:49,200 It fails for lack of a second. 2487 02:32:52,280 --> 02:32:53,920 I've been seconded by Aldermank. 2488 02:32:56,280 --> 02:32:57,680 Alderman Pavone. 2489 02:32:57,720 --> 02:32:58,960 Did I finish my remarks? 2490 02:32:58,960 --> 02:33:01,000 I was a maker of the motion. 2491 02:33:01,000 --> 02:33:04,960 If you keep it to the remainness of the motion before us, 2492 02:33:04,960 --> 02:33:05,800 yes you may. 2493 02:33:07,720 --> 02:33:12,720 I'll finish my comments by saying not one Wisconsin export 2494 02:33:12,960 --> 02:33:15,320 will go up because of this resolution. 2495 02:33:15,320 --> 02:33:17,920 The only thing that changes is that Racine's name 2496 02:33:17,920 --> 02:33:22,560 will go on a list and with a 2027 deficit coming, 2497 02:33:22,560 --> 02:33:25,440 we cannot afford to be on anyone's list. 2498 02:33:25,440 --> 02:33:27,160 The mayor can say whatever he wants 2499 02:33:27,160 --> 02:33:29,480 in his own name on his own time. 2500 02:33:29,480 --> 02:33:32,480 This council should not be poking this bear, 2501 02:33:32,480 --> 02:33:34,320 especially not poking this bear 2502 02:33:34,320 --> 02:33:37,840 with the city of Racine's taxpayer's hand. 2503 02:33:39,440 --> 02:33:41,280 That is the reason for my motion, 2504 02:33:41,280 --> 02:33:46,000 that this resolution be just a resolution 2505 02:33:46,000 --> 02:33:49,320 and not include the attached proclamation. 2506 02:33:50,520 --> 02:33:52,280 Alderman Pavone, you have the floor. 2507 02:33:53,280 --> 02:33:56,280 Thank you, I'm going to speak against the amendment. 2508 02:33:56,280 --> 02:33:59,280 I'm sorry, the chair's ruling is fine. 2509 02:33:59,280 --> 02:34:01,280 Also, we're going to move on here, if that's okay. 2510 02:34:01,280 --> 02:34:03,280 Yes, he can. 2511 02:34:03,280 --> 02:34:05,280 He's the chair of the meeting. 2512 02:34:05,280 --> 02:34:06,280 So the relevance. 2513 02:34:06,280 --> 02:34:09,280 The point of order was not formally made. 2514 02:34:09,280 --> 02:34:11,280 The mayor Pavone has the floor. 2515 02:34:11,280 --> 02:34:13,280 He is allowed to speak at this time. 2516 02:34:13,280 --> 02:34:14,280 Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 2517 02:34:14,280 --> 02:34:18,280 Good to speak against the amendment to the resolution. 2518 02:34:18,280 --> 02:34:21,280 We don't sit idly by when we just had 2519 02:34:21,280 --> 02:34:23,280 the 250th celebration. 2520 02:34:23,280 --> 02:34:25,280 We had the mayor come over from Canada. 2521 02:34:25,280 --> 02:34:27,280 We have ties as stated by the alder 2522 02:34:27,280 --> 02:34:30,280 from the 6th District to Canada. 2523 02:34:30,280 --> 02:34:33,280 And so I think having a proclamation 2524 02:34:33,280 --> 02:34:37,280 that we are in support of our Canadian allies 2525 02:34:37,280 --> 02:34:40,280 that have been our allies since the foundation of our country 2526 02:34:40,280 --> 02:34:43,280 and continue to be, again, we just hosted their mayor. 2527 02:34:43,280 --> 02:34:47,280 I think we don't want to say something 2528 02:34:47,280 --> 02:34:49,280 because we're going to provoke a bully 2529 02:34:49,280 --> 02:34:51,280 is an invalid argument. 2530 02:34:51,280 --> 02:34:55,280 I think we have an obligation to do that in favor of the case. 2531 02:34:55,280 --> 02:34:57,280 The mayor shouldn't have somebody 2532 02:34:57,280 --> 02:34:59,280 what he said in the state of the city address 2533 02:34:59,280 --> 02:35:01,280 when he called out what the administration is doing either. 2534 02:35:01,280 --> 02:35:03,280 Is that already a poked bear at that point? 2535 02:35:03,280 --> 02:35:07,280 Relevant to the comments she just made 2536 02:35:07,280 --> 02:35:09,280 so that it's still relevant. 2537 02:35:09,280 --> 02:35:11,280 Alder Pavone, you have the floor. 2538 02:35:11,280 --> 02:35:12,280 Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 2539 02:35:12,280 --> 02:35:14,280 So I will be voting against this amendment. 2540 02:35:14,280 --> 02:35:17,280 I think it's absolutely asinine just to say, 2541 02:35:17,280 --> 02:35:19,280 well, do we really want to provoke the bear? 2542 02:35:19,280 --> 02:35:21,280 Do we really want to let the bear continue 2543 02:35:21,280 --> 02:35:23,280 to destroy the cottage? 2544 02:35:23,280 --> 02:35:24,280 Do we want to stand? 2545 02:35:24,280 --> 02:35:26,280 We're worrying about what's in our own house right now. 2546 02:35:26,280 --> 02:35:30,280 We just took care of a four-hour conversation. 2547 02:35:30,280 --> 02:35:32,280 That's an exaggeration regarding other things 2548 02:35:32,280 --> 02:35:33,280 that we have before us, 2549 02:35:33,280 --> 02:35:35,280 and we still have more things to take care of, 2550 02:35:35,280 --> 02:35:36,280 but it doesn't hurt to let people know 2551 02:35:36,280 --> 02:35:38,280 that we're on our on their side. 2552 02:35:38,280 --> 02:35:41,280 Thank you. 2553 02:35:41,280 --> 02:35:45,280 Any other discussion on this item? 2554 02:35:45,280 --> 02:35:47,280 So again, what is before us is an amendment 2555 02:35:47,280 --> 02:35:52,280 to strike the last resolving phrases of the resolution, 2556 02:35:52,280 --> 02:35:55,280 all the white motion for a second time. 2557 02:35:55,280 --> 02:35:57,280 So as I said at the beginning, 2558 02:35:57,280 --> 02:36:00,280 I could support this if it was simply a resolution. 2559 02:36:00,280 --> 02:36:04,280 If the language in here would be removed 2560 02:36:04,280 --> 02:36:12,280 where we are being critical of administration, 2561 02:36:12,280 --> 02:36:15,280 I would be in support of the resolution 2562 02:36:15,280 --> 02:36:17,280 if it was just a resolution. 2563 02:36:17,280 --> 02:36:20,280 This is not just a resolution, it's a proclamation. 2564 02:36:20,280 --> 02:36:22,280 Not only that, but I remember very vividly 2565 02:36:22,280 --> 02:36:25,280 the former Ultimate of the Knight's District 2566 02:36:25,280 --> 02:36:29,280 was always very cautious and always voted against resolutions 2567 02:36:29,280 --> 02:36:33,280 that are outside of the purview of this body. 2568 02:36:33,280 --> 02:36:36,280 We take care of city business. 2569 02:36:36,280 --> 02:36:38,280 We care about our policing, 2570 02:36:38,280 --> 02:36:40,280 we care about picking up our garbage, 2571 02:36:40,280 --> 02:36:42,280 we care about plowing our streets. 2572 02:36:42,280 --> 02:36:47,280 What happens in Washington happens in Washington. 2573 02:36:47,280 --> 02:36:50,280 And I don't think there's anyone on this council 2574 02:36:50,280 --> 02:36:52,280 that understands enough about tariffs 2575 02:36:52,280 --> 02:36:57,280 to be able to vote on this resolution. 2576 02:36:57,280 --> 02:36:59,280 So. 2577 02:36:59,280 --> 02:37:04,280 Alderman. 2578 02:37:04,280 --> 02:37:06,280 Alderman. 2579 02:37:06,280 --> 02:37:08,280 Okay, so I'm going to go with, 2580 02:37:08,280 --> 02:37:10,280 I absolutely do understand tariffs. 2581 02:37:10,280 --> 02:37:12,280 I literally just took a test on it. 2582 02:37:12,280 --> 02:37:14,280 And passed it, by the way. 2583 02:37:14,280 --> 02:37:16,280 And yes, I see your expression. 2584 02:37:16,280 --> 02:37:21,280 But if I am not mistaken, because I've read through this resolution, 2585 02:37:21,280 --> 02:37:29,280 and if I think, what I think is what the point of contention is, 2586 02:37:29,280 --> 02:37:32,280 would be now therefore be a result of the common council, 2587 02:37:32,280 --> 02:37:35,280 the city of Racine calls upon President Donald J. Trump 2588 02:37:35,280 --> 02:37:38,280 and his administration to engage the government of Canada 2589 02:37:38,280 --> 02:37:41,280 in fair, constructive and respectful trade negotiations, 2590 02:37:41,280 --> 02:37:44,280 intended to strengthen the economic relationship 2591 02:37:44,280 --> 02:37:47,280 between our two nations and protect workers, 2592 02:37:47,280 --> 02:37:49,280 businesses, consumers, and communities 2593 02:37:49,280 --> 02:37:52,280 on both sides of the border. 2594 02:37:52,280 --> 02:37:54,280 Okay. 2595 02:37:54,280 --> 02:37:56,280 Since we're going to go into history, 2596 02:37:56,280 --> 02:37:58,280 a couple of months ago we had a presentation 2597 02:37:58,280 --> 02:38:03,280 that talked about our economic and employment status here in Racine. 2598 02:38:04,280 --> 02:38:07,280 And it was dismal. 2599 02:38:07,280 --> 02:38:12,280 And since then, you know, tariffs have gone into effect, 2600 02:38:12,280 --> 02:38:15,280 and it cannot be denied that our businesses and our, 2601 02:38:15,280 --> 02:38:19,280 the consumer pockets and our constituency community 2602 02:38:19,280 --> 02:38:21,280 have been affected. 2603 02:38:21,280 --> 02:38:24,280 I had an interesting conversation with a business owner 2604 02:38:24,280 --> 02:38:28,280 a couple of months ago, and I broke it down to him. 2605 02:38:28,280 --> 02:38:30,280 Just a really simple question, and one was, 2606 02:38:30,280 --> 02:38:34,280 so do you make those in your lab, 2607 02:38:34,280 --> 02:38:37,280 or are they shipped over here? 2608 02:38:37,280 --> 02:38:39,280 And it made him pause, 2609 02:38:39,280 --> 02:38:41,280 because first he was only thinking, 2610 02:38:41,280 --> 02:38:43,280 well, I can buy my socks here. 2611 02:38:43,280 --> 02:38:46,280 You know, and then when he thought about it, he goes, 2612 02:38:46,280 --> 02:38:49,280 oh, wow, yeah, that's really affecting me. 2613 02:38:49,280 --> 02:38:52,280 So the tariffs do affect, 2614 02:38:52,280 --> 02:38:54,280 it affects all of us. 2615 02:38:54,280 --> 02:38:57,280 It's only getting worse. 2616 02:38:57,280 --> 02:39:00,280 And if we are doing our fiduciary 2617 02:39:00,280 --> 02:39:03,280 and following our fiduciary responsibility to our community, 2618 02:39:03,280 --> 02:39:07,280 then, yes, we can, we can put on our big boy pants, 2619 02:39:07,280 --> 02:39:08,280 and our big boy boy pants, 2620 02:39:08,280 --> 02:39:11,280 and we can talk to without fear, 2621 02:39:11,280 --> 02:39:13,280 under our protection from the Constitution, 2622 02:39:13,280 --> 02:39:17,280 that says that we can call on our federal government 2623 02:39:17,280 --> 02:39:21,280 to act on behalf of our community. 2624 02:39:21,280 --> 02:39:22,280 We can do that. 2625 02:39:22,280 --> 02:39:24,280 And we should not be afraid to do that. 2626 02:39:24,280 --> 02:39:26,280 We were elected to do that. 2627 02:39:26,280 --> 02:39:28,280 If you don't know what tariffs are and how they're affecting, 2628 02:39:28,280 --> 02:39:30,280 then you can go take a class. 2629 02:39:30,280 --> 02:39:34,280 But they are affecting everyone here in the city of Racine, 2630 02:39:34,280 --> 02:39:35,280 in the state of Wisconsin. 