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Public safety is one of the issues front and center at City Hall right now with this spring’s spate of gunfire and the process well under way to hire St. Paul’s next Chief of Police. Spring homicides on University Avenue and on Snelling Avenue, as well as some violent assaults have all of us concerned and have made many understandably uneasy.
Recently, I received an e-mail from a constituent very concerned about the recent violence and wondering if I thought it was safe to walk around Hamline-Midway (where I live) at night. I responded saying that while everyone should be concerned about the recent violent crimes, the incidence of random violence in our community remains extremely low. That I have raised two kids (a boy and a girl) in Hamline Midway, that they have grown up navigating the neighborhood on foot and bike and transit, and as they have gotten older doing those things on their own (they are now teenagers). The recent events have not changed any of these things in our household and I don’t believe they should.
I also responded that the St. Paul Police Department has been working their tails off to apprehend the perpetrators of these recent incidents and to be more visible and active in the area. In my 17 years in the Midway I have seen these ups and downs of violent crime come and go, and for the time being I am pleased to report that things have been a bit quieter over the past couple of weeks.
Finally, I responded that it’s important for everyone to use common sense and be aware of their surroundings at all times, but that in general I find the Midway to be a very safe place. At the same time, the recent incidents have been a reminder that our City must keep investing in public safety including crime prevention programs, such as those that keep youth and young adults engaged in positive activities.
Police Chief Tom Smith announced his retirement several months ago after a long career of public service in St. Paul. Chief Smith was one of those rare public leaders who because of his down-to-earth, St. Paul style and straightforward, honest communication has had broad support from our local communities of color and SPPD’s law enforcement partners. His work promoting the remarkably successful Community Ambassadors program, as well as the Safe Summer Nights program, has been something other cities across the country have tried to emulate.
The Community Ambassadors is a partnership between SPPD and several nonprofit youth-serving organizations where youth specialists, most of them men of color, have been hired to interact with youth and young adults in areas of high crime in our City on summer nights. On the nights when the Ambassadors have been working, those areas have seen a nearly 60% decrease in crime. In the process of setting the 2016 budget, my Council colleagues and I made additional funding for the Ambassadors program a top priority.
Chief Smith’s leadership will be missed. After an esteemed and diverse panel of 33 community stakeholders reviewed the applicants for St. Paul Police Chief and narrowed the field to 5, two community forums were held last week to give residents a chance to ask questions of the five finalists. The role, procedures, policies and day-to-day interactions of police are being questioned more today than possibly at any time our nation’s history, adding to the significance of the decision facing our community. Our next Chief will need to deal with these issues in a transparent, balanced, and straightforward way, to facilitate more dialogue about these important questions and build even stronger police/community relations, particularly with our communities of color.
The Mayor is currently interviewing the 5 finalists and will propose the next Chief to the City Council in the near future. The Council has the authority to give the Mayor’s choice a thumbs up or thumbs down vote, and I anticipate that vote coming by the beginning of July.
The Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) Task Force wrapped up their deliberation in late May, and their recommendations for a Saint Paul policy will be formally announced next week, along with public input opportunities. I am grateful for the Task Force's work to date, and the opportunity for additional dialogue on these important issues in the next two months.
Check out the ESST website for meeting minutes and task force members. On June 14, this is where you'll find the policy recommendations and a link to the Open St Paul online comment forum. You can view information on the recently adopted Minneapolis ordinance here.
Two public hearings will be held on the Earned Sick & Safe Time recommendations. The first will be held at the Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity (HREEO) Commission, who will make a recommendation to the City Council.
HREEO Commission Public Hearing
June 21, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Neighborhood House at Wellstone Center
179 Robie Street East
Anna Heilmaier Meeting Room #212
Saint Paul, MN 55107
City Council Public Hearing
August 17, 2016, 5:30pm
City Council Chambers, 3rd Floor City Hall
15 W Kellogg Boulevard
 More than 4,000 Saint Paul Schools staff and students participated in Bike Walk to School Day on May 4. AND, Lilian Reiter, a Battle Creek Elementary Student won the statewide poster contest with the artwork above.
For Bike Walk to School Day, Ward 4's Great River School had meet ups at three remote locations students came from as far afield as the West Side.
After the start of the school day they counted 148 bikes locked around the
grounds.
 Great River School students cross Pierce Butler Route on Hamline Avenue.
 Last year, the St Paul Neighborhood Network moved to Cretin & 94 in the Vandalia Tower complex. Their youth
programs are varied, and include after school and summer digital media
programming for high school aged youth who reside throughout the city of Saint
Paul. Their programs are free and they provide bus passes to participating youth.
With the new location, one challenge was that the closest
light rail stop was a 15 minute walk, and the bus that
goes down Vandalia/Cretin, the 63, didn't stop adjacent to Vandalia Tower. Thanks to some collaboration with Metro Transit and the City, SPNN Youth were able to get a new bus stop located to serve SPNN and all of the other tenants in the Vandalia Tower complex.
On June 1, the City Council held a public hearing on a Public Works staff report on public input to date regarding organized trash collection, and as well as their recommendations for an organized system.
You can learn more about the process, and find the full report and summary of public input on the Organized Trash Collection website.
The
Chamber, working with Ramsey County, has a great opportunity for you to
get free consulting on how to lower your trash bill. Did you know that
this past January 1st your business was required, by state law, to start
recycling and diverting waste (including organic waste) away from
landfills?
Change
is challenging, but we have a solution. Contact Katie DiSanto at
651-265-2788 to arrange for a free consultation with the BizRecycling
team. Your Ramsey County business can get FREE consulting on how best to
not only meet the new requirements of the law, but as importantly,
provide options for you to save money in your recycling. Did you know
that when you divert organic materials from your waste stream, the
taxable portion of your waste bill can actually go down? The savings can
be significant, and we can get you there.
Contact Katie DiSanto by email or 651-265-2788 today to arrange for a free visit. Meet the standards of the law and save money? We can help you do both.
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