 Good evening. Mr. Rickerman here. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Ball. Mr. Badura. Mr. Vine. Mr. Davis. Mayor Benjamin. Here. Everyone join us for the Pudge of Allegiance. Reverend McDowell, would you please give us a word? That was by our head for this day and for the promises you've already granted us. We thank you for this assemblage tonight. We thank you for this city of ours that continues to expand and grow, touching the lives of people everywhere. We ask it in your name. Amen. Amen. Madam City Manager. National pregnancy and infant loss remembrance month by the honorable Tamika Isaac Devine. Again, that's the second presentation of the evening. And then for the agenda items, Mr. Mayor and Council, if you would please hold items 27, 31, and 39. Is there a motion to the effect? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? With the previous question, clerk Calderon. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Ball. Aye. Mr. Badura. Aye. Mr. Vine. Aye. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. City Manager. We would ask for any public input related to the items on the agenda as outlined. Seeing none, Council is asked to approve the August 20th, 2019, and September 17th, 2019 City Council meeting. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Any discussion? With the previous question, clerk Calderon. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Ball. Aye. Mr. Badura. Aye. Council is asked to approve the consent agenda items 6 through 25. So moved. Discussion? I just wanted to know, well I had some calls and I just wanted to, people asking about our purchase of Taho's for police pursuit vehicles, and we had an opportunity really to take advantage of getting a much better quality vehicle at a good price, fully outfitted with some updated technology and some things that allow our officers not only to be safer on the road, but also allow them to do their job better. And we really were able to do this without really an increase in cost of what we've had to spend previous with sedans, which we're not getting the same type of vehicle. I just wanted to make a note of that so that public knew what we were doing, why we were doing and how it's going to better our officers' ability to do their job. Yes, sir. Thank you for that note. Mr. Rickerman, I would commit to counsel the other Columbia Police Department. With the previous question, clerk Calderon. Mr. Rickerman. Aye. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Aye. Mr. Vador. Mayor Benjamin. Aye. Thank you. Moving into our period of presentations, item 26 is Red Ribbon Week from the Honorable Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin. Oh, I see three people signed up for the Tahoe's discussions. Is that, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, you know, you should come to the microphone. Yeah. There's a three minute limit, ladies. Three minute, three minute limit. So please. Thank you. Hi, my name is E.K. Hoffman and this is Kate Bowie. We are both residents of Columbia. We would like to express our concern regarding the proposed spending on 53 Chevy Tahoe's and their outfitting for law enforcement use. Totaling over 3.3 million taxpayer dollars. This allocation of funding is a complete misappropriation of taxpayer money and could be better spent on combating homelessness in Columbia. The total budget for the Columbia Police Department is over $42 million already whereas the total funds allocated for all homeless services is only $1 million. We're spending more money today on Tahoe's than we are in three years of funding homeless services. We are spending more towards enforcing the criminalization of people experiencing homelessness than we are on direct services to combat homelessness. Our city like many has an inflammatory history of anti homeless rhetoric action and legislation. In 2013, our city council received national criticism by releasing a plan titled homeless emergency response that gave people experiencing homelessness in ultimatum go to the emergency shelter or be arrested. Our anti homelessness legislation and actions continues today with ordinances that criminalized loitering and camping alike criminalizing sleeping resting and storing personal property make the existence of people experiencing homelessness in public spaces effectively illegal criminalizing life sustaining behaviors such as sleep is cruel and dehumanizing anti homeless laws policies and ordinances have a very real impact on the public's perception of people experiencing homelessness. These anti homeless ordinances send the message that people experiencing homelessness should be kept out of sight and that poverty is shameful rather than a reflection of our culture and our city. These ordinances encourage businesses and individuals to discriminate against poor folks and folks experiencing homelessness. It also removes the responsibility of poverty away from our society and onto the individual perpetuating the false narrative that one can simply pull themselves up by their bootstraps. And while empathy is key criminalization ordinances are also incredibly costly to talk taxpayers. Several studies indicate that providing permanent housing in case management is more effective for solving homelessness while also saving millions of dollars. Columbia has a lack of resources in terms of homeless services. And a large part of that is due to the misappropriation of funds like the police taught host this council is here to discuss today. It is abundantly clear that helping people experiencing homelessness is not a priority for the city. The one million dollar budget is too small and city officials continue to act against poor folks and in favor of private property and the agendas of businesses such as the recent example of Councilman Duvall's role in the removal of the benches from the Vista and subsequent proposal of replacing. I would like to finish it comes back please. Well if we're talking about the Tahoe's to have a separate discussion about homelessness there's a point on the agenda to have your say about about about homelessness in Columbia which is a real and legitimate issue. But if in fact. Please finish. Thank you. I really appreciate that. But there will be an opportunity if you want to have a word on homelessness to still do that and do it probably within the hour. OK I appreciate that and I appreciate you letting me finish. So there is a recent example of the removal of the benches in the Vista and the subsequent proposal of replacing them with bench designs that include dividers. This council is prioritizing capital over human lives. And now as we face massive affordable housing crisis we can expect to see numbers. How much longer before you finish maybe I should ask that. Like a sentence. OK. If we're talking about the purchase of the vehicles. The reallocation of that money towards providing services. We'll have we'll have the opportunity during citizen input to to share anything and everything you want to talk about. It can be about law enforcement. It can be about homelessness. It can be about anything else. But but this. Absolutely. Yes ma'am. So you want us to continue where we left off at the end or at the end of the agenda. And if we're lucky that would be pretty short. OK. I appreciate the opportunity to speak. But I do find it disrespectful to be interrupted when I did care deeply about this topic and how it relates to the purchase of the Tahoe specifically. I'm sorry you feel disrespected. We covered that part on the agenda. As you admitted you missed that part. So we so we so we so we amended the rules to allow you to. So I'm not sure how you feel disrespected. But we respect the fact that you feel disrespected. And we'll have more of an opportunity to do so and in a moment or so. Thank you Mayor Benjamin moving on to a period of presentations. We are going. What is the subject. If you want to speak directly to that item then you should have spoken to it before the council voted on it during the public input. But being that you missed that that's up to the mayor and council is that that would be up to Mr. Mayor and council. If you give us if you give if you give us a moment. I anticipate that we'll be there within a half hour within the half hour. All right. So let's let's try to work through the