2631 02:39:35,280 --> 02:39:38,280 And if we are going to follow our responsibility, 2632 02:39:38,280 --> 02:39:47,280 it is to say something about it. 2633 02:39:47,280 --> 02:39:48,280 Currently, no one in the queue. 2634 02:39:48,280 --> 02:39:50,280 The amendment is to strike the final language 2635 02:39:50,280 --> 02:39:53,280 or the resolution when the clerk calls your name. 2636 02:39:53,280 --> 02:39:56,280 Again, this is the amendment to remove the language. 2637 02:39:56,280 --> 02:39:57,280 At the end of the resolution, 2638 02:39:57,280 --> 02:39:58,280 when the clerk calls your name, 2639 02:39:58,280 --> 02:40:00,280 please vote as you wish. 2640 02:40:00,280 --> 02:40:01,280 Alder Pabone. 2641 02:40:01,280 --> 02:40:03,280 Alder Frazier. 2642 02:40:03,280 --> 02:40:05,280 Alder Weiss. 2643 02:40:05,280 --> 02:40:07,280 Alder Davis. 2644 02:40:07,280 --> 02:40:09,280 Sorry, what was that? 2645 02:40:09,280 --> 02:40:11,280 Abstain. 2646 02:40:11,280 --> 02:40:13,280 Thank you. 2647 02:40:13,280 --> 02:40:15,280 Alder Mack. 2648 02:40:15,280 --> 02:40:20,280 Alder Jorgensen. 2649 02:40:21,280 --> 02:40:23,280 Alderman Widener. 2650 02:40:23,280 --> 02:40:25,280 Alder Horton. 2651 02:40:25,280 --> 02:40:27,280 Alder Hodges. 2652 02:40:27,280 --> 02:40:29,280 Alder Allen. 2653 02:40:29,280 --> 02:40:31,280 Alder Pete. 2654 02:40:31,280 --> 02:40:33,280 Alder Demark. 2655 02:40:33,280 --> 02:40:35,280 Alder Kelly. 2656 02:40:35,280 --> 02:40:37,280 Aye. 2657 02:40:37,280 --> 02:40:47,280 Alder Harmon. 2658 02:40:47,280 --> 02:40:52,280 Two ayes, two abstains. 2659 02:40:52,280 --> 02:40:54,280 Ten nos. 2660 02:40:54,280 --> 02:40:55,280 Motion fails. 2661 02:40:55,280 --> 02:40:57,280 We're back to the main motion. 2662 02:40:57,280 --> 02:41:00,280 Any further discussion on the main motion? 2663 02:41:00,280 --> 02:41:02,280 Seeing none, when the clerk calls your name, 2664 02:41:02,280 --> 02:41:04,280 please vote as you wish. 2665 02:41:04,280 --> 02:41:05,280 Alder Pabone. 2666 02:41:05,280 --> 02:41:07,280 Alder Frazier. 2667 02:41:07,280 --> 02:41:08,280 Alder Weiss. 2668 02:41:08,280 --> 02:41:10,280 Alder Davis. 2669 02:41:10,280 --> 02:41:13,280 Alder Mack. 2670 02:41:13,280 --> 02:41:16,280 Alder Jorgensen. 2671 02:41:16,280 --> 02:41:18,280 Alderman Widener. 2672 02:41:18,280 --> 02:41:20,280 Alder Horton. 2673 02:41:20,280 --> 02:41:22,280 Alder Hodges. 2674 02:41:22,280 --> 02:41:24,280 Alder Allen. 2675 02:41:24,280 --> 02:41:25,280 Alder Pete. 2676 02:41:25,280 --> 02:41:27,280 Alder Demark. 2677 02:41:27,280 --> 02:41:29,280 Alder Kelly. 2678 02:41:29,280 --> 02:41:31,280 Abstain. 2679 02:41:31,280 --> 02:41:34,280 Alder Harmon. 2680 02:41:38,280 --> 02:41:42,280 Ten ayes, three abstains, one no. 2681 02:41:42,280 --> 02:41:45,280 Item carries. 2682 02:41:45,280 --> 02:41:46,280 Alder Horton. 2683 02:41:46,280 --> 02:41:48,280 Did you have other items for separate consideration? 2684 02:41:48,280 --> 02:41:49,280 Yes, I do. 2685 02:41:49,280 --> 02:41:51,280 Please state the next item. 2686 02:41:51,280 --> 02:41:53,280 0798-26. 2687 02:41:53,280 --> 02:41:55,280 Communication sponsored by Mayor Mason. 2688 02:41:55,280 --> 02:41:59,280 Seeking the modification of the assignment of tax increment. 2689 02:41:59,280 --> 02:42:00,280 Financing payments. 2690 02:42:00,280 --> 02:42:01,280 Rights. 2691 02:42:01,280 --> 02:42:06,280 As to Jay Jeffers and company LLC 2100 Northwestern Avenue. 2692 02:42:06,280 --> 02:42:08,280 LLC and 2200. 2693 02:42:08,280 --> 02:42:10,280 Holdings, LLC. 2694 02:42:10,280 --> 02:42:13,280 Recommendation of the Financing Personnel Committee. 2695 02:42:14,280 --> 02:42:17,280 On 9082026 to approve. 2696 02:42:17,280 --> 02:42:19,280 Motion to approve. 2697 02:42:19,280 --> 02:42:21,280 Item 0798-26. 2698 02:42:21,280 --> 02:42:24,280 May by Alder Horton, seconded by Alder Pabone. 2699 02:42:24,280 --> 02:42:26,280 Alder Horton, did you want to speak to your motion? 2700 02:42:26,280 --> 02:42:30,280 No, this was called out for separate consideration from Alder White. 2701 02:42:30,280 --> 02:42:32,280 Alder Whiteener, you have the floor. 2702 02:42:32,280 --> 02:42:33,280 Thank you. 2703 02:42:33,280 --> 02:42:37,280 I'm kind of confused about this particular legislative report. 2704 02:42:37,280 --> 02:42:41,280 Maybe the city attorney can enlighten me. 2705 02:42:41,280 --> 02:42:48,280 There's this legislative report and the next one which has to do with 2020 Northwestern 2706 02:42:48,280 --> 02:42:49,280 Avenue. 2707 02:42:49,280 --> 02:42:54,280 This one is for 2100 Northwestern Avenue. 2708 02:42:54,280 --> 02:42:57,280 And I think there's some confusion. 2709 02:42:57,280 --> 02:43:04,280 There's 2220 and then there's 2222 Northwestern Avenue. 2710 02:43:04,280 --> 02:43:10,280 I don't know that there's a 2100. 2711 02:43:10,280 --> 02:43:21,280 So this item relates to the TIFF loan that is not a loan from the city. 2712 02:43:21,280 --> 02:43:26,280 It's a loan that the Jeffers company received from a private lender. 2713 02:43:26,280 --> 02:43:29,280 They are refinancing that loan. 2714 02:43:29,280 --> 02:43:32,280 It doesn't change anything for the city. 2715 02:43:33,280 --> 02:43:43,280 And that loan is for 2100 Northwestern Avenue LLC and 2200 Horlick Holdings LLC. 2716 02:43:43,280 --> 02:43:49,280 This property is divided up into several different LLCs. 2717 02:43:49,280 --> 02:43:55,280 Basically each building, maybe not each building, but each building is a separate LLC. 2718 02:43:55,280 --> 02:43:56,280 Alder Whiteener? 2719 02:43:57,280 --> 02:44:06,280 So this file number 079826, that talks about the pilot program. 2720 02:44:06,280 --> 02:44:11,280 If I'm not, am I correct in that? 2721 02:44:11,280 --> 02:44:17,280 The first item is in regards specifically just to the pilot program? 2722 02:44:17,280 --> 02:44:18,280 No. 2723 02:44:19,280 --> 02:44:27,280 This, when a lender takes a TIFF loan, it's common for the TIFF payments that would be 2724 02:44:27,280 --> 02:44:32,280 made to a property owner be assigned to the lender. 2725 02:44:32,280 --> 02:44:34,280 So this would do several things. 2726 02:44:34,280 --> 02:44:39,280 It would recognize that there's a new TIFF loan. 2727 02:44:39,280 --> 02:44:44,280 The payments that are currently assigned to the current TIFF lender would now be assigned 2728 02:44:44,280 --> 02:44:49,280 to the new TIFF lender and there would also be a pilot agreement in place. 2729 02:44:49,280 --> 02:44:52,280 Pilot meaning payment in new taxes. 2730 02:44:52,280 --> 02:44:57,280 That's an agreement that essentially says that this becomes a non-profit entity as opposed 2731 02:44:57,280 --> 02:45:03,280 to a for-profit entity that they would continue to make payments to the city in an amount 2732 02:45:03,280 --> 02:45:06,280 equal to whatever the property taxes would be. 2733 02:45:06,280 --> 02:45:07,280 Okay. 2734 02:45:07,280 --> 02:45:10,280 So I just want to be absolutely clear. 2735 02:45:11,280 --> 02:45:14,280 This whole property is in a TIFF district. 2736 02:45:14,280 --> 02:45:20,280 It does pay property tax, but it goes into the TIFF to pay back whatever debt is there. 2737 02:45:20,280 --> 02:45:21,280 Is that correct? 2738 02:45:21,280 --> 02:45:27,280 Or it goes back to the developer for incentives for the development itself? 2739 02:45:27,280 --> 02:45:33,280 We're probably about to stray into finance director questions, but TIFF payments that 2740 02:45:33,280 --> 02:45:38,280 would be made to the property owner under other circumstances here have been assigned 2741 02:45:38,280 --> 02:45:40,280 to the TIFF lender. 2742 02:45:40,280 --> 02:45:41,280 Okay. 2743 02:45:41,280 --> 02:45:48,280 So for 27 years, there will be no property tax that will go into the general funds of any 2744 02:45:48,280 --> 02:45:55,280 of the taxing bodies, but after the TIFF is retired, whether it's 27 years from now or 2745 02:45:55,280 --> 02:46:04,280 35 years from now, like we've done with other TIFFs, then the tax collected would go into 2746 02:46:04,280 --> 02:46:08,280 all the taxing bodies, general funds. 2747 02:46:08,280 --> 02:46:17,280 But if they would sell their property to another non-profit, that non-profit then would not 2748 02:46:17,280 --> 02:46:24,280 have to pay taxes at all, correct, like what happened with the wagon wheel? 2749 02:46:24,280 --> 02:46:27,280 Mitchell wagon? 2750 02:46:27,280 --> 02:46:31,280 Generally non-profits don't pay taxes. 2751 02:46:31,280 --> 02:46:37,280 This would require the payment in lieu of taxes to be made. 2752 02:46:37,280 --> 02:46:39,280 Were that to happen? 2753 02:46:39,280 --> 02:46:40,280 Okay. 2754 02:46:40,280 --> 02:46:47,280 So that's a good thing that there will be that protection either 27 or 35 years from now 2755 02:46:47,280 --> 02:46:54,280 for the property taxpayers should that development get sold to a non-profit. 2756 02:46:54,280 --> 02:46:58,280 So I just wanted to be clear on that because I called you to get some clarification about 2757 02:46:58,280 --> 02:47:03,280 the pilot, and then I do believe that there are some council members that don't understand 2758 02:47:03,280 --> 02:47:07,280 why we would have even negotiated a pilot for that development. 2759 02:47:07,280 --> 02:47:10,280 So I wanted to make that clear. 2760 02:47:10,280 --> 02:47:14,280 So I don't have any other questions. 2761 02:47:14,280 --> 02:47:15,280 Elder Jürgenson. 2762 02:47:15,280 --> 02:47:17,280 A question for the finance director. 2763 02:47:17,280 --> 02:47:23,280 The finance director could approach the DS. 2764 02:47:23,280 --> 02:47:26,280 Do you want to state your question while she's watching that? 2765 02:47:26,280 --> 02:47:31,280 I guess there was a statement made about no property taxes going into the general fund 2766 02:47:31,280 --> 02:47:32,280 because it's in a TIF. 2767 02:47:32,280 --> 02:47:37,280 I think I know the answer on this, but I think at this point maybe we can get a tape recorder 2768 02:47:37,280 --> 02:47:43,280 every time this comes up, but I just want to make sure that the record is clear on that. 2769 02:47:43,280 --> 02:47:46,280 TIFs don't pay anything towards the general fund? 2770 02:47:46,280 --> 02:47:48,280 So I don't want to stray too much. 2771 02:47:48,280 --> 02:47:50,280 It's been a very, very long night. 2772 02:47:50,280 --> 02:47:51,280 My computer is dead. 2773 02:47:51,280 --> 02:47:55,280 I have no information anymore, so I don't want to stray too much. 2774 02:47:55,280 --> 02:47:59,280 But what we're talking about here is the incremental growth in the district 2775 02:47:59,280 --> 02:48:03,280 and the tax that is generated by the incremental growth in the district. 