 Mr. Taylor, Ms. Herbert, Dr. Bussells, Mr. Brennan, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Duvall, Mayor Rickamon. Here, can you stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, please? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Reverend McDowell, would you say a few words before we start with a little implication, please? Most merciful. We come to you today with thanksgiving in our hearts and yet grace surrounding us. Be with us as we assemble today. Allow your presence and yet your spirit to touch each one of us individually and collectively. Allow the bright light of change and expansion in this city. Be a promise and reminder that if we hear and listen to what the Creator says, our city will continue to prosper. We ask it in your name, amen. Madam City Manager, if Mr. Taylor asks for a point of privilege before we start it. Mr. Mayor, thank you. It's a it's a pleasure today to welcome Mark Fisher and I'm going to ask Mark to introduce you. If y'all will stand up and ask Mark to second the introduction of partners. They're the proprietors of our brand new restaurant across the street, Ambrosia. And gentlemen, I want you to meet Dr. Bussells and Representative Councilperson Duvall and McDowell. They're your three city council official representatives. I'm the food guy. They represent you. This is not a gland problem. And again, welcome you guys to Columbia. I know you have multiple businesses here and you're at a beautiful restaurant. I enjoyed a great dinner last night and just want to know that anything we can do to help you be successful we are. Now, Mark, if you'll introduce your team, I appreciate it. Please come up to the podium if you would like. If you would come up here where everybody gets a good look and all the reporters in the room, a great story on a grand new restaurant opening up downtown for this weekend would be great. Wonderful. Good afternoon everyone, ladies and gentlemen. We were proud and honored to serve Joe and Amanda last night over at Ambrosia. It was our first dinner service that we've had since we've opened. Behind me are the managing partners of Ambrosia, George Symbus, Jay Floyd. A lot of hard work went into the building and I'm very proud to say this every opportunity I get. There wasn't a construction crew that built that place. These two guys, hammers and nails, saws and tile, they did it all. So without any further ado, I'd like to introduce George Symbus, Jay Floyd, and to say to the entire room, we look forward to seeing and serving you all. Authentic Greek fare, all of our food is house made. The recipes are generational, going back to George's grandmother and mother. And the only thing that we don't make in house is the phyllo dough. Everything else is lovingly and painstakingly recreated made. So George, Jay, it's all you. Thank you. Thank you for having us. We thought we were just going to come meet a few people, not speak in front of the council. We got service start here in about 30 minutes or so, so we're going to make this quick. But we had the opportunity to come into this great building that was a historic landmark. A lot of you remember it as the elite Epicurean. And when we came in, the owner of the building, Jim Papadilla, some of you guys know, he said, this got to be good food. So that's what we strive for. And then now it's like, now we need great service. So we're just pleased to be here. It was like, like Mark said, it was blood, sweat and tears. And we're really looking forward to serving you guys when you come over and we look forward to seeing you. And I'll let George explain how all this came about real quick. I just want to say thank you guys for the opportunity to serve Columbia and hopefully do something like the elite for this block and moving forward for the city. First of all, thank you for your investment. Thanks for for what you do. And I've seen the menu on the wall, haven't been in yet, but can't wait to try it. But I will tell you yesterday I did a radio show and at 515 yesterday afternoon, I got a request to pass on to you, gentlemen, which is when the Epicurean was there, they had a dish called the bandit and apparently it was a double stuffed lamb chop with feta cheese and tomatoes and all this. They said, please do a special with it, that people will come out of the woodwork for it. I will tell you this, we do have a few throwback dishes. You're probably remember shrimp Scorpio and then we're going to have some chefs preferences. We're not going to call them specials, but then we're going to have some more throwbacks to the elite and then some other generational recipes that we just didn't quite have room for yet. So the bandit will make sure I'll let the listener know because he made he wanted me to promise that I would would get that message to you guys. Thank you gentlemen. Y'all enjoy it. Good night. Are we going to have a pre-meeting over at the ambrosia now? I was going to share with these guys that it was a time that more city business was undertaken across the street than maybe even in city hall. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, can we have an emotion to adopt the agenda as second motion a second? Any questions, concerns, hearing none, seeing none. Madam clerk, could you read the role, please? Mr. Taylor, Mr. Herbert, Dr. Bustles, Mr. Brennan, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Duvall, Mayor Rickamon. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor and Council. At this time, Mayor Rickamon and Council, we will ask for any public input on the agenda items as outlined. There will be another opportunity at the end as well for public input. Mayor, there's no one signed up at this time. All right, Madam. Thank you. The approval of minutes. Council is asked to approve the September 6th and September 20th, 2022 Council meeting minutes. Second. I have a motion to second. Any questions, concerns, corrections, hearing none, seeing none. Madam clerk, could you read the role, Mr. Taylor, Mr. Herbert, Dr. Bustles, Mr. Brennan, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Duvall, Mayor Rickamon. Moving into a period of presentations, our first being Item 2, Domestic Violence Awareness Month Proclamation, the honorable Daniel J. Rickamon, Mayor. You know, for us to bring awareness, we have a lot of opportunities to celebrate things here and we also have an opportunity to bring a lot of awareness and I think domestic violence awareness month is something that should always be on our mind. And unfortunately, over the pandemic, we saw an increase and hopefully in the future, we'll see a decrease and we continue to work together as a community to decrease those numbers. But we recognize that domestic violence is a problem that plagues our communities, our neighborhoods. South Carolina is ranked in the top half of the states in the nation for the rate of women killed by men, according to the recent statistics from the Violence Policy Center report on homicide data. One in four women and one in seven men experience severe physical violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. Women's ages from 18 to 34 generally experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence. Men who, as children's witness, their parents domestic violence were twice as likely to abuse their own wives and sons of nonviolent parents. One in 10 high school students experience physical violence from a dating partner in the past year and 43% of dating college women report experiences violent and abusive dating behaviors, including physical, sexual, digital, verbal and other controlling abuses. The City of Columbia recognizes the commitment of the South Carolina Coalition against domestic violence and sexual assault to provide life saving resources to domestic violence victims and their families. So therefore, I, Daniel J. Rickman, the mayor of the City of Columbia, South Carolina, along with my fellow members of City, Columbia City Council do hereby proclaim October 2022 as domestic violence awareness month. And in the great city of Columbia urge my fellow citizens to recognize and participate in its observance. We have two groups here today who are big advocates and we couldn't go without them. As we mentioned, the South Carolina Coalition of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, but also sister care. And I have two proclamations to give to both groups. And so we'll come up here. We can take a photo as we present these proclamations. Please don't forget, we have a march coming up on October 29th, right? It's the 29th, the 29th at Ellen Page Park. We look forward to seeing everybody there. Mayor, can I add one more comment? Yes, ma'am, please. I just wanted to thank the groups. I know that this weekend they had the Hush No More event at Riverfront Park. And I did see a nice young lady from sister care out there volunteering. So I want to thank you all for your support of other people's events and giving them the support that they need. Thank you, Mayor and Council. Item three, American Pharmacist Month Proclamation. The Honorable Daniel J. Rickman, Mayor. Pharmacy is one of the oldest health professions concerned with health and well-being of all people. Pharmacists are specifically educated with a focus and level of expertise on medication therapy and are ideally suited to work collaborative with other health providers and patients to improve medication use and outcomes for providing services through medication therapy management. And it is important to promote the profession of pharmacy as an essential health care provider. Pharmacists provide both expertise, accessibility, which are crucial to patients fully optimizing access to medications that are not self-administrated such as but not limited to immunizations. And whereas the American Pharmacist Association and the South Carolina Pharmacy Association have proclaimed October as an American Pharmacist Month with the theme, your pharmacist improving health and increasing access. Therefore, I, Daniel J. Rickman, member of Mayor of the City of Columbia, South Carolina, do here proclaim the week of October 25th through October 31st as American Pharmacist Month legislative week in the City of Columbia and encourage all pharmacists and students pharmacists to become more involved with our Columbia community as we encourage our Columbia community to recognize the importance of pharmacists profession. Could y'all stand, please? We sure hope they decide to stay with us, Mayor. That's for sure. I think they're going to. They realize what a beautiful community we have and they'll fit right in. Put the pressure on them, Mayor. All right. Item for the 2022 Fire Prevention Month proclamation, the honorable Daniel J. Rickman, Mayor. Come on. Y'all can't hide back there. Can't just send the pretty people forward. That's why we can. Are they gonna come? The City of Columbia, South Carolina is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those living and visiting in Columbia. Fire is a serious public safety concern, both locally and nationally, and homes are where people are at their greatest risk from fire. U.S. Fire Departments responded to over 361,000 residential structure fires in 2021, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Those fires resulted in close to 3,000 civilian deaths in 2021, representing the majority of all U.S. civilian fires. That's 76% to put that in perspective. The Columbia Richland Fire Department responded to 499 structure fires over the course of 2021. The National Fire Protection Association says a person has two minutes or less to escape from a house safely in the bend of a fire. The National Fire Protection Association