agenda and we'll be right back there. OK. All right. Moving to a period of presentations. And I'm going to calm down. This is a very important presentation. And we'll take we'll take Miss. And this is adding the presentation respectfully on the national pregnancy and infant loss remembrance month. Honorable Tamika Isaac Devine. Thank you. Mr. Mayor members of city council. This this year marks the fifth year that we are recognizing national pregnancy and infant loss remembrance month. We have as a city where the only city that I know of in the South Carolina is recognizing this month that gives an opportunity for parents who have lost a child through pregnancy or an infant to have an opportunity to remember their children. And so I wanted to invite Christy Boether who is the founder of Naomi Circle which is a support group for mothers to come forward. She always has eloquent words for us. And then after Christy comes forward then we have a proclamation that I'd like to read. Christy. Thank you. Tamika. Mayor Benjamin and city council members. Thank you again for having me here for this fifth year. This is actually my 10th pregnancy and infant loss remembrance day. 10 years ago tonight I sat in the living room with a friend of mine and we lit two candles. One from my daughter Naomi who had passed away in my fourth month of pregnancy six six months before and one for her baby that had passed away two months before that. Our losses were very different. She had lost her baby between six and eight weeks and mine had been at almost 19 weeks. But we grieved together and we supported each other together because we had learned the difference between only and already. It's easy when you have a loss to compare yourself to other losses to say well my baby was only six weeks or my baby was only eight weeks or I only had one loss and this person had two or three or more losses. But I read an article recently that compared the only and said instead of saying only say already my baby was already eight weeks. My baby was already 12 weeks. I had one loss. I have I've had already two losses and so we supported each other even though our losses were different and I've learned to do that in the last eight years or so of having Naomi Circle support group that one of our rules of our meetings is we don't compare and we don't apologize for tears. And so the babies that I'm remembering tonight I had three that I lost around five weeks. They were only five weeks but they had already made an impact on my life. They had already changed my body chemistry. They had already had a DNA that if they had lived probably would have resulted in the same curly blonde hair that my living children have. Another baby Kira was already eight weeks. She had already had a heartbeat that I had seen twice and I had already planned out her wedding. And my baby Naomi that I lost at 18 weeks already had toenails and finger nails that I got to count when she was born sleeping. And so they are the babies that have impacted my life and I know that there are so many one in four pregnancies ends in a miscarriage or a stillbirth or a pregnancy loss or an infant death. And the same is true in our city just as well as across the nation. And so I want to thank you again for remembering our babies with us because even though it doesn't change anything the recognition by our community is part of our healing process. It is part of our healing for the parents and for other family members that were left behind to grieve and to miss the children who left us too soon. So 10 years ago I lit a candle along with my friend. Last week in our Naomi Circle meeting for October we lit 100 candles and those candles lit up the room even though it was dark. And they were for all the babies that were represented by the people who came which was just a handful but also for dozens and dozens of other members and families and friends that had contacted me and said would you light a candle to remember my baby and they gave us names. And sometimes I just said baby so and so but that baby's life still mattered and those parents needed that comfort. And so I thank you for standing with us for increasing awareness so that it is not so hard to say I lost a baby to say their names like it would have been 20 or 30 or 40 years ago. I've given you each a candle and I don't ask you to light it now in this room. But it is the custom on October 15th and has been for many years that we would light a candle around seven o'clock and let it burn for an hour in whatever time zone we're in. And by doing that we send a wave of light around the world for 24 hours. And it is a reminder not only that our babies are not forgotten but that there is also healing and that there is hope in the future. And so I hope that you'll take this candle home and although you'll be here at seven o'clock perhaps you can light it when you get home and remember our babies with us. And thank you again for not leaving us alone but for standing alongside us as fellow citizens. Thank you. Thank you Kristi. So Kristi I want to read this and then we'll make the presentation. Whereas pregnancy and infant loss for remembrance month is a month of remembrance for pregnancy loss and infant deaths which include but it's not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS or the death of a newborn. And whereas whereas nearly one in four women have experienced the loss of a baby in pregnancy. And whereas the loss of a baby remains a sad reality for many families it takes a serious toll on the health and well-being of families as well as our community and the nation as a whole. And whereas even the shortest lives and still valuable and the grief of those who mourn the loss of these lives should not be trivialized. Excuse me. Whereas recognizing pregnancy and infant loss for remembrance month will enable the citizens of Colombia to consider how they can meet the needs of bereaved mothers, fathers and family members and work to prevent the causes of these deaths. And whereas the city of Colombia appreciates the hard work from groups such as Naomi's Circle that help parents who experience the loss of a baby in pregnancy or infancy. Now therefore on behalf of our Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin and all the members of Columbia City Council we do hereby proclaim October as national pregnancy and infant loss remembrance month in the great city of Colombia and we urge all of our citizens to recognize and participate in subservience. Mayor Benjamin as you all take your seat. Thank you for allowing us to always have that moment and share that moment with you Ms. Devine and all of the families impacted. I wanted to also take a moment as we were coming into council this evening. There are lots of wonderful events that have happened that always happened in the month of October along with this remembrance. There's been a breast cancer awareness. There's been a fire safety prevention parade. Our staff has done a phenomenal job of always being on point whether it's public immediate relations, police, fire, public works. Ms. Erica our city clerk and I don't ever have to worry neither do any of you that it's done right and done well and on time. So I just wanted to say thank you to all of them and thank you Ms. Devine for always being a big part of domestic violence awareness month as well. Let that one out. All of you our council members do a phenomenal job of recognizing the important things and keeping those things on the forefront along with many other issues that you take leadership on like homelessness and public safety and balance all of it. So thank you for that. Thank you. Our next item is the Red Ribbon Week. The Honorable Mayor Stephen K Benchman. Yes, sir, item. Well, we're holding that item. He's holding it. Item 27. 