2776 02:48:03,280 --> 02:48:08,280 That piece of the incremental growth, the tax increment, if you will, 2777 02:48:08,280 --> 02:48:13,280 is paid into that district, is received by that district, 2778 02:48:13,280 --> 02:48:19,280 and then 90% of it per the TIF incentive agreement that was approved by the common council 2779 02:48:19,280 --> 02:48:24,280 would be assigned to, in this particular case, untamed up equity. 2780 02:48:24,280 --> 02:48:27,280 So Scott said it exactly right. 2781 02:48:27,280 --> 02:48:28,280 Thank you so much. 2782 02:48:28,280 --> 02:48:30,280 I really appreciate setting the record straight. 2783 02:48:30,280 --> 02:48:31,280 Now we've all heard it. 2784 02:48:31,280 --> 02:48:34,280 So next time this comes up again, hopefully we can save a bit of time, 2785 02:48:34,280 --> 02:48:36,280 but that's just not true. 2786 02:48:36,280 --> 02:48:41,280 So in this case, I mean, we spent quite a bit of time talking about addresses. 2787 02:48:41,280 --> 02:48:47,280 It felt like it was a Better Call Saul episode with 1240, a Royal Vista. 2788 02:48:47,280 --> 02:48:49,280 I think it's pretty clear what's going on. 2789 02:48:49,280 --> 02:48:53,280 This was discussed at the Finance and Personnel Committee 2790 02:48:53,280 --> 02:48:57,280 with many of the alders that are in this room for that as well. 2791 02:48:57,280 --> 02:49:04,280 And so this is something that does make sense, so I'll be in support of it. 2792 02:49:04,280 --> 02:49:09,280 Seeing no further discussion on the item, when the clerk calls your name, 2793 02:49:09,280 --> 02:49:12,280 please vote as you wish. 2794 02:49:12,280 --> 02:49:14,280 Alder Pabone. 2795 02:49:14,280 --> 02:49:16,280 Alder Frazier. 2796 02:49:16,280 --> 02:49:18,280 Alder Weiss. 2797 02:49:18,280 --> 02:49:20,280 Alder Davis. 2798 02:49:20,280 --> 02:49:21,280 Alder Mack. 2799 02:49:21,280 --> 02:49:23,280 Alder Jorgensen. 2800 02:49:23,280 --> 02:49:25,280 Alderman Weidner. 2801 02:49:25,280 --> 02:49:27,280 Alder Horton. 2802 02:49:27,280 --> 02:49:40,280 Yeah, this is the motion that you made Alder Horton to approve item 0798-26. 2803 02:49:41,280 --> 02:49:48,280 I'm sorry, what was it? 2804 02:49:48,280 --> 02:49:49,280 He said aye. 2805 02:49:49,280 --> 02:49:50,280 Thank you. 2806 02:49:50,280 --> 02:49:51,280 Alder Hodges. 2807 02:49:51,280 --> 02:49:52,280 Alder Allen. 2808 02:49:52,280 --> 02:49:53,280 Alder Pete. 2809 02:49:53,280 --> 02:49:54,280 Alder DeMar. 2810 02:49:54,280 --> 02:49:55,280 Alder Kelly. 2811 02:49:55,280 --> 02:49:56,280 Aye. 2812 02:49:56,280 --> 02:49:57,280 Alder Harmon. 2813 02:49:57,280 --> 02:49:58,280 Aye. 2814 02:49:58,280 --> 02:49:59,280 13. 2815 02:49:59,280 --> 02:50:00,280 Aye is 1. 2816 02:50:00,280 --> 02:50:07,280 Alder Horton, did you have any other items for suffering consideration? 2817 02:50:08,280 --> 02:50:09,280 Yeah. 2818 02:50:09,280 --> 02:50:10,280 Yes. 2819 02:50:10,280 --> 02:50:12,280 I have a new one here. 2820 02:50:12,280 --> 02:50:16,280 So, since we own this, we'll go back to that one. 2821 02:50:16,280 --> 02:50:20,280 So, the next item is 0799-26. 2822 02:50:20,280 --> 02:50:26,280 Communication sponsored by Mayor Mason seeking an amendment to the tax increment district 2823 02:50:26,280 --> 02:50:33,280 25 tax increment finance agreement with Jay Jeffers as to 2220 northwestern avenue, 2824 02:50:34,280 --> 02:50:35,280 LLC. 2825 02:50:35,280 --> 02:50:40,280 Recommendation from the Finance and Personnel Committee on 982026 to approve as discussed 2826 02:50:40,280 --> 02:50:41,280 in closed session. 2827 02:50:41,280 --> 02:50:43,280 Move to approve. 2828 02:50:43,280 --> 02:50:48,280 So, motion and a second to approve item 0799-26. 2829 02:50:48,280 --> 02:50:50,280 Alder Horton, did you want to speak to your motion? 2830 02:50:50,280 --> 02:50:51,280 No. 2831 02:50:51,280 --> 02:50:53,280 This is from Alder the 6. 2832 02:50:53,280 --> 02:50:55,280 Alder Weidner, you have the floor. 2833 02:50:55,280 --> 02:50:56,280 Thank you. 2834 02:50:56,280 --> 02:51:01,280 I'm going to speak against this one, even though I know that the council is between a rock and 2835 02:51:01,280 --> 02:51:09,280 a hard place as far as extending the $5 million loan that we gave to Jeffers for this 2836 02:51:09,280 --> 02:51:10,280 development. 2837 02:51:10,280 --> 02:51:17,280 The $5 million is outside of the TIFF that we are providing to that developer. 2838 02:51:17,280 --> 02:51:26,280 So, back in 2021 when this development was negotiated, we allowed for all this TIFF money to go to 2839 02:51:26,280 --> 02:51:27,280 the developer. 2840 02:51:27,280 --> 02:51:35,280 And on top of that, we loaned to the developer a million dollars out of the shared revenue 2841 02:51:35,280 --> 02:51:42,280 fund and we took out a loan from, it's called the pass through loan from the commission 2842 02:51:42,280 --> 02:51:45,280 of public lands for $4 million. 2843 02:51:45,280 --> 02:51:54,280 So, our first payment that was made to the commission of public lands was $517,806. 2844 02:51:55,280 --> 02:52:00,280 That is what we will be paying every year until that loan is paid off. 2845 02:52:00,280 --> 02:52:03,280 That loan is coming off the levy. 2846 02:52:03,280 --> 02:52:14,280 So, that's $517,000 that we are taxing our property taxpayers every year until this loan 2847 02:52:14,280 --> 02:52:23,280 is paid off, outside of the loss of revenue from this development being in a TIFF district. 2848 02:52:24,280 --> 02:52:26,280 So, I wanted the council to be aware of that. 2849 02:52:26,280 --> 02:52:33,280 This agreement says that the developer, if we extend for seven and a half years, will make 2850 02:52:33,280 --> 02:52:41,280 a payment to the city that should have been made going back to 2022 on this $5 billion loan 2851 02:52:41,280 --> 02:52:42,280 that has not been made. 2852 02:52:42,280 --> 02:52:48,280 Instead, we're going to get an interest payment of around $350,000, which is not even equal 2853 02:52:48,280 --> 02:52:54,280 to one of the payments that we have made to the commission of public lands. 2854 02:52:54,280 --> 02:53:03,280 So, I understand that the development did not come to the fruition that was originally 2855 02:53:03,280 --> 02:53:09,280 anticipated, but I've been down this road several times with developments, including with 2856 02:53:09,280 --> 02:53:15,280 the machinery row, the walker site. 2857 02:53:15,280 --> 02:53:23,280 And I'm not asking anyone else, but I just can't support this extension because I don't 2858 02:53:23,280 --> 02:53:27,280 think any effort has been made in good faith to make payments to the city as had been 2859 02:53:27,280 --> 02:53:32,280 originally agreed when we took out this loan for this developer. 2860 02:53:32,280 --> 02:53:33,280 Thank you. 2861 02:53:34,280 --> 02:53:35,280 Alder Praboon. 2862 02:53:37,280 --> 02:53:39,280 Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 2863 02:53:39,280 --> 02:53:46,280 If the finance director would like to talk to questions, Director Fisher, if she could, 2864 02:53:46,280 --> 02:53:52,280 if we were, let's say, not to approve this, with the payments that the Alder from the 2865 02:53:52,280 --> 02:53:59,280 sixth district had mentioned of $517,000, would we still have to pay those? 2866 02:53:59,280 --> 02:54:00,280 Yes. 2867 02:54:01,280 --> 02:54:02,280 Okay. 2868 02:54:02,280 --> 02:54:05,280 But then we would have no development. 2869 02:54:05,280 --> 02:54:06,280 Correct. 2870 02:54:06,280 --> 02:54:10,280 We would have no development, nor would we receive the $340,000. 2871 02:54:10,280 --> 02:54:11,280 Okay. 2872 02:54:11,280 --> 02:54:18,280 So then we would have no development, no $340,000, but still be paying $517,000 until when? 2873 02:54:18,280 --> 02:54:23,280 I think it goes through 2032, but I don't have it off. 2874 02:54:24,280 --> 02:54:25,280 2031. 2875 02:54:25,280 --> 02:54:26,280 2031. 2876 02:54:26,280 --> 02:54:27,280 Okay. 2877 02:54:27,280 --> 02:54:32,280 So not to mention potentially having the development fall through people that are currently occupying 2878 02:54:32,280 --> 02:54:36,280 these spaces, not having a home, businesses that have currently set up shop. 2879 02:54:36,280 --> 02:54:42,280 They're also not having a place to conduct the businesses there so they can go find housing 2880 02:54:42,280 --> 02:54:43,280 elsewhere. 2881 02:54:43,280 --> 02:54:48,280 These business owners can go find places elsewhere to conduct their business instead of stimulating 2882 02:54:48,280 --> 02:54:55,280 our local economy here, instead of living here in the city, just because of a perceived 2883 02:54:55,280 --> 02:54:56,280 lack of good faith. 2884 02:54:56,280 --> 02:54:58,280 In my opinion, that's my question. 2885 02:54:58,280 --> 02:54:59,280 You can sit down. 2886 02:54:59,280 --> 02:55:00,280 Thank you. 2887 02:55:00,280 --> 02:55:06,280 In my opinion, I think that this particular developer has done almost everything that they 2888 02:55:06,280 --> 02:55:12,280 can, and an extremely good faith that's reached out to the Alders, has offered tours of the 2889 02:55:12,280 --> 02:55:17,280 facilities, has laid out very clearly in face, and has taken self-accountability for dropping 2890 02:55:17,280 --> 02:55:22,680 the ball at certain points, but is still willing to do this with our, we have to be, 2891 02:55:22,680 --> 02:55:25,800 we have to give them this approval in order for this to continue. 2892 02:55:25,800 --> 02:55:31,040 I am not willing to let this development fall through for who knows how long that land 2893 02:55:31,040 --> 02:55:33,480 was vacant before this came through. 2894 02:55:33,480 --> 02:55:38,360 I am not willing to let people not have a home or businesses not have a place to conduct 2895 02:55:38,360 --> 02:55:43,080 their business and have these people wondering what's going to happen within the next few 2896 02:55:43,080 --> 02:55:47,080 months or years because this is all in shambles now. 2897 02:55:47,080 --> 02:55:52,640 So I am in support of approving this because I do believe that the developer in good faith 2898 02:55:52,640 --> 02:55:57,720 has done everything that they can and taken accountability, which is rare because developers 2899 02:55:57,720 --> 02:55:59,200 can normally just move on. 2900 02:55:59,200 --> 02:56:05,720 They don't want to lose the money, but sometimes they're just too big, they can just keep going. 