27. Yeah, let's go. Let's do it. He's holding it. Yes, sir. We'll move then to Mr. Lester Young, Jr., the founder, and giving an introduction of the path to redemption. Lester, would you come forward? Mr. Young, where is Lester? Lester, please come forward if you would. Just a word of thanks to you and all the work you've done in these last few months referencing banned the box. Thank you for your energy and thank you for all that you give to this city and particularly our brothers and sisters who find themselves in tough situations. Thank you for your mentorship. There's a very special program that is scheduled for next month and I wanted Lester to talk about that. How's everyone doing? Pleasure to see everyone. This event that is being hosted on November the 7th at Benedict College, it's a second change path to redemption reentry conference. I think it may be one of the first that I know myself as the founder of this organization is going to be hosting here in Columbia and it's on the heels of you all, the leadership that the City Council and the Mayor Benjamin have taken as far as creating a banned the box city in the second chance. So what I wanted to do on the heels of that is create this conference of empowerment for the men and women who have been impacted by a criminal offense as well as educating their families as well as the community about the issues that we as a community have to continue to do to put in place in order for individuals to be successful in their transition process and some of the services that we're going to be addressing because we believe that there are many barriers in place for these individuals. We're going to be talking about pardoning expungement applications, Medicaid application process, food stamp application process, housing, the DMV, we're going to be providing free clothing, we're going to be having barbers there and the reason why I chose November the 7th because I don't know if you all know but November the first every first week in the month individuals returning home from prison into the community of Columbia, South Carolina. So November the 7th is significant for this particular reason so that these men and women who are coming home I think is about a 486 individuals are transitioning back in the community every month and some of them will be right here in Columbia, South Carolina. So this conference is again is for that particular date for the help these men and women connect with the resources that are available. So that's why I mean like Medicaid Medicaid opportunities helping them connect with the stamp benefits, free clothing, friendly felony employment opportunities for these men and women who are transitioning back in the community rather than coming home in the next week or they have been home for now for a period of time and seeking employment. And with this my intention is to provide lunch for the individuals as well as we have I'll pass all of these out we have what I created what is a resource booklet for all of the men and women who want to attend this conference and they have like everything from how to seek employment, housing, as I said Medicaid, medical opportunity, medical resources available for them so I'll pass these booklets out to you guys and what I'm asking hopefully that you guys can assist us with is that with this I have it's a nonprofit we don't have any funds at this present time so we have to print almost 150 of these particular things booklets for the men and women who are going to attend this conference as well as we're attending to provide meals for these individuals who are going to be there as well so I'm just asking the city the city council to assist us with the funds some funds that will be able to assist us with this particular issue right here and as I said also hopefully hopefully we could receive a letter from the city council speaking about the band of box ordinance that has been passed as well as hopefully what some of you could be able to attend this event just to speak about the city of Columbia being a second chance giving individuals an opportunity for employment and housing and education after the transition back into the community I appreciate you guys will now leave this the booklets you can get some more information on if you have any questions thank you again just to thank you for the work that you did that you done using your life experiences to make sure that the city is now a national leader in the space of making sure that all of our citizens have an opportunity to do the great things we know we can do very proud getting a lot of feedback from people all around the country around our work around band of box and our work around wage history I mean you've been leading the charge and I think Patrick's in here somewhere too and Teresa our legal staff just making sure we're doing and doing it right as well as reflecting on our procurement policies so you've been doing amazing work this is on the heels of this right here I think it's going to be important for the men and women to know that Columbia is that second chance and we're going to put the rubber word meets the road and we're going to start educating and providing them with those resources continue to lay that landscape and we'll talk more about about you guys you guys thank you last time thank you sir I'm using a microphone but I'll hold my head down a little bit closer to it for you item 26 is red ribbon week the honorable mayor Stephen K. Benjamin thank you whereas alcohol and drug abuse affects individuals families and communities across the nation whereas it's imperative that it visible unified efforts by community members be launched to prevent drug abuse and whereas red ribbon week offers citizens the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to drug free lifestyles and whereas red ribbon week will be celebrated in communities across the nation on October 23rd to the 31st and whereas businesses government law enforcement media health care providers religious institutions schools and other community-based organizations will demonstrate their commitment to healthy drug free lifestyles by wearing red ribbons and participating in drug prevention activities and whereas the city of Columbia South Carolina further commits its resources to ensure the success of red ribbon week now therefore be it resolved that city council of Columbia South Carolina do hear by proclaim the week of October 23rd to the 31st is red ribbon week and encourage all of our citizens to participate in drug prevention activities drug prevention education activities not only during red ribbon week but also throughout the year making a visible statement that we stand together and I look up and we stand together all right please thank you on behalf of the 81st readiness division put your microphone down a little bit a little closer to you on behalf of the 81st readiness division substance abuse program we'd like to thank you for your support in observing red ribbon week as adults it is our responsibility to promote a drug free drug free habits for our school and at home as our brothers keep us it is our job to educate our neighbors and our friends of the negative effects of using drugs as leaders and public servants it is also our job to promote drug free examples for our citizens our communities in the united states on my reserve thank you thank you thank you so much we take a picture together hear what folks have to say let's uh we're gonna do this just do first readings and then we'll come back to the public hearing after the appointments and I want to get done as fast as we can I have a personally night council have a hard stop at 715 I want to hear from as many of you as possible so we're going to try to race through this absolutely mayor moving into a period of ordinances first reading ordinance number 2019 081 consenting to the inclusion of property in a multi-county industrial business part the north main senior LLC 3700 north main street and 3706 north main street that motion I'll move just a second second in discussion saying I move the previous question card call the roll Mr. Rickman no Mr. McNally yes Mr. Ravall aye Mr. Badura aye Mr. Vines aye Mayor Benjamin aye item 32 ordinance number 2019 084 amending the 1998 code of ordinances of the city of Columbia South Carolina chapter 20 special fees and taxes article 4 electronic payment fees section 20 1 0 2 the motion to move second second in discussion move this question card call the roll Mr. Rickman aye Mr. Mcdowell yes Mr. Ravall aye Mr. Badura aye Mr. Vines aye Mayor Benjamin aye resolution moving into that period for one resolution number our 2019 093 authorizing the city manager to execute a fifth lease amendment between the city of Columbia and first citizens bank and trust company for the lease of approximately 34221 square feet of 1225 ladies so move move just a second any discussion and with the previous question card call the roll Mr. Rickman aye Mr. Mcdowell yes Mr. Ravall aye Mr. Badura aye Mr. Vines aye Mayor Benjamin aye other matters item 34 accommodations tax surplus Ms. Dee Dee Fanning if you all have questions Mr. Mayor our grants coordinator and community projects liaison we don't have a motion however move that we direct a portion of the surplus A tax being directed to the CVB towards completion of the way finding project for the request made to city council in spring 2019 for a cost share between the city and the CVB of the project got second discussion Mr. Mr. Duvall the the surplus will be split 8515 like the initial distribution and then the CVB will take the $100,000 out of that their share of the 85% right yes sir with the previous question clerk call the roll Mr. Rickman aye Mr. McDowell yes Mr. Duvall aye Mr. Badura aye Mr. Vines aye Mayor Benjamin aye item 35 council is asked to approve the installation of one speed hump on Brian street as requested by the public works department so move second second discussion with the previous question clerk call the roll Mr. Rickman aye Mr. McDowell yes Mr. Duvall aye Mr. Badura aye Mr. Vines aye Mayor Benjamin aye moving into a period of appointments council is asked to make appointments for the central Midlands council of governments climate protection action as any of the interests if not does anybody have an interest I will I'm happy to be reappointed but I know I can't I can't make every meeting and if someone else had an interest I wanted to when did they give them that opportunity the third Thursday of each month move deferral Mr. Mayor second you hold it to November hold it yeah hold it to the next council meeting yeah all right motion with John yes hold it to the November meeting climate protection action committee I'm with the appointment of Zachary or the priests are there any other appointees three total seats move the approval of Mary Cochran all right so one of the slot want to hold that one unless someone has another other relation Deborah Sterling I saw her that other day she's I'll move the appointments of Zachary or the priests Deborah Sterling and Mary Cochran to the climate protection action committee just second second discussion move the previous question the court call a roll Mr. Rickerman aye Mr. McDowell yes Mr. Duvall aye Mr. Badura aye Mr. Devine aye Mayor Benjamin aye municipal election commission I'll move the appointment of Tyler Bailey at that square okay great second discussion move the previous question court call a roll Mr. Rickerman aye Mr. McDowell yes Mr. Duvall aye Mr. Badura aye Mr. Devine aye Mayor Benjamin aye so uh thank you very much Ashley great job great job so we're going back to item uh 29 yes sir asking council to open a public hearing an ordinance second reading for ordinance number 2019 099 amending the 1998 code of ordinances of the City of Columbia South Carolina Chapter 5 buildings and building regulations Article 6 to add vacant building registration Mr. Hatcher David Hatcher is here to answer any questions council might have prior to opening or as you open the hearing Mr. Mayor and um if you all have some questions David want to keep the presentation tight we have at least three citizens who express interest on not sure they're speaking or not want to make sure they have an opportunity to speak and so we can get to the other citizens who sign up to speak as well so maybe amendments to changes that have been made per direction the council yes sir well good evening mayor members of council Ms. Wilson thank you for the opportunity to present this ordinance to you today since the June 4th being I've had an opportunity to meet with several stakeholders several business organizations several citizens of the Columbia and the ordinance before you today incorporates all those all the feedback we got from all those meetings to the best we could obviously it can address everything but I think I feel confident that it addresses everything as best we could and it still addresses the needs of the code enforcement division I don't know if you want me to go over the ordinance or maybe maybe maybe particularly the some of the key amendments particularly those regarding residential structures the ability to pay I mean some of those would be interesting would you also speak to the issue of eminent domain yes sir we'll do would you also speak to the issue of hardship that piece that is in the ordinance yes sir if you would speak specifically to those okay yes sir well since our since the last council meeting some of the things that have come up probably the biggest the biggest key thing was the this fee structure before I had just one fee structure fits all kind of thing we did break it down by residential and non-residential so there's different fee structure for the residential non-residential the second biggest thing was a lot of people were concerned that we were the city intends to take their property from that is not the case and that's really that's really my fault in the first ordinance I had a reference to eminent domain but that was for the extreme in my head I was thinking the extreme severe cases but we've since taken that out so nowhere in your in this proposed ordinance before you today says eminent domain that is not the city's intent so that is gone another big issue was some of the neighborhoods that if they really can't afford like the owners cannot afford to repair the buildings or pay the registration fee there is a there is a exemption for financial hardships it's included in this version of the ordinance thank you David those are the major things if we have another other questions from council right now David did you have one to make about I just had one and it's really kind of for Gloria I was wondering if someone does the financial hardship and we have verified that there is a financial hardship is there an ability for them to participate in the map program because that that might allow some folks if it's vacant but they want to move back in I'm thinking more residential I think right now that's not for vacant properties but can could we look at that is it still is the map program still up there right now the map program is it still okay my intent would be to follow the financial hardship guidelines and community development uses one need to determine the median income guidelines and so forth yeah we could just look at that and if they meet the financial hardship then maybe that could be a resource for them David if you want to share some of that with us so we can look at that thank you David okay in addition to Mr. Vines the inquiry about the map program in addition to that what would help considerably is a proposal that we've talked about of course and that's fees collected be used in addition to perhaps the map program to help rehab some of the houses in terms of forgivable hello that those fees be placed in an account that residents can get access to those fees and to those monies that is totally separate then of course our operational budget so in addition to what Mr. Divine inquiries about the map program and appendix to that of course would be the fees and we certainly would put that as a part of a proposal to the other colleagues on council to see whether or not that could be done yes sir all right I want to move on Mr. Bedouras just to make a couple of comments I I just want to say thank you for taking the time and going back to talk to community leaders and business leaders I know the first reading we we passed on this June 4th that was almost four months ago three months ago so I appreciate all the hard work you've done into this the other question as in when do you start implementing the program or the registration do you start right away or you're going to send them a little welcoming letter or a little notice letter how does how does that process go yes sir the the proposal would be for it to be effective immediately by definition in the ordinance the building is not vacant until after it's vacant for 120 days from the date the ordinance is in place so we have 120 days to be to get all our ducks in a row and get all the paperwork and everything together what we do intend to do is we're going to take the buildings that we think are vacant based on our analysis and we're going to send them