2901 02:56:05,720 --> 02:56:13,160 So the amount of investment into this community, the amount of loops and hoops that had to 2902 02:56:13,160 --> 02:56:18,080 have been jumped through over the past year or probably even longer than that, and the 2903 02:56:18,080 --> 02:56:21,520 willingness to reach out and say, hey, this is what I'm doing, being fully transparent 2904 02:56:21,520 --> 02:56:26,240 by that and giving things that I can't talk about because they were in closed session 2905 02:56:26,240 --> 02:56:28,000 almost looked up there. 2906 02:56:28,000 --> 02:56:32,400 But I do think that it has been done in good faith and I am in support of this, so thank 2907 02:56:32,400 --> 02:56:33,400 you. 2908 02:56:34,400 --> 02:56:36,400 All the pressure. 2909 02:56:36,400 --> 02:56:40,400 Yeah, I just want to echo what Mr. Jeffers said. 2910 02:56:40,400 --> 02:56:48,240 He said that they have over 313 apartments there currently, 95,000 square foot of commercial 2911 02:56:48,240 --> 02:56:57,160 space and overall accumulated over $110 million worth of development in a time where this city 2912 02:56:57,160 --> 02:57:00,280 desperately needs development. 2913 02:57:00,280 --> 02:57:09,240 I think that this is an opportunity to order Pabong's point that we can't waste, especially 2914 02:57:09,240 --> 02:57:16,240 in this legislative report, this developer to take Pabong's point a little bit further 2915 02:57:16,240 --> 02:57:23,440 has personally guaranteed and taken financial responsibility for this. 2916 02:57:23,440 --> 02:57:32,480 So I think we really have to think about that and it shows his commitment to this city. 2917 02:57:32,480 --> 02:57:39,680 So I will support this again one more time for the numbers, 313 apartments, 95,000 square 2918 02:57:39,680 --> 02:57:47,160 foot of commercial space, $110 million worth of development in the 8th district. 2919 02:57:47,160 --> 02:57:51,600 So I think keep those numbers in your mind when you vote. 2920 02:57:52,600 --> 02:57:55,600 I'll go round. 2921 02:57:55,600 --> 02:57:56,600 Thank you. 2922 02:57:56,600 --> 02:57:57,600 Okay. 2923 02:57:57,600 --> 02:58:06,600 Well, once again, we're hearing comments about thoughts and without being able to look at 2924 02:58:06,600 --> 02:58:14,880 actual ledger sheets and saying, well, essentially you don't believe what he came in front of 2925 02:58:14,880 --> 02:58:19,640 the council and said and he doesn't have this money or why he didn't pay this payment. 2926 02:58:19,640 --> 02:58:26,320 What we do have, though, is his agreement that he is going to give a personal guarantee 2927 02:58:26,320 --> 02:58:30,800 for repayment of the loan and the required monthly payments going forward. 2928 02:58:30,800 --> 02:58:39,880 He did come forward and say that through the process, as been stated, he did not check 2929 02:58:39,880 --> 02:58:44,080 his eyes and his teas and something slipped through the cracks. 2930 02:58:44,080 --> 02:58:46,160 One probably would have been the marketing. 2931 02:58:46,160 --> 02:58:52,720 But when I look at that area over there, and by the way, my son lives there, it's beautiful. 2932 02:58:52,720 --> 02:58:59,520 What comes to mind is there is a community in Illinois and it's right outside of Park 2933 02:58:59,520 --> 02:59:00,520 City. 2934 02:59:00,520 --> 02:59:07,120 So if you're familiar with Lake County area at all, and I watched this little area develop 2935 02:59:07,120 --> 02:59:13,520 over maybe two, three years, and it was in stages just as we were doing here. 2936 02:59:13,520 --> 02:59:20,120 And one day I went and I had to drive over there and I was going to the bank and in 2937 02:59:20,120 --> 02:59:21,120 that area. 2938 02:59:21,120 --> 02:59:25,760 And there is an entire community there now. 2939 02:59:25,760 --> 02:59:34,160 And when I see this space here in Racine, where we have not been able to until recently 2940 02:59:34,160 --> 02:59:42,400 begin working on your communities, new neighborhoods in our city, really bring some fresh air and 2941 02:59:42,400 --> 02:59:49,040 energy into our city, I see that community growing into that kind of a space. 2942 02:59:49,040 --> 02:59:51,520 We have the commercial businesses over there. 2943 02:59:51,520 --> 02:59:53,520 We have the homes over there. 2944 02:59:53,520 --> 03:00:00,960 And the way those apartment complexes are that community is built with the amenities, all 2945 03:00:00,960 --> 03:00:07,480 the things that you would want, especially if you are young or unencumbered with young 2946 03:00:07,480 --> 03:00:09,920 children so much. 2947 03:00:09,920 --> 03:00:13,480 But there are families over there with young children, so they see it differently than 2948 03:00:13,480 --> 03:00:14,480 I do. 2949 03:00:14,480 --> 03:00:21,280 But it's a wonderful opportunity for us to continue moving forward with this development. 2950 03:00:21,280 --> 03:00:27,960 And as has been stated, we either continue down on this journey and meet it at its end 2951 03:00:27,960 --> 03:00:37,160 and that rainbow experience or we stop it right now and it'll just be the unfinished 2952 03:00:37,160 --> 03:00:42,160 vision and we will have to relocate people. 2953 03:00:42,160 --> 03:00:49,240 The commercial properties will eventually leave because they don't have that captive 2954 03:00:49,240 --> 03:00:51,800 consumer base anymore. 2955 03:00:51,800 --> 03:00:57,080 And we will just have another area in Racine that starts to look like the rest of Racine. 2956 03:00:57,080 --> 03:00:59,760 And that is not what we're supposed to be about. 2957 03:00:59,760 --> 03:01:05,600 When I first got elected to the council, I said that there were two sides to this coin. 2958 03:01:05,600 --> 03:01:11,040 Yes, one, you watch your pennies and who's robbing Peter to pay Paul, et cetera, because 2959 03:01:11,040 --> 03:01:15,600 we are very, very challenged when it comes to finance. 2960 03:01:15,600 --> 03:01:20,160 But the other side to any revenue ledger is the revenue side. 2961 03:01:20,160 --> 03:01:28,400 And we have not been able to do anything on that side until recently. 2962 03:01:28,400 --> 03:01:33,280 And what is required for us to bring revenue in and attract new people are these kinds 2963 03:01:33,280 --> 03:01:35,400 of developments, are these kinds of initiatives. 2964 03:01:35,400 --> 03:01:40,200 And we have to be willing to engage in this process. 2965 03:01:40,200 --> 03:01:46,120 So I am going to support this, one, because I don't like to have another property. 2966 03:01:46,120 --> 03:01:48,080 And we keep talking when everything else comes out. 2967 03:01:48,080 --> 03:01:52,000 All this person wants to put extra amount of dollars into this space and that's why we 2968 03:01:52,000 --> 03:01:57,840 should support it regardless of what the other concerns may be. 2969 03:01:57,840 --> 03:02:02,080 So in this particular case, we are building a community there. 2970 03:02:02,080 --> 03:02:06,000 We are revitalizing buildings and properties over there. 2971 03:02:06,000 --> 03:02:11,600 And it is a collaborative partnership at the end, the city of Racine, 2972 03:02:11,600 --> 03:02:15,480 who is the gateway into the county, will benefit. 2973 03:02:15,480 --> 03:02:20,120 And so we're going to vote to go forward with this, or I am rather. 2974 03:02:22,120 --> 03:02:23,680 Other drug incident? 2975 03:02:23,680 --> 03:02:28,800 Yeah, due to the, it's my understanding of the nature of the complexity of this issue. 2976 03:02:28,800 --> 03:02:31,320 We did retain a consultant that looked into this. 2977 03:02:31,320 --> 03:02:32,760 I see they're here tonight. 2978 03:02:32,760 --> 03:02:37,680 Are they able to answer a question related to, there was some, it was brought up tonight 2979 03:02:37,680 --> 03:02:43,840 of the developer wasn't upfront about certain things, or are they able to kind of explain 2980 03:02:43,840 --> 03:02:47,000 the background of what was reviewed and what they went into this? 2981 03:02:47,000 --> 03:02:51,960 I think you could refer your question to the director of finance and if she wanted to ask 2982 03:02:51,960 --> 03:02:56,680 them to assist her in her answer, that would be appropriate at this time. 2983 03:02:56,680 --> 03:02:57,680 I would do that. 2984 03:02:57,680 --> 03:02:59,800 Sure, absolutely. 2985 03:02:59,800 --> 03:03:03,600 And so for those that maybe weren't at finance and personnel, when we talked through this, 2986 03:03:03,600 --> 03:03:09,280 we did retain a consultant, a couple of different consultants, both an attorney and then a fiscal 2987 03:03:09,280 --> 03:03:16,640 consultant that did go through deep, deep, deep, deep dive into rec rolls and occupancy 2988 03:03:16,640 --> 03:03:18,280 rolls and all of those things. 2989 03:03:18,280 --> 03:03:24,840 So Russ is certainly here if Russ could give just a little bit of detail of the detailed 2990 03:03:24,840 --> 03:03:30,120 records that you did go through and the deep dive that you went into both Mr. Jeffers 2991 03:03:30,120 --> 03:03:37,200 personal finances as well as the finances of the development itself. 2992 03:03:37,200 --> 03:03:48,160 Okay, we, I reviewed the rent rolls and the budgets for this project from its inception 2993 03:03:48,160 --> 03:03:51,480 to current date. 2994 03:03:51,480 --> 03:03:56,040 The Jeffers company was more than willing to provide us all of that information and 2995 03:03:56,040 --> 03:04:04,000 they provided us the personal tax return of, of Josh, the 2024 personal tax return 2025 2996 03:04:04,000 --> 03:04:05,000 is on extension. 2997 03:04:05,000 --> 03:04:07,600 That'll be due sometime here in October. 2998 03:04:07,600 --> 03:04:12,640 We've reviewed all of that in great, in great detail and as part of this agreement going 2999 03:04:12,640 --> 03:04:20,640 forward, we will get monthly reporting on occupancy, police up tenants and how the project is 3000 03:04:20,680 --> 03:04:23,880 doing on a, on a go forward basis. 3001 03:04:23,880 --> 03:04:29,200 Um, can't go back his history about the fact that the payments weren't made. 3002 03:04:29,200 --> 03:04:31,880 Project was not cash flowing at that point in time. 3003 03:04:31,880 --> 03:04:36,600 Uh, it is presently and will cash flow as part of this refinance. 3004 03:04:36,600 --> 03:04:37,600 Thank you. 3005 03:04:37,600 --> 03:04:42,600 So to say that the, the developer wasn't upfront on the finances is just a gross miscategorization 3006 03:04:42,600 --> 03:04:44,800 of the payments weren't made. 3007 03:04:44,800 --> 03:04:45,800 Okay. 3008 03:04:45,800 --> 03:04:50,840 So over this period of time, we were, we were behind, uh, in getting receiving payments 3009 03:04:50,840 --> 03:04:52,200 from the city. 3010 03:04:52,200 --> 03:04:57,120 When we asked for updated financial information, we were given that in a timely basis. 