letters notifying them that the ordinance has passed and that it may affect them and let them give them proper contact information and so forth so they'll know about it okay and the last comment I'm going to make congratulations on being mayor it's Sunday thank you sir congratulations gotta say this about David he left his honey moon to come make sure he was here for this I appreciate you alright thank you bad bad idea work so hard on this ordinance I didn't want to miss the uh why do you go see it all the way through right thank you David thank you bad idea thank you thank you thank you we have at least that this is a public hearing Ms. Bruce did you want to speak on on the on the item Catherine Bruce and Burke but I will for the record Catherine Bruce I am a resident historic Waverly and also a candidate for council district two and I do want to say to those who weren't here on June 4th that we did talk about this we did raise these concerns at that time since then we've had the opportunity to talk to other community folks we've examined a number of versions each version that came out we examined and had community discussion we had a meeting with Mr. Hatcher we had a second meeting with Mr. Hatcher and Mr. McDowell some of the things that are still concerning me that ask that make me ask you to say no to this ordinance one basically what we're doing is we're criminalizing all vacant buildings so a vacant building that is not violating any code is still going to be subject to being on the list being examined and possibly not in a equal fashion with other folks you know we did talk about a number of buildings that we know who the owners are that are still not secured so we may or may not have equal equal enforcement of these situations we still have a $500 violation fee if you do not file we have a $500 violation fee if you do not create a plan which of course you have to make sure you have adequate engineering architecture understanding of those zones and codes in order to produce a plan so that costs money so we want to have if we do this I think we want to have money on the front end we're talking about possibly using money from the MAP program possibly but that is not in the ordinance as I read it we also have the possibility of whether or not people are able to follow these rules losing their property because there is of course a state law even if you remove the eminent domain language from the document of course cities and municipalities still have the power to remove those properties from individuals which would create a extension of the racial gap we want people to keep their properties in their families those have been able to hold on some tentatively to a piece of property we want them to be able to hold on to that property so let's figure out how to do it that doesn't have this bludgeon effect it doesn't have this possible impact where buildings are removed from individuals new people may have the opportunity to develop them but they may not be available to black and brown communities who live there because the cost that has gone into that building may bring it out of the affordable housing situation so I think we want to pull the reins slow down and take our time to come up with something that's going to adequately provide African-American brown black people poor and low income the opportunity to participate in developing these properties as opposed to what we got hurry up and get with somebody who already has the money so let's say no that's my that's my request thank you Ms. Bruce thank you on the same item Ms. April Jones hello I'm April Jones and I live in the Pinehurst neighborhood which is off of two-notch right near Benedict Stadium and I love the Pinehurst neighborhood it's a wonderful neighborhood and I'm here today because I am opposed to this new ordinance I have had a direct and personal relationship with code enforcement and I have found that they are not enforcing the law they are not enforcing the codes that are already on the books one of myself and my mother and people in the community say this house needs to be boarded up they do nothing weeks go by and the house isn't boarded up so that for me gives it gives me a hard thought about giving them any more additional resources because they are not handling the business that's already on occurring secondarily there is a green duplex on Schoolhouse Road it's when declared a nuisance legally the City of Columbia is supposed to shut it down for six months and nothing has been done nothing and also this is under the purview of code enforcement and they're not following the law they're not following the code and that also gives me second thoughts about saying yes to this ordinance I think that the City of Columbia is a wonderful city and I've talked to many people in our community and Pinehurst and beyond I've talked to business leaders I've talked to community activists throughout the city and every single person I've spoken to has said no this is not the ordinance for the City of Columbia we are a capital city we are trying to bring business industry young people people from other parts of the country and this is going to be a pox on our city businesses will not come and this is my just personal opinion this is what business experts have told me businesses will not come the tax burden is too high on the everyday person 30% of our city is paying taxes 70% is not because they're non-profits there are other municipalities their schools their USC their colleges this is not sustainable and this is not going to push our city forward it's going to bring us back and that's why I say no thank you I'm Ms. Rebecca Parms good evening for the record my name is Rebecca Parms that's spelled P-A-R-M as in Mary S person who just spoke April Jones is my daughter we both live on Schoolhouse Road I live in the White House and adjacent to the right is a pink house where she lives with her husband and 16 month old son named Edward I oppose this ordinance this regulation vehemently with all my heart and strength that's why I'm here today to be vocal now we asked many people to come but they're afraid to come and speak before you because of the rudeness that has been exhibited we the people here in Columbia we're taxpayers we're law abiding we're faithful to the community but I feel that this ordinance is not faithful to us Mr. Hatcher indicated that he spoke to several citizens that's not sufficient he spoke to several citizens about changes it's not sufficient and no one asked him specifically how many where do the citizens live what were their age what were their race nothing it appears to me that this is something that has not been seriously considered as far as the impact upon ordinary citizens who struggle every day to pay bills put food on their table pay rent pay the car note work pay for child support child care and now you're putting fees that are burdensome and actually in my opinion the fees are not really fees they're penalties we need to move Columbia South Carolina forward and be inclusive of all people take the heart of a man who is faithful to the duty to represent all citizens I had contact with code enforcement I have found them the officers to be rude to be liars not to be transparent not to give me information not to follow up on the calls that I made about tall grass drug dealers and vacant houses it's appalling I have met with Mr. Hatcher I have met with Mr. O'Neill I've met with Mr. O'Neill in his office many times I've met with Mr. Hatcher he was not transparent and the six units on the corner of schoolhouse and center by law has been declared a nuisance and by law the owner has to shut down the place for six months because he did not have a permit for two years and he pled guilty in a criminal court but the police chief and Mr. Hatcher and Captain Roberts had a secret deal back room deal that was not presented to the judge when the landlord pled guilty to a criminal offense that not having permits to rent those units on schoolhouse and center and the judge was not apprised of any secret deal and now the police chief Mr. Hatcher Captain Roberts tells me they're not shutting the six units down they don't want to but that lets me know code enforcement is not interested in doing their job shutting down drug houses making sure that everyone abides by the law that the landlord