3011 03:04:57,120 --> 03:04:58,120 And thank you. 3012 03:04:58,120 --> 03:05:02,080 And that was really what I'm getting at here is he's not withholding information. 3013 03:05:02,080 --> 03:05:03,720 We've been presented the whole piece. 3014 03:05:03,720 --> 03:05:09,320 We actually to Elder Frazier's point and have a personal guarantee, uh, on the project for 3015 03:05:09,320 --> 03:05:10,320 this. 3016 03:05:10,320 --> 03:05:15,480 Um, so to say that, that, you know, they're not being upfront about this, they're being 3017 03:05:15,480 --> 03:05:21,800 absolutely upfront, uh, to give you some history on why this is so important here and 3018 03:05:21,800 --> 03:05:27,960 why we, we really need this to succeed, uh, a while ago back in the early 2000s, the city 3019 03:05:27,960 --> 03:05:29,160 became landlocked. 3020 03:05:29,160 --> 03:05:33,440 We gave away our water and sewer rights and we made it so we can't expand anymore. 3021 03:05:33,440 --> 03:05:39,720 So we have a lot of properties that we have to redevelop just like what happened here. 3022 03:05:39,720 --> 03:05:44,960 So we have a developer here that's basically coming forward with, uh, refinancing, uh, 3023 03:05:44,960 --> 03:05:47,400 extending much like you would do on your house. 3024 03:05:47,400 --> 03:05:52,240 Anyone who's gotten a lower interest rate, uh, that they've refinanced with their house. 3025 03:05:52,240 --> 03:05:53,640 Very similar situation here. 3026 03:05:53,640 --> 03:05:57,400 Again, I mean, there's people who have gotten into the issues with their own payments on 3027 03:05:57,400 --> 03:06:01,600 their mortgage and if they had to refinance later, we don't somehow deem them not trustworthy 3028 03:06:01,600 --> 03:06:03,000 and a failure. 3029 03:06:03,000 --> 03:06:04,160 They're trying to make good on it. 3030 03:06:04,160 --> 03:06:08,240 I think we should allow them to do that and not turn our nose at a developer that's trying 3031 03:06:08,240 --> 03:06:13,640 to help make Racine a better place and actively participate in Racine's turnaround. 3032 03:06:13,640 --> 03:06:19,960 So I find it extremely disrespectful to, um, to make those comments toward a developer 3033 03:06:19,960 --> 03:06:22,560 that is trying to do everything right right now. 3034 03:06:22,560 --> 03:06:23,560 Thank you. 3035 03:06:23,560 --> 03:06:25,920 I'll be voting in favor of this. 3036 03:06:25,920 --> 03:06:26,920 All right. 3037 03:06:26,920 --> 03:06:29,000 I just want to make a comment. 3038 03:06:29,000 --> 03:06:34,400 Um, I have spoken with the developer as well, um, as this is actually my home that we're 3039 03:06:34,400 --> 03:06:35,560 talking about. 3040 03:06:35,640 --> 03:06:41,960 So obviously I want to see, um, this project, you know, continue forward. 3041 03:06:41,960 --> 03:06:45,880 Um, I believe the accountability is there. 3042 03:06:45,880 --> 03:06:50,960 Um, I'm honestly not sure why this came up because I believe the alder from the sixth 3043 03:06:50,960 --> 03:06:55,760 district was there, um, during the presentation, um, at the finance committee. 3044 03:06:55,760 --> 03:06:58,320 Um, so I will be voting in favor. 3045 03:06:58,320 --> 03:07:00,640 Um, I love everything you've done. 3046 03:07:00,640 --> 03:07:04,400 Um, and yeah, I think that's it. 3047 03:07:04,400 --> 03:07:05,400 Thank you. 3048 03:07:06,000 --> 03:07:09,440 Under whiter for a second time, I just have a question. 3049 03:07:09,440 --> 03:07:15,200 I'm not sure who would answer it, whether it be Kathleen Fisher or the attorney or, um, 3050 03:07:15,200 --> 03:07:17,360 who, but we were given two options. 3051 03:07:17,360 --> 03:07:22,640 We either go along with the extension or what was the other option that we had. 3052 03:07:22,640 --> 03:07:25,080 I don't know who would like to answer that question. 3053 03:07:25,080 --> 03:07:27,600 I'll refer your question to the finance director. 3054 03:07:27,600 --> 03:07:28,600 Yeah. 3055 03:07:31,960 --> 03:07:33,840 I'm going to have Seth come up the attorney. 3056 03:07:33,840 --> 03:07:36,440 He is more versed on the other option. 3057 03:07:40,120 --> 03:07:40,640 Good evening. 3058 03:07:40,640 --> 03:07:42,480 My name is Seth Desard. 3059 03:07:42,480 --> 03:07:49,120 I am a, uh, 1997 graduate of market university law school. 3060 03:07:49,960 --> 03:07:58,160 I have a statewide practice based in Milwaukee, which is entirely dedicated to commercial 3061 03:07:58,160 --> 03:08:00,400 and real estate financing and restructuring. 3062 03:08:00,400 --> 03:08:13,280 Uh, in the event that a subordinated lender like the city of Racine is unwilling to participate 3063 03:08:13,280 --> 03:08:21,600 in a restructuring of the primary lenders loan, in other words, tries to assert a blocking 3064 03:08:21,600 --> 03:08:28,880 position, that lead lender would not refinance under those circumstances. 3065 03:08:28,880 --> 03:08:36,040 It would be forced to either commence a foreclosure action rather than refinance or 3066 03:08:36,040 --> 03:08:39,600 put the property into receivership. 3067 03:08:39,600 --> 03:08:47,000 That's really the only other option if the city was to not cooperate and go along with 3068 03:08:47,000 --> 03:08:53,160 the refinance that's, uh, Mr. Jeffers is negotiating with his lead lender. 3069 03:08:53,160 --> 03:08:55,160 Thank you. 3070 03:08:56,160 --> 03:08:58,160 So I'm going to make a comment. 3071 03:08:58,160 --> 03:09:04,320 Like I said, I'm not asking anybody to support my position, but I look at what the taxpayers 3072 03:09:04,320 --> 03:09:11,320 are paying every year and that is over $500,000 and we have not had any payments from Mr. 3073 03:09:11,320 --> 03:09:17,760 Jeffers or any communication regarding the lack of, of nonpayment over the last few years 3074 03:09:17,760 --> 03:09:22,560 when we've been making those payments that he should, we should have been reimbursed 3075 03:09:22,560 --> 03:09:23,560 for. 3076 03:09:24,560 --> 03:09:33,960 So I understand the position that he's in, but I also think that we have to look out 3077 03:09:33,960 --> 03:09:40,400 for the taxpayers of the city of Racine and I understand we're building a community. 3078 03:09:40,400 --> 03:09:46,360 If we did not agree to this, people are not going to be relocated, businesses are not 3079 03:09:46,360 --> 03:09:53,240 going to go out of business, like what's being proposed here tonight. 3080 03:09:53,240 --> 03:09:59,640 I never said anything about the, uh, developer not being forthcoming with us. 3081 03:09:59,640 --> 03:10:02,440 Um, I don't like it when people put words in my mouth. 3082 03:10:02,440 --> 03:10:07,720 It's bad enough that every time I post a question or make a comment, I get attacked from the 3083 03:10:07,720 --> 03:10:08,720 rear. 3084 03:10:08,720 --> 03:10:13,180 I get attacked from the side for asking those questions, which I have every right, right 3085 03:10:13,180 --> 03:10:14,580 to ask. 3086 03:10:14,580 --> 03:10:20,360 We are a comprised, a body comprised of 15 alderman because we have 15 different perspectives 3087 03:10:20,360 --> 03:10:26,080 and 15 different ways of looking at things and everybody's opinion and position should 3088 03:10:26,080 --> 03:10:27,080 be respected. 3089 03:10:27,080 --> 03:10:32,760 I don't disparage anybody for their questions or their lengthy comments, any of that. 3090 03:10:32,760 --> 03:10:36,800 But as I've always said, if I'm going to vote against something, I'm going to give the 3091 03:10:36,800 --> 03:10:41,280 courtesy of articulating why I'm not trying to convince anybody. 3092 03:10:41,280 --> 03:10:47,600 I'm just stating my position and I look at the debt that we have been paying back. 3093 03:10:47,680 --> 03:10:52,320 It's gone from 18 million a year to 22 and a half million. 3094 03:10:52,320 --> 03:10:56,840 That's levy that we've added to our property taxpayers every year. 3095 03:10:56,840 --> 03:11:01,880 And I was elected by the taxpayers, so I try to be their voice here. 3096 03:11:01,880 --> 03:11:07,120 I understand that perspective, but I also have a different perspective and I would ask 3097 03:11:07,120 --> 03:11:12,680 this body to respect that and not attack every time I ask a question or have a different 3098 03:11:12,720 --> 03:11:17,560 opinion than the rest of everyone. 3099 03:11:17,560 --> 03:11:18,560 Thank you. 3100 03:11:18,560 --> 03:11:22,560 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 3101 03:11:22,560 --> 03:11:28,840 I have my own opinions too and I do think it's fair to address certain points made throughout 3102 03:11:28,840 --> 03:11:31,440 the process of a council meeting. 3103 03:11:31,440 --> 03:11:37,280 But I would like to, again, ask Director Fisher if she would entertain me again. 3104 03:11:37,280 --> 03:11:43,800 So the point was made that there's the ask of the taxpayer to pay the additional amount 3105 03:11:43,800 --> 03:11:47,440 of money, $517,000. 3106 03:11:47,440 --> 03:11:53,560 Would that payment be made whether or whether or not this is restructured or foreclosed upon? 3107 03:11:53,560 --> 03:11:56,120 Yes, that payment would be made regardless. 3108 03:11:56,120 --> 03:11:59,120 Okay, so it would still be made regardless. 3109 03:11:59,120 --> 03:12:04,920 Now, if this development, if we decide as a council that we're okay with the restructuring 3110 03:12:04,960 --> 03:12:10,600 of this, is that how and what way financially for the city does that benefit us? 3111 03:12:10,600 --> 03:12:17,840 So the restructure benefits us in that it gives us the opportunity to get our $5 million 3112 03:12:17,840 --> 03:12:20,600 repaid. 3113 03:12:20,600 --> 03:12:27,920 If you would go the other option, as Seth referred to, the property would likely go into 3114 03:12:27,920 --> 03:12:33,760 foreclosure and we would get none of that $5 million back. 3115 03:12:33,760 --> 03:12:37,280 This is by far the best of the two options. 3116 03:12:37,280 --> 03:12:39,480 And we also wouldn't get paid for the interest that's all about. 3117 03:12:39,480 --> 03:12:41,040 And correct, and we also wouldn't get the interest. 3118 03:12:41,040 --> 03:12:43,920 But then we would still have to pay the $517,000. 3119 03:12:43,920 --> 03:12:44,920 Correct. 3120 03:12:44,920 --> 03:12:48,200 Okay, so I just wanted to make sure that was clear. 3121 03:12:48,200 --> 03:12:53,600 And being in foreclosure, does that mean that, what does that mean? 3122 03:12:53,600 --> 03:12:54,600 Are we just putting it out? 3123 03:12:54,600 --> 03:12:58,720 Are people still going to be able to live there? 3124 03:12:58,720 --> 03:13:02,720 That's more of an attorney question and how that would all play out. 3125 03:13:02,720 --> 03:13:11,920 But certainly foreclosure or being in a foreclosure or receivership situation can cause problems 3126 03:13:11,920 --> 03:13:13,440 for the people that live there. 3127 03:13:13,440 --> 03:13:14,440 Right. 3128 03:13:14,440 --> 03:13:17,400 That wouldn't give me confidence as a tenant or a business owner to have something. 3129 03:13:17,400 --> 03:13:19,640 I know that's in potential foreclosure. 3130 03:13:19,640 --> 03:13:24,000 And I just wanted to thank you for clarifying that point that we still have to make that 3131 03:13:24,000 --> 03:13:25,000 payment. 3132 03:13:25,080 --> 03:13:28,760 If this goes through and is restructured, it is more beneficial because we have an avenue 3133 03:13:28,760 --> 03:13:30,160 to get that money back. 3134 03:13:30,160 --> 03:13:32,360 Plus we're getting the money from the interest that we're owed. 3135 03:13:32,360 --> 03:13:33,360 Correct. 3136 03:13:33,360 --> 03:13:34,360 All right, thank you. 3137 03:13:34,360 --> 03:13:35,360 Oh, Jordan. 3138 03:13:35,360 --> 03:13:42,040 Yeah, that was really going to be my line of questioning here that somehow by it going 3139 03:13:42,040 --> 03:13:47,240 into foreclosure, we'll get taxpayers more money, just does not make any sense. 3140 03:13:47,240 --> 03:13:50,600 And so anyone here is able to make an opinion and put something forward. 3141 03:13:50,600 --> 03:13:56,520 But then when facts disprove that and show that it's a mis-categorization or false, 3142 03:13:56,520 --> 03:13:57,520 that's not an attack. 3143 03:13:57,520 --> 03:13:59,640 That's just you said something that was wrong. 3144 03:13:59,640 --> 03:14:03,480 And so in this case, somehow sending this to foreclosure does not mean that we would 3145 03:14:03,480 --> 03:14:05,800 do right by the taxpayers. 3146 03:14:05,800 --> 03:14:08,160 It would be worse for the taxpayers. 3147 03:14:08,160 --> 03:14:12,360 So I'm failing to see the logic behind that. 3148 03:14:12,360 --> 03:14:14,200 I'm in support of this. 3149 03:14:14,200 --> 03:14:19,440 I want to make sure that this doesn't go to foreclosure, that those businesses and residents 3150 03:14:19,440 --> 03:14:22,240 know that they have a place to live. 3151 03:14:22,240 --> 03:14:25,720 And most importantly in this, I want to make sure that the taxpayer gets paid back their 3152 03:14:25,720 --> 03:14:26,720 money. 3153 03:14:26,720 --> 03:14:29,080 I guess it doesn't sound like everyone in this body wants to make sure the city gets 3154 03:14:29,080 --> 03:14:30,640 paid back. 3155 03:14:30,640 --> 03:14:32,840 But I do. 3156 03:14:32,840 --> 03:14:37,000 All right, and you've spoken to the item twice. 3157 03:14:37,000 --> 03:14:38,760 I have a question. 3158 03:14:38,760 --> 03:14:39,760 For whom? 3159 03:14:39,760 --> 03:14:41,720 For the finance director. 3160 03:14:41,720 --> 03:14:45,520 That would be speaking to the item for a third time. 3161 03:14:45,520 --> 03:14:47,080 I have a question. 3162 03:14:47,080 --> 03:14:48,880 You can have to do a procedural question at this point. 3163 03:14:48,880 --> 03:14:54,080 If you have a point of order or a point of comment, but you've spoken to the item twice. 3164 03:14:54,080 --> 03:14:55,960 So we can ask questions. 3165 03:14:55,960 --> 03:14:57,320 You can do a procedural question. 3166 03:14:57,320 --> 03:14:58,320 You can do a point of order. 3167 03:14:58,320 --> 03:14:59,920 A procedural question. 3168 03:14:59,920 --> 03:15:01,280 What state you're pursuing. 3169 03:15:01,280 --> 03:15:04,640 That's not an assumption to question all the winders, that is a. 3170 03:15:04,640 --> 03:15:10,000 So this must be a new rule that the council are limited to asking questions to only two 3171 03:15:10,000 --> 03:15:11,000 times. 3172 03:15:11,000 --> 03:15:15,600 So if the discussion that takes place on the council floor gives rise to an additional 3173 03:15:15,600 --> 03:15:20,200 question, then that means that they cannot ask the question. 3174 03:15:20,200 --> 03:15:24,000 Is that what you're saying, Mayor, that this means that everybody can speak to an individual 3175 03:15:24,000 --> 03:15:25,200 motion twice. 3176 03:15:25,200 --> 03:15:26,200 You've spoken twice. 3177 03:15:26,200 --> 03:15:27,760 I'm not speaking to a motion. 3178 03:15:27,760 --> 03:15:29,840 I'm asking a question of the finance director. 3179 03:15:29,840 --> 03:15:32,840 It seems as though you're speaking right now. 3180 03:15:32,840 --> 03:15:34,200 I'm not speaking. 3181 03:15:34,200 --> 03:15:38,480 I'm speaking with you because you're not allowing me to speak. 3182 03:15:38,480 --> 03:15:40,240 I'll defer bones to your point of order. 3183 03:15:40,240 --> 03:15:44,240 Could the city attorney enlighten us please on that? 3184 03:15:44,240 --> 03:15:54,440 The way I understand it, the rule of the way that we follow Robert's rules is no person 3185 03:15:54,440 --> 03:15:59,200 of the council may speak more than twice on an item except by leave of the council. 3186 03:15:59,200 --> 03:16:06,640 Is that our questions not part of that? 3187 03:16:06,640 --> 03:16:10,440 Or would it require a vote of all of us to allow more conversation from someone that's 3188 03:16:10,440 --> 03:16:17,440 already spoken twice? 3189 03:16:17,440 --> 03:16:30,800 Well, I'm sorry, I'm having trouble finding the exact provision in Robert's law. 3190 03:16:30,800 --> 03:16:35,720 In our municipal code, I know that we have it under limitation of debate is where it 3191 03:16:35,720 --> 03:16:38,640 states that that particular part. 3192 03:16:38,640 --> 03:16:44,920 So I would think that that would be an interpretation by the city attorney. 3193 03:16:44,920 --> 03:16:48,560 Well, the chair is the one that makes the ruling. 3194 03:16:48,560 --> 03:16:49,560 Correct. 3195 03:16:49,560 --> 03:16:54,120 But if the rule is that I am member of the council may speak on an item more than twice 3196 03:16:54,120 --> 03:17:01,520 except by leave of the council, does that include questions or does it not? 3197 03:17:01,520 --> 03:17:08,520 Up on top tonight. 3198 03:17:08,520 --> 03:17:29,720 Well, no member shall speak more than twice. 3199 03:17:29,720 --> 03:17:33,320 I realize this is what you just said at the same meeting on any question except by leave 3200 03:17:33,320 --> 03:17:35,120 of the council. 3201 03:17:35,120 --> 03:17:37,360 So that would be at chair discretion. 3202 03:17:37,360 --> 03:17:41,320 So would that mean that by leave of the council, we would have to make an exception for that 3203 03:17:41,320 --> 03:17:43,160 as a body? 3204 03:17:43,160 --> 03:17:44,240 Would there be a motion? 3205 03:17:44,240 --> 03:17:45,600 How would that work? 3206 03:17:45,600 --> 03:17:53,400 The chair makes rulings a member of the body could ask for an appeal of the chair's ruling. 3207 03:17:53,400 --> 03:18:01,400 Okay, thank you. 3208 03:18:01,400 --> 03:18:07,040 There's no one in the queue to speak on. 3209 03:18:07,040 --> 03:18:11,200 What's your, you want to make a, you want to challenge the ruling of the chair? 3210 03:18:11,200 --> 03:18:12,200 Correct. 3211 03:18:12,200 --> 03:18:15,040 There's a motion to challenge the ruling of the chair or to appeal the ruling of the chair. 3212 03:18:15,040 --> 03:18:17,680 Is there a second? 3213 03:18:17,680 --> 03:18:22,840 The motion fails for lack of a second. 3214 03:18:22,840 --> 03:18:27,000 When the clerk calls your name, please vote as you wish. 3215 03:18:27,000 --> 03:18:33,360 Alder Pabon, Alder Frazier. 3216 03:18:33,360 --> 03:18:34,680 On the motion. 3217 03:18:34,680 --> 03:18:38,000 There was no second on Alder Widener's motion, not appealing the chair, so we're actually 3218 03:18:38,000 --> 03:18:49,280 voting on the item itself, item 07, sorry, 0799-26, thank you Alder Harmon. 3219 03:18:49,280 --> 03:19:02,640 Alder Weiss, Alder Davis, Alder Mack, Alder Jorgensen, Alderman Widener, Alder Horton, 3220 03:19:02,640 --> 03:19:16,600 Alder Hodges, Alder Allen, Alder Pete, Alder DeMar, Alder Kelly, Alder Harmon, 13, Ayes 1, 3221 03:19:16,600 --> 03:19:17,600 No. 3222 03:19:17,600 --> 03:19:20,600 Alder Horton, did you have any other items for separate consideration? 3223 03:19:20,600 --> 03:19:21,600 One more. 3224 03:19:21,600 --> 03:19:22,600 One more. 3225 03:19:22,600 --> 03:19:23,600 All right. 3226 03:19:23,600 --> 03:19:24,600 Please. 3227 03:19:24,600 --> 03:19:31,320 0794-26, communications sponsored by Alder Allen, Alder Frazier, Alder Weiss, requesting 3228 03:19:31,320 --> 03:19:38,600 to commission a commemorable plait in memorial of Bishop Lawrence Currie, recommendation 3229 03:19:38,600 --> 03:19:42,680 of the Finance and Personnel Committee on 9-8 is to approve the purchase of the commemorable 3230 03:19:42,680 --> 03:19:47,520 plait in memorial of Bishop Lawrence Currie, moved to approve. 3231 03:19:47,520 --> 03:19:50,160 It's a motion and a second to approve the item. 3232 03:19:50,160 --> 03:19:52,520 Did you want to speak to the item Alder? 3233 03:19:52,520 --> 03:20:00,080 Yes, just briefly I also like to be a sponsor of this item, and this was called by separate 3234 03:20:00,080 --> 03:20:03,080 consideration by the Alder, the 14th. 3235 03:20:03,080 --> 03:20:04,080 All right. 3236 03:20:04,080 --> 03:20:09,480 Alder, without objection, Alder Horton would like to be added as a co-sponsor of the motion 3237 03:20:09,480 --> 03:20:12,200 just by a show of hands, I'm just going to anticipate it as somebody else who would 3238 03:20:12,200 --> 03:20:20,200 like to be added as a co-sponsor. 3239 03:20:20,200 --> 03:20:29,880 Alder's Horton, Mack, Pabone, Harmon, Davis, who would like to be added, did I miss anybody? 3240 03:20:29,880 --> 03:20:30,880 Okay. 3241 03:20:30,880 --> 03:20:31,880 All right. 3242 03:20:31,880 --> 03:20:34,080 And would you like to speak further to the motion? 3243 03:20:34,080 --> 03:20:36,680 Alder Pabone, would you like to speak to it? 3244 03:20:36,680 --> 03:20:40,960 I mean, nobody in the queue to speak on the item when the clerk calls your name, please 3245 03:20:40,960 --> 03:20:43,720 vote as you wish. 3246 03:20:43,720 --> 03:20:51,440 Alder Pabone, Alder Frazier, Alder Weiss, Alder Davis, Alder Mack, Alder Jorgensen, 3247 03:20:51,440 --> 03:21:00,760 Alderman Widener, Alder Horton, Alder Hodges, Alder Allen, Alder Pete, Alder Demar, Alder 3248 03:21:00,760 --> 03:21:06,520 Kelly, Alder Harmon, 14 I's, zero no. 3249 03:21:06,520 --> 03:21:10,120 Alder Horton, are there any items that we didn't do for separate considerations? 