actually has a rental permit they do back room deals let game well smith the landlord who is a criminal let him continue to rent to these people who do not have jobs their drug dealers prostitutes they're not working they're all day fighting knife fights thank you Ms. Marl and I have been assaulted and I need help these people are criminals they're harassing me threatening me knives fight gunshots and the chief promised me that he was working to shut the place down and I turn around and he's telling me no I'm not shutting the place down thank you Ms. Parms Ms. Parms and he's violating the law thank you Ms. Parms and I'm very angry thank you Ms. Parms all right any other any other questions of staff or not I'm not sure if Mr. Hatcher has gone back to his honeymoon get on that okay sorry there no David thank you so much for the hard work on this I know just from the conversations I've had with a significant number of citizens from across the economic spectrum across the city residences businesses and alike the amount of work and energy that's been put into this and the effort put in the consensus building so so thank you now we've got to make sure that as we execute on it that we do it with a focus on equity and making sure that we're the creative approaches that like with Ms. Devine to status Ms. Said about that we're being very aggressive and making sure that that the end goal is what we're trying to get to so thank you for your work there I move approval any discussion all right I'm in the previous question call her all Mr. Rickerman aye Mr. McDowell yes Mr. Duvall aye Mr. Badura aye Mr. Vaughan aye Mayor Benjamin aye there are no madams no matters from the work session I believe Madam City Manager are there any reports or referrals to committee seeing none Kate Bowie microphone is yours all right is it okay if I adjust the benches in the vista yeah oh yeah absolutely no and everything in you anything you want to talk about within the time limit is on the agenda now so please I hope you all find me worthy of your time I know you have a lot of things going on but I hope you do prioritizing people over profit come down to the matters of empathy dignity and respect out of sight out of mind does not solve the problem that there are people without shelter in our city criminalizing homelessness further ostracizes and dehumanizes folks experiencing homelessness and expands class stratification based on access to capital folks experiencing homelessness are deserving members of the public and undeserving of the city's prioritization of appearances tourism and private property hiding homelessness instead of combating it only contributes to the fear further demonization of poor folks and this willful segregation is only designed to exonerate house folks from responsibility and insulate them from witnessing poverty the proposal to replace the benches in the vista with benches redesigned to include dividers is an example of hostile architecture this trend in urban design discourages use of public spaces by the already marginalized homeless community by denying access to public spaces which we all have a right to regardless of socio-economic status or ability having dividers in the bitches shouts the message loud and clear to both homeless folks and disabled folks alike you are not welcome here it is an unkindness that is considered designed approved funded and executed with the explicit motive to exclude harass and disparage already marginalized population populations the ordinances that we have in place are also a matter of denying civil liberties from the first amendment the fifth amendment and the eighth amendment these ordinances are direct and humane violations of these liberties and I'm speaking about loitering sleeping having belongings with you today this council you guys already passed it so but I guess just to increase the capacity and power of the police which in term perpetuates the cycle of property criminalization of homelessness has proven to be ineffective misuse of police power to arrest people experiencing homelessness is a temporary intervention that only prolongs homelessness folks experiencing homelessness as a temporary they're arrested incarcerated and often cannot make bail and then return to the streets still with nowhere to go but now with potential criminal convictions these conventions no matter how minor create even more barriers to obtaining critical public benefits employment and housing violently perpetuating the cycle of property and even though we have passed ban the box that does not make them able to leave this state without taking these criminal convictions with them as well it only gives them protection here from the same laws that are sending them to jail that we've made so today I ask that you all halt all anti-homelessness actions in the enforcement of harmful anti-homelessness ordinances take immediate steps to repeal these harmful ordinances return the benches without dividers to the vista and remove all existing hostile architecture from the city especially the benches with dividers at the bus stops create a paid advisory board of people who either currently experience or formally experience homelessness to guide this council in their decision making regarding directing directly serving the homeless population and lastly we ask that this council take an intersectional approach to understanding the plight of all marginalized communities especially that of people experiencing homelessness and enact measures to further the training of all city employees especially police on compassion and inclusivity we also encourage this council to reflect on its role in causing harm to our homeless population and actively seek to reconcile these damages through positive action for our community thank you thank you thank you thank you let's say Effie, Effie Francis please thank you hi my name is Effie Francis I am a resident of Colombia and I have lived here most of my life and I'm here concerned about the approval of the city's purchase of 53 Chevrolet Tahos for the Colombia Police Department I feel this taxpayer money could more appropriately be put towards our community through homeless support services Mayor Benjamin I know that in your state of the city address you stress the importance of celebrating diversity promoting inclusivity and challenging bias by protecting free speech and other constitutional rights as well as reminding folks to feel compassion and empathy for those who have been mistreated and disenfranchised and Councilman Duvall I know that you have expressed that the reduction in available mental health services is a huge factor in the issue of homelessness in our city and we need to work in a coordinated way to address it I want to reiterate with the previous speakers said about homelessness being an intersectional issue compounding with other forms of oppression anti homelessness is ableist meaning that it is discriminatory towards disabled people even transitions the organization with the most resources and capacity to serve people experiencing homelessness have a caveat in their eligibility to receive a bed that clients must be able to perform all activities of daily living without assistance this is but one example of ableism and homeless services in Colombia additionally the removal of the benches and the vistas incredibly ableist towards people experiencing homelessness and housed folks alike benches are necessary for people to be able to rest especially in an area like the vista where parking is not ample and not always close to the destination having a place to sit and rest should be a courtesy for all people but for especially for people with physical disabilities is a necessity according to guidelines from the Americans with Disabilities Act benches are an important public accommodation for disabled people benches with dividers make using them impossible difficult to an impossible for people who use wheelchairs as well as cause issues for people who are visually disabled with regards to the possibility that these benches will be replaced with benches including dividers this is not only an example of hostile architecture that discourages the use of public goods but is also an example of systemic ableism the fact that millions of dollars will be discussed being spent on police vehicles today is largely a misappropriation of taxpayer money that could be better spent combating homelessness increasing the resources of the police contributes to the issue of the enforcement of the criminalization of people experiencing homelessness people experiencing homelessness are a vulnerable population 40% of which are disabled whether that be psychiatrically, physically, cognitively, intellectually, visually or otherwise and that vulnerability does not stop at interactions with the police a 2016 report by the Ruderman Family Foundation found that up to half of the people killed by police across the country have a disability additionally according to a database maintained by the Washington Post in 2018 alone at least 139 people with psychiatric disabilities have been shot and killed by police so in closing I encourage this council to not continue approving spending on increasing police power and instead invest this money and serving our most marginalized including folks experiencing homelessness thank you thank you this is in the interest of message consistency we'll hear from John White and then is Wallace Koger still here okay Mr. Koger your next Jonathan Davis no no no you first go ahead please come Jonathan Davis and then Michael Egbert all right so hey I'm a little a little tall for the microphone but I I first want to comment on that I feel like the earlier initial uh trying to speak when it comes around to the spending lots of money on police and how that's related to homelessness is something that's not really being discussed here but police and homelessness have direct correlations to each other for an example I've been homeless before and I don't have a paper or anything I'm but I'm just going to say the way that I became homeless the first time that I became homeless was totally I was homeless three different periods but I could not pay tickets traffic tickets actually and I had to choose between losing my job as a delivery driver because of a $10 trap I mean uh because of a 10 miles over traffic ticket and then I could lose my job and pay that keep my license and lose my house but I would also lose my job or try to live out of my car and then be able to maybe get a house again without losing my job so when we're talking about amping up the police budget and how much money we have we're talking about not only them because homelessness is effectively criminalized I mean every aspect of it so we're not only talking about their ability to harass and harm the homeless but we're talking about their ability to create more homelessness not only that but I imagine that there's not like a shortage of like police cars right like there's not like a massive shortage but there's a massive shortage of funding for homeless people we're talking about you spent 48 times more money on the police and today three times as much money is being split on buying 2019 cars which is not necessary there is no need for a 2019 car to be driven around not so much that it's three years of homeless spending you know that's three years on the most economically disenfranchised people these people could be working in homeless you know 80 percent of Americans report nowadays working paycheck to paycheck getting one ticket they have to make that decision if you work paycheck to paycheck you could be there too with a medical issue with a ticket with an any anything can happen anything small and you don't have a support system you know that's these are directly connected issues and they cannot be pretended to not be and that's all and I apologize I've got the part I have to catch a a flight Mr. Kurgis so there's some issues that the other citizens have that need to be addressed I'll be back tomorrow before I laugh I didn't want to address several of the different points and there were several real and valid points that some of you raised and I don't want you to think given short shrift obviously one of the most important if not maybe the most important goal of the city is to make sure that we're that we're a place where people can live work play be safe public safety is a priority to the city I would encourage you all to get involved in some of the things that we have here happening at the city I believe that your voices can add significant value to our policymaking to our programs to our priorities and in funding some of the work we've been doing around not just diversity but inclusion pushing to make sure that our values around equity are inculcated in our policymaking and our laws we've been setting the pace so the ban the box is not just about ban the box or some philosophical idea we are fundamentally changing the way that we do business the way that we dispense public funds there's a lot more that needs to be done to address homeless services by the city but also by all of our multiple partners that we work with but a lot of work needs to be done there we're doing so much more around building affordable housing and low-income housing around income volatility some of the issues that you discussed but there's a lot going on and I would encourage you to add your voices to the to the chorus of solving some of these problems that are complex that are certainly there's real intersectionality between a number of the issues you raise but challenges that have taken years to create will sometimes take a while in some thoughtful policy solutions to also fix so add your voice to the chorus when you come come with the passion and maybe even the ferocity and the anger as well but but always in the spirit of this ability we're here working on behalf of the people this is this is your this is your chamber we want you to come and share your voices but know that we're not here because because there are 200 much more enjoyable things to be doing right now we're here because we believe and we're and we're and work for the people all right so thank you all I'm going to pass the gavel to Mayor Pro Tem and Mr. Duvall Mr. Duvall can we can we finish here and the folks and then Mr. Koger thank y'all yes sir go ahead yes I was asked to come here I was asked to come here from Koger's Body Shop we painted some helmets for the Cancer Society City of Columbia asked me to paint them and I painted them but they never recognized it um I think it was 2016 oh my yeah you're good I believe we were looking at doing a presentation to uh prison of health on November 19th okay I did that whoever was communicating you had to sit through all this Mr. Koger yes sir so no problem no uh no problem we'll do it right it's good to know we'll do it right on November 19th okay November 19th y'all y'all discuss this is this is this is better than uh AMC and MSNBC right now so good God bless you brother all right man y'all have a good one thank you Mr. Koger for coming Jonathan Davis it was my it was my understanding I'd have the opportunity to speak here in support of uh the uh penny tax greenways and if that's not the case I'll yield my time I think that's more for county council yeah so county council's on Hampton street right I think that's more for county council they're they're discussing the penny tax and we share your concern if your concern is that they may remove the greenways from the penny tax we share that concern and we've communicated that but um maybe communicate with your county council member and let them know your position they're pretty much I yield my time thank you you can go over to Hardin street tonight because I believe they're meeting tonight yeah Hardin and Hampton Michael Egbert and are you the same Mr. Egbert Hardin street okay thank you thank you all for coming we appreciate that Mr. DeVall you wanted to make a comment yes I just wanted to make a comment there's one misconception that the group has mentioned tonight the benches were not removed the benches were moved about a hundred feet up the hill they're now on the corner of Washington and Lincoln instead of the corner of Lady and Lincoln so that they are still the same number of benches they just been moved up the hill thank you can't hear you can't hear you in a recent article by WLTX they've interviewed you as well you said they've been moved to the police station so but still moving them is removing them from the public space and then I personally have talked to you on the phone numerous times and you've sort of suggested the bench