3250 03:21:10,120 --> 03:21:11,120 No, yeah, no. 3251 03:21:11,120 --> 03:21:14,320 Then that completes the report. 3252 03:21:14,320 --> 03:21:17,680 And we will go to, oh, no, actually that's not true, there are a couple items that were 3253 03:21:17,680 --> 03:21:19,000 not pulled for separate considerations. 3254 03:21:19,000 --> 03:21:24,080 So without objection, I will move the remainder of this report to the consent agenda and then 3255 03:21:24,080 --> 03:21:29,920 move on to Public Works and Services report and ask Alder Harmon if she'd had any requests 3256 03:21:29,920 --> 03:21:31,480 for separate considerations. 3257 03:21:31,480 --> 03:21:33,000 No, you're out. 3258 03:21:33,000 --> 03:21:36,440 And without objection, this report will be placed on the consent agenda. 3259 03:21:36,440 --> 03:21:40,040 We'll then move on to the Public Safety and Licensing Committee. 3260 03:21:40,040 --> 03:21:47,280 Alder Pete, did you have any items for separate considerations? 3261 03:21:47,280 --> 03:21:53,440 My apologies that's happened yesterday, the microphone program has frozen up, so I don't 3262 03:21:53,440 --> 03:22:02,000 know that I'm going to be able to turn microphones on at this time. 3263 03:22:02,000 --> 03:22:07,800 Something from IT is still here or listening, the microphones are no longer working, so 3264 03:22:07,800 --> 03:22:13,040 I can't turn them on or off. 3265 03:22:13,040 --> 03:22:17,880 But Alder Pete has said he had no items for separate considerations, so we will move 3266 03:22:17,880 --> 03:22:22,120 that on to the consent agenda without objections. 3267 03:22:22,120 --> 03:22:26,160 And then one final item for the Planning Here Design Committee report. 3268 03:22:26,160 --> 03:22:29,440 Alder Pete, did you get any requests for separate considerations on the second? 3269 03:22:29,440 --> 03:22:32,560 And without objection, this will be placed on the consent agenda and we will move to 3270 03:22:32,560 --> 03:22:34,440 the consent agenda. 3271 03:22:34,440 --> 03:22:36,480 Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? 3272 03:22:36,480 --> 03:22:37,480 Second. 3273 03:22:37,480 --> 03:22:39,680 A motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. 3274 03:22:39,680 --> 03:22:42,560 All those in favor of the consent agenda, please say aye. 3275 03:22:42,560 --> 03:22:43,560 Opposed? 3276 03:22:43,560 --> 03:22:44,560 That motion carries. 3277 03:22:44,560 --> 03:22:48,720 I believe the microphones may be working again, thank you to IT for helping us with 3278 03:22:48,720 --> 03:22:49,720 that. 3279 03:22:49,720 --> 03:22:53,480 I'm going to turn all of them off in the hopes that we do this again. 3280 03:22:53,480 --> 03:22:56,120 We are on to Common Council announcements. 3281 03:22:56,120 --> 03:23:00,840 Our limited to recognition of city residents and employees, memorials and non-political 3282 03:23:00,840 --> 03:23:05,880 community events discussion matters related to governmental business is prohibited. 3283 03:23:05,880 --> 03:23:10,680 The first announcement for us is Alder Pabone. 3284 03:23:10,680 --> 03:23:12,640 I would just say again, it's happened again. 3285 03:23:12,640 --> 03:23:16,080 I would ask all of you to have respect for your colleagues when we get to announcements 3286 03:23:16,080 --> 03:23:20,400 and stay until the completion of the meeting. 3287 03:23:20,400 --> 03:23:22,240 We've all been here for a while. 3288 03:23:22,240 --> 03:23:24,200 Everybody's announcement is equally important. 3289 03:23:24,200 --> 03:23:27,080 Please give your colleagues the courtesy of staying through the end of the announcements. 3290 03:23:27,080 --> 03:23:29,080 Alder Pabone. 3291 03:23:29,080 --> 03:23:30,080 Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 3292 03:23:30,080 --> 03:23:35,240 I'm going to sound really bad here because I'm blanking on the name, but a very special 3293 03:23:35,240 --> 03:23:37,080 birthday here from the clerk's office. 3294 03:23:37,080 --> 03:23:38,720 So happy birthday. 3295 03:23:38,720 --> 03:23:42,360 Could someone please give me the name of that? 3296 03:23:42,360 --> 03:23:43,920 Happy birthday, eventually sat through the whole thing. 3297 03:23:43,920 --> 03:23:44,920 It's her birthday. 3298 03:23:44,920 --> 03:23:48,640 I couldn't think of a more thrilling way to spend my birthday than me here, but thank 3299 03:23:48,640 --> 03:23:53,360 you for the clerk's office and all that they do to the chief and the finance director, 3300 03:23:53,360 --> 03:23:56,400 and all the other departments that kind of help us get through these really, really 3301 03:23:56,400 --> 03:23:59,400 long meetings. 3302 03:23:59,400 --> 03:24:03,800 I just want to say a special thanks to Racine Police Department, Mount Pleasant Police, 3303 03:24:03,800 --> 03:24:05,240 the U.S. marshals. 3304 03:24:05,240 --> 03:24:12,240 They have apprehended the murder suspect for my cousin's son's murder, so that's fantastic 3305 03:24:12,240 --> 03:24:13,240 news. 3306 03:24:13,240 --> 03:24:16,600 So thank you to everyone who worked on that, shared, commented, supported, all that fun 3307 03:24:16,600 --> 03:24:17,600 stuff. 3308 03:24:17,600 --> 03:24:22,440 Also, on a lighter note, I want to wish my niece Autumn a happy birthday or it'll be 3309 03:24:22,440 --> 03:24:26,760 on the 17th, and then my cousin, Yula, as well, a happy birthday. 3310 03:24:26,760 --> 03:24:27,960 There are a lot of great things. 3311 03:24:27,960 --> 03:24:29,160 We're going into fall here. 3312 03:24:29,160 --> 03:24:34,040 The bird months is what I like to call, and they get very expensive, but I just hope everyone 3313 03:24:34,040 --> 03:24:36,440 has a good time in between the next council meeting. 3314 03:24:36,440 --> 03:24:42,080 We're approaching budget, so take a rest where you can, and let's get to it. 3315 03:24:42,440 --> 03:24:45,680 All good to mark. 3316 03:24:45,680 --> 03:24:49,960 All good to mark. 3317 03:24:49,960 --> 03:24:52,600 Sorry about that. 3318 03:24:52,600 --> 03:24:59,280 I just want to congratulate Alder Harbin on her recent appointment to the school board. 3319 03:24:59,280 --> 03:25:03,600 It was great. 3320 03:25:03,600 --> 03:25:11,000 It was great being there, seeing them vote for her, so I'm excited to work with her on 3321 03:25:11,000 --> 03:25:15,520 that side of the aisle. 3322 03:25:15,520 --> 03:25:22,360 I also want to say happy birthday to my sister, which is going to be tomorrow, and for her 3323 03:25:22,360 --> 03:25:36,160 business that will be at, I hate to say this, Kenosha, Talia Fuss, and I just wanted to 3324 03:25:36,160 --> 03:25:40,400 give my condolences to the Winegarde family. 3325 03:25:40,840 --> 03:25:46,040 Van Winegarde recently lost his daughter, who I know personally. 3326 03:25:46,040 --> 03:25:49,560 She was my fifth-grade teacher. 3327 03:25:49,560 --> 03:25:55,960 She was a really great teacher to have. 3328 03:25:55,960 --> 03:26:04,200 She really helped us out during 9-11, and kept us calm, and kept us cool during that 3329 03:26:04,280 --> 03:26:14,000 day when we found out through her, we had a really good discussion, and plus before being 3330 03:26:14,000 --> 03:26:17,400 in that class, I didn't really care about school. 3331 03:26:17,400 --> 03:26:25,640 She actually made school actually fun, so rest in peace. 3332 03:26:25,640 --> 03:26:27,360 Thank you for that remembrance. 3333 03:26:27,360 --> 03:26:40,400 I'd like to congratulate Bob Turner on his recognition tonight. 3334 03:26:40,400 --> 03:26:45,440 I had the privilege of serving with Bob on the council, and it was a different time, 3335 03:26:45,440 --> 03:26:46,440 a more civil time. 3336 03:26:46,440 --> 03:26:53,440 Not her a Bob on standing this evening, because every time Bob addressed his council, he 3337 03:26:53,440 --> 03:26:56,400 stood up from his chair over there. 3338 03:26:56,400 --> 03:27:02,520 Everything he learned in the state assembly, I was told, and never failed. 3339 03:27:02,520 --> 03:27:08,120 Bob was a gentleman, he was respectful, he was an elder statesman, and he served this 3340 03:27:08,120 --> 03:27:10,640 body with distinction. 3341 03:27:10,640 --> 03:27:15,880 What I really took away from my time serving with Bob was that you could disagree without 3342 03:27:15,880 --> 03:27:18,880 being disagreeable. 3343 03:27:18,880 --> 03:27:25,720 There was no pettiness, there was no potshots, there was no one-upmanship, it was just dealing 3344 03:27:25,720 --> 03:27:32,760 with issues, and you walked away afterwards, and you went out, and you had a roof beer, 3345 03:27:32,760 --> 03:27:36,320 and there were no hard feelings. 3346 03:27:36,320 --> 03:27:41,360 It'd be nice if we could get back to that at some point, because there's something to 3347 03:27:41,360 --> 03:27:47,120 be said about civility, and bringing it back to the public square. 3348 03:27:47,120 --> 03:27:54,840 I am the son-in-law of a migrant worker, and so Hispanic Heritage Month is very important 3349 03:27:54,840 --> 03:28:01,720 to our family as I head up a household that's recorded as Hispanic, and so for those that 3350 03:28:01,720 --> 03:28:07,360 are observing, I hope it's going to be a good month. 3351 03:28:07,360 --> 03:28:15,160 I am teaching a class that's primarily Hispanic now, so we'll be recognizing that throughout 3352 03:28:15,160 --> 03:28:20,520 the month, and then see a party on the pavement. 3353 03:28:20,520 --> 03:28:24,000 Thank you for the reminder. 3354 03:28:24,000 --> 03:28:28,120 Just as an aside, it is true when you're in this state assembly to speak in this state 3355 03:28:28,120 --> 03:28:31,400 assembly, you do have to be standing when you're recognized. 3356 03:28:31,400 --> 03:28:36,160 We don't have that tradition here, but it does change the tenor of the debate a little 3357 03:28:36,160 --> 03:28:37,160 bit. 3358 03:28:37,160 --> 03:28:40,160 Alder Herman. 3359 03:28:40,160 --> 03:28:41,960 Thank you, Mayor. 3360 03:28:41,960 --> 03:28:52,120 Over the weekend, I spent time with my granddaughter, Nora, and her cousin, Aston Martin. 3361 03:28:52,120 --> 03:29:00,120 One of the activities that we did was to go to the Racine Historical Museum and do a scavenger 3362 03:29:00,120 --> 03:29:03,120 hunt, and look at different things. 3363 03:29:03,120 --> 03:29:10,680 They have a worksheet there where you find little ducks throughout the different exhibits 3364 03:29:10,680 --> 03:29:11,680 and stuff. 