with dividers but that's why we came here today to tell you why that's not acceptable as far as ableism goes as far as criminalizing homelessness and I think that all of us here are very passionate we've researched this we stayed up all night we're very passionate about this like to write this so it was so important for us to be able to say this and we wish that we had been able to finish speaking before we really do and hadn't been cut off because it really did tie back to it as John said but unacceptable benches with dividers they shouldn't have ever been removed they don't have dividers on them they should be moved back and I'm they just right up the hill okay thank you so much and I would just say as we close I echo what the mayor has said and I appreciate your passion but there are probably a lot of things that we are doing that maybe y'all aren't aware of one thing we have a homeless court you've talked about criminalization of homelessness our homeless court actually has been nationally recognized because we are moving people from homelessness to jobs to housing we do housing first which I think one of you talked about the housing moving people into housing there are so many things that we are doing could we put more money in it yes absolutely but could we put more money in having the greenway so people can walk and enjoy their city can we put more money in what we're doing with community development to do more affordable housing yes but what I would ask you guys to do is stay connected with us every year we have a work session on homelessness and we talk about all the things that we're doing we take ideas of other things that we can do so I know y'all are passionate I appreciate especially we do I think someone mentioned that we do have people who are formerly homeless who have given us advice and who have participated in our work sessions so I would just encourage you guys to stay engaged and continue to communicate with us but thank you for coming we really do appreciate you being here all right without that said do we have a non-debatable motion to to adjourn oh I'm sorry I apologize yes ma'am could you come to the mic please thank you I appreciate it and I do have a lot of appreciation for the efforts that the city does to serve our to serve the population of people experiencing homelessness but but posing the question about like where the money would come from that like money could go to a lot of different wonderful things that could really serve the city and that's where I was trying to draw back in when I was speaking earlier about like where would this money come from like y'all just approved 3.3 million dollars on Chevy Tahoe's like that's three years worth of what that's three years worth of what is budgeted for all like houses services in the city and my my main question and my main question is that like what what are we doing to address homelessness in concern to what is this council's plan to address and change the anti-homeless ordinances that we have on the books and I would just echo I would just repeat that we have a work session every year on homelessness we talk I mean we spend hours talking about it so I would just encourage you guys to come back and and talk and I will be happy to talk with you about all the things we're doing I think Missy can probably tell you all the things we're doing that homeless services that million dollars that's housing first and transitions in the winter shelter it doesn't include the other things that we're doing but I appreciate what you've said we we can I just encourage you to guys to come back and then I think Daniel wanted to address the Tahoe's well I just want to make sure that we're all talking apples to apples in the the budget story been passed what we did tonight was just appropriate the money that was already in the budget for that we didn't add money to the police this was budgeted it was a public hearing went through the process we did that there's 67 homeless providers in our community and we work with most of them we fund a whole lot of different programs in the city and you know we've worked with everybody from fast forward who does a training program for over 20 years we just had her celebration here so there's a lot going on doesn't mean that we have all the answers and that we've finished everything and I think what you've heard both from the mayor and Ms. Devine is that there's other things that we can do and encourage it's a community-wide issue you've mentioned several times about what you call anti-homeless I think it would be helpful for us to know what you believe those those ordinances are and let's have a discussion about it we are all open to it we all have our emails our cell phones online and this isn't the only this isn't the only form to have that discussion and I encourage y'all to reach out add for the benefit of the public every year when we do pass a budget just a re-education at times which I'm happy to do and have those conversations too about where specific pots of money how things are allocated the money for police vehicles and other public infrastructure needs of our city comes from capital leasing for this particular if that is not something that legally you can use to fund homelessness it's a one-time fund that you keep referencing the three million but I would also remind you that this council's taken leadership over many years over a million dollars every single year reoccurring funds towards homelessness so if we do the math there's been much more spent towards homelessness than focusing on a one-time funding need of our city to balance everything we're talking about for public safety of our city so I'm happy to talk about how the budget really works so there's a big difference in how we fund what you're referencing versus the general fund taxpayer dollars that has gone towards homeless needs for many many years over a million dollars so we're well more funding homeless services than we have been the police department police vehicles in the recent years but again I encourage you guys to just come come back and and stay engaged I think what miss I just want to echo what miss Wilson is saying regarding the budget we have a public hearing on our budget and be honest with you hardly anybody excuse me ma'am can I can I finish speaking please but but actually we're allowing her to speak when normally we let you speak one time for three minutes and that's it we're we're we're staying we're staying here one time for three minutes we're staying here for like a minute and a half no ma'am the buzzer went off so you spoke for three minutes it might not have sounded like three minutes but it was three minutes but all I'm asking is that just again stay engaged with us because this isn't a one-time conversation and I'd be happy to meet with you guys to talk about what we're doing and what we can do more I mean we're asking you to stay you know give us some examples of what you're talking about we've heard about the benches we'll we'll address that but staying going back and forth all night is really not productive so go ahead and finish your thought and then we will adjourn thank you I appreciate it I know that there was a note made about like what ordinances I'm talking about I what what disappoints me is that I already said it and I feel like y'all perhaps weren't listening to what I was saying earlier but that there are specific ordinances that's criminalized loitering and criminalized urban camping and both of those are directly anti-homeless legislation that applies to our city and I'm very happy to hear that this council has done a lot for the community of people experiencing homelessness but I mean like in 2013 it also received national criticism and that council member is no longer here you're bringing up something that council member has not been on this council for four years so to bring up stuff that one council member brought up years worth of good work and I'm saying that like our ordinances are equally as embarrassing as the plan that was released in 2013 well thank you we appreciate that thank you alright is there a non-debatable motion to adjourn a second second alright it's been moved and seconded Ms. Hammond call the roll roll quick Mr. Rickerman aye Mr. McDowell yes Mr. Duvall aye Mr. Bedora Mr. Vaughan aye have a good evening thank you