3365 03:29:11,680 --> 03:29:20,040 They just loved it, and I went with my Aunt Rose Martin Stinson, who is an educator, and 3366 03:29:20,040 --> 03:29:26,640 any time we do an activity, there's something educational at the end of it, so we had them 3367 03:29:26,640 --> 03:29:36,440 create a paragraph of what they loved about the museum, and what they loved was the mummy. 3368 03:29:36,440 --> 03:29:45,760 So there is a mummy at the Racine Historical Museum that was purchased for $500 from Egypt, 3369 03:29:45,760 --> 03:29:54,360 and they also enjoyed the Underground Railroad exhibit, where there's a simulation of different 3370 03:29:54,360 --> 03:30:02,200 questions that you answer, and based off of your answer, you either got caught by the 3371 03:30:02,200 --> 03:30:11,680 bounty hunters, or you ended up free in Canada, and Nora died in the river, and my 3372 03:30:11,680 --> 03:30:14,800 little cousin, he got free. 3373 03:30:14,800 --> 03:30:21,960 But I just want to commend Racine Historical Museum for their additional exhibits, making 3374 03:30:21,960 --> 03:30:29,520 it more interactive, and I encourage other Racine residents to go out to the Racine Museum. 3375 03:30:29,520 --> 03:30:31,520 It's free. 3376 03:30:31,520 --> 03:30:37,760 It is actually on Main Street. 3377 03:30:37,760 --> 03:30:46,960 So, yes, so I encourage everyone to go out, check it out, and the staff was very friendly. 3378 03:30:46,960 --> 03:30:47,960 So. 3379 03:30:47,960 --> 03:30:48,960 Great. 3380 03:30:48,960 --> 03:30:50,760 More specifically on the corner of Main and Seventh. 3381 03:30:50,760 --> 03:30:51,760 Yeah. 3382 03:30:51,760 --> 03:30:55,760 All through Davis. 3383 03:30:55,760 --> 03:30:58,240 Thank you. 3384 03:30:58,240 --> 03:31:05,040 Today is my parents celebrate their 25th anniversary. 3385 03:31:05,040 --> 03:31:09,920 Shout out to Linda and Andrew. 3386 03:31:09,920 --> 03:31:23,720 With that also, this, I believe it was September 4th, my cousin, Alice Johnson, known as Faye 3387 03:31:23,720 --> 03:31:32,360 passed away, so rest her soul. 3388 03:31:32,360 --> 03:31:41,400 We, her service is this Friday, and family's here, so just shout out to her as we were. 3389 03:31:41,400 --> 03:31:48,480 We were Leo's together, so I have to shout out my fellow Leo, okay. 3390 03:31:48,480 --> 03:31:55,680 The other piece is Bob Turner was here, and we honored him. 3391 03:31:55,680 --> 03:32:02,680 And if you did not know, now you would know, he's a district three, constituent, yeah, district 3392 03:32:02,680 --> 03:32:07,680 three strong, but that's all. 3393 03:32:07,680 --> 03:32:09,360 Other for them. 3394 03:32:09,360 --> 03:32:13,120 Labs in memory here, so just my condolences to all of the Davis and her family on the 3395 03:32:13,120 --> 03:32:18,460 passing there, and also I'm very excited for the Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation, and 3396 03:32:18,460 --> 03:32:22,300 probably part Puerto Rican on my father's side, so it's really great to see those things, 3397 03:32:22,300 --> 03:32:23,300 and enjoy. 3398 03:32:23,300 --> 03:32:28,940 I've also been to the Racine Historic Museum downtown for a district. 3399 03:32:28,940 --> 03:32:36,140 I've also been there, fantastic, great, but I would also like to just re-congratulate 3400 03:32:36,140 --> 03:32:41,900 Alder Kelly on being able to ring the bell, and then also send, you know, positive wishes 3401 03:32:41,900 --> 03:32:45,500 in a speedy recovery to Alderland, so that's what I forgot. 3402 03:32:45,500 --> 03:32:46,660 Thank you. 3403 03:32:46,660 --> 03:32:47,660 Thank you. 3404 03:32:47,660 --> 03:32:50,780 Alder Kelly, you have the floor. 3405 03:32:50,780 --> 03:32:51,780 Thank you. 3406 03:32:51,780 --> 03:32:54,340 Thank you very much, those kind words. 3407 03:32:54,340 --> 03:32:59,900 I just wanted to say a happy early birthday to my daughter, Cara. 3408 03:32:59,900 --> 03:33:07,220 She will be 18 on Friday the 18th, so it's her golden birthday. 3409 03:33:07,220 --> 03:33:13,820 Also I wanted to thank Alder DeMark for the kind words. 3410 03:33:13,820 --> 03:33:23,020 I want to send out any good thoughts and prayers to the Wongard family. 3411 03:33:23,020 --> 03:33:25,540 I was friends with Katie. 3412 03:33:25,540 --> 03:33:33,020 Katie sent me a lot of prayer cards during my recovery journey. 3413 03:33:33,020 --> 03:33:42,140 I was able to walk with her during the relay for life in June, and she's, you know, was 3414 03:33:42,140 --> 03:33:47,940 there with me when I got my hair cut off, and so she was a wonderful, amazing person, 3415 03:33:47,940 --> 03:33:58,740 so I just want to say, you know, something to her family, I'm sorry, and that's it. 3416 03:33:58,740 --> 03:33:59,740 Thank you. 3417 03:33:59,740 --> 03:34:00,740 Alder Allen. 3418 03:34:00,740 --> 03:34:01,740 Thank you. 3419 03:34:01,740 --> 03:34:10,580 So first I'm going to say I'm excited to celebrate his Spanish Heritage Month for those 3420 03:34:10,580 --> 03:34:12,060 that you do not know. 3421 03:34:12,060 --> 03:34:13,780 My father is Hispanic. 3422 03:34:13,780 --> 03:34:22,620 My mom is indigenous and Caucasian, so it is a well-celebrated month in my house, and 3423 03:34:22,620 --> 03:34:24,020 so I'm looking forward to that. 3424 03:34:24,020 --> 03:34:27,860 Happy Hispanic Heritage Month to everyone who also is going to celebrate. 3425 03:34:27,860 --> 03:34:35,660 I also want to thank everyone, and I do meet everyone that celebrated with me, supported 3426 03:34:35,660 --> 03:34:42,740 me during my journey to participate for Mrs. America. 3427 03:34:42,740 --> 03:34:48,180 For those who do not know who are listening, I am the current reigning Mrs. Wisconsin America, 3428 03:34:48,180 --> 03:34:53,140 and I just returned from competing at the nationals, and I want to tell you, it was 3429 03:34:53,140 --> 03:34:59,220 the best experience meeting the other queens from the other states. 3430 03:34:59,220 --> 03:35:06,260 It is going to live forever in my mind the two weeks that I spent hearing your stories, 3431 03:35:06,260 --> 03:35:07,820 learning about their journey. 3432 03:35:07,820 --> 03:35:15,980 It was the celebration of the 50th year for Mrs. America, and those women aren't just 3433 03:35:15,980 --> 03:35:17,220 beautiful. 3434 03:35:17,220 --> 03:35:24,860 They are accomplished strong women with stories and journeys that deserve to be celebrated, 3435 03:35:24,860 --> 03:35:27,060 so I had a wonderful time. 3436 03:35:27,060 --> 03:35:28,900 And thank you again. 3437 03:35:28,900 --> 03:35:35,900 And also, I think Racine has finished the third week of school, and Kenosha has finished 3438 03:35:35,900 --> 03:35:39,500 this, well, I have finished this six week, I'm in my six week of school. 3439 03:35:39,500 --> 03:35:45,500 So for all the families who are still just getting adjusted to being back to school, 3440 03:35:45,500 --> 03:35:50,100 we're all going over the hump, but congratulations, we've made it this far, and holidays are 3441 03:35:50,100 --> 03:35:51,660 right around the corner. 3442 03:35:51,660 --> 03:36:00,780 And as everyone also mentioned, we celebrated the wonderful Mr. Turner, and I did not have 3443 03:36:00,780 --> 03:36:07,580 an opportunity to work directly with him, but I have come familiar with his legacy, 3444 03:36:07,580 --> 03:36:11,620 and I'm excited that we were able to recognize him this evening. 3445 03:36:11,620 --> 03:36:13,620 All the working. 3446 03:36:13,620 --> 03:36:19,180 Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I'll be very short since I helped up all the night with all 3447 03:36:19,180 --> 03:36:21,180 those items, so I'll be short. 3448 03:36:21,180 --> 03:36:26,740 So first of all, I'd just like to, just to Mr. Turner, you know, just thank him for 3449 03:36:26,740 --> 03:36:31,300 service, and it's also a service, you know, as a veteran. 3450 03:36:31,300 --> 03:36:38,660 Eight years ago, when I first decided, besides my predecessor, Aldra DeHaan, the second 3451 03:36:38,660 --> 03:36:43,340 call I got was from Bob Turner. 3452 03:36:43,340 --> 03:36:47,900 And I knew he had been in the seat for a while, you know, over 18 years, and he was 3453 03:36:47,900 --> 03:36:50,540 just giving me pointers of being an alder. 3454 03:36:50,540 --> 03:36:55,220 One of the things he told me, you know, just listen first, you know, the first, first, 3455 03:36:55,220 --> 03:36:59,580 you know, for at least a year, six months to a year, just listening here, how things 3456 03:36:59,580 --> 03:37:03,380 are panning out and what you're going to be effective in doing. 3457 03:37:03,380 --> 03:37:07,540 I want to thank him for that, and also paving the way for some of the seats that are filled 3458 03:37:07,540 --> 03:37:14,660 by us tonight, because there was a time, years back, you would only have one alder, a color, 3459 03:37:14,660 --> 03:37:16,100 maybe two. 3460 03:37:16,100 --> 03:37:21,580 And now we're probably at six or seven, and especially the African American females that's 3461 03:37:21,580 --> 03:37:27,860 on here also, it, you know, the council have come a long way with diversity, and I think 3462 03:37:27,860 --> 03:37:33,220 that moving forward, it was, you know, following his footsteps. 3463 03:37:33,220 --> 03:37:38,180 Might not last 18 to 20 years like he have and been in the state legislator, but thank 3464 03:37:38,180 --> 03:37:42,740 him for everything that he done for the city we see. 3465 03:37:42,740 --> 03:37:45,460 Thank you, alder Horton. 3466 03:37:45,460 --> 03:37:49,420 I too want to thank Bob for being here tonight, and all of you being a part of honoring with 3467 03:37:49,420 --> 03:37:50,420 him. 3468 03:37:50,420 --> 03:37:55,340 He's been a mentor and a friend to me my entire career, and is just a really decent human 3469 03:37:55,340 --> 03:38:01,220 being and good advisor, so I'm really glad we got to honor his public service tonight. 3470 03:38:01,220 --> 03:38:05,660 I also wanted to express my deepest sympathies to the Wongard family, particularly to Van 3471 03:38:05,660 --> 03:38:09,820 Wongard, who, you know, probably not a lot we agree on politically, but I certainly have 3472 03:38:09,820 --> 03:38:15,020 always admired how much he loves his family and his commitment to family, and so my heart 3473 03:38:15,020 --> 03:38:20,660 aches for him and his entire family right now, so our deepest condolences. 3474 03:38:20,660 --> 03:38:25,620 I want to adjourn, however, in honor of my daughter, Amelia, who's having a 16th birthday 3475 03:38:25,620 --> 03:38:27,120 also on Friday. 3476 03:38:27,120 --> 03:38:33,020 She's taking her driver's test, so pray for her. 3477 03:38:33,020 --> 03:38:37,900 Hopefully she passes, but really excited to celebrate her 16th birthday on the 18th