has advocated for the adoption and practice of home fire escape plans and results. And the City of Columbia first responders are dedicated to reducing the occurrence of home fires and fire home fire injuries through prevention, protection and education. The Columbia Richland Fire Department's Fire Protection Office performed nearly 4,100 fire inspections presented 24 fire education programs conducted 62 home fire safety surveys installed over 283 alarms for citizens in need over the course of 2021. Whereas the residents of the City of Columbia Richland County are responsive to public education measures and are able to make personal steps to increase their safety from fire, especially in homes. Whereas 2022 fire prevention month theme is fire won't wait plan your escape effectively serves to educate the public about the vital importance of planning and practicing home fire escape plans. So therefore I Daniel Jay recommend the mayor of the City of Columbia along with my fellow members of Columbia City Council due by here proclaim October 1st through 31st 2022 fire prevention much for month for the year of 2022. Chief. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mayor, Council, City Manager. I really appreciate this honor. You know it is always our desire to keep Columbia Richland County safe from fires. And of course you read the theme for this year, fire won't wait plan your escape. And that's what we've been doing over the course of this this month. But fire prevention is not just a October thing. It's year round. We do these inspections. We do these demonstrations and we have been really focusing this month on working with schools. We even did a fire drill at one of the city builders today to make sure that that that we're safe. So again, thank you for this honor and we really appreciate it. All right, Mr. Mayor and Council, the next item. I don't have a city managers report per say today, but I do have several special employee recognitions and a very special and timely introduction. So with that, I will get started. You all had asked from my last city manager report that I bring back several Columbia Police Department employees. I'm also bringing back bringing forward a few fire employees who were also involved in these particular services and recognition. So we would like to again extend a special thank you to Sergeant Mary Sumter and Officer Unice Ferguson representing the CPD while joining other Midlands law enforcement as honor guards for that service. And they are exact. They are here today. So I want them to stand and come forth and be recognized. Ladies y'all keep standing because we got several division Chief William Brochus of the Columbia Richland Fire Department was the keynote speaker that day. And I think Chief Brochus is here. Additionally, Chief Holbrook joined Major Roberts and Lieutenant Wesley at the Eastminster Presbyterian Church for the Servant Leader Service and Awards Luncheon. And at that luncheon, as we previously indicated, two of our very own up and coming female police officers were recognized and presented with the Eastminster Presbyterian Servant Leaders Award. And they are here today. Officer Lauren Basil Southeast Region and Officer Ashanti Rembert from TRU along with Captain Kevin Patterson of the Columbia Richland Fire Department. I don't think Captain Patterson is here, but we want to recognize him and Officer Basil and Officer Rembert come forward. Would these funds a law enforcement council in here? I know they like to be on your picture. Go ahead. You know he likes you. Thank you. So as you all are taking your seats, we also had from before and again another recognition from the Columbia Police Department, the FBI National Academy graduate Captain PJ Blendowski. And I'm going to let Chief take over with that one because he has an additional recognition for Captain Blendowski. Thank you, Miss Wilson. Mayor and council, thank you first of all for allowing Police Department and Fire Department to be recognized today. Chief Jenkins, thank you for your leadership and your continued partnership. It's a privilege to be on on this team. I want to make a couple comments about young ladies that we just recognized and kind of what it stands for to me. The Servant Leadership Award speaks for itself, but these two ladies represent they're fairly new police officers and they have they have found their role in our department very quickly and I've seen them both in action and I can tell you that they they represent us very well. It's just exactly what we expect out of our police officers. And I've personally experienced with Officer Basil on a call dealing with some of our challenged populations that we're dealing with just to exercise extreme patience and professionalism and empathy that probably would not have existed 20 years ago, 25 years ago in that same situation. It was a pleasure to watch her work. Sergeant Sumter is she's a professional standards internal affairs sergeant and she does a spectacular job there. But most importantly, how she mentors our young police officers, especially young female police officers. And then Eunice Ferguson, let me tell you what she represents. She represents over 30 years on this job. She retired with distinction and she wanted to give back. She came back and she is a school resource officer. So her service continues. So next I would like to recognize Leroy Solomon and sergeant if you can come up here. Come on, sergeant. So this is another representation of someone that put service before self. He graduated or graduated. He retired with distinction from the police department as a sergeant after 27 years and he has chosen to come back and continue to serve and represents us every single day downstairs and keeps this building safe and looks after our city manager and staff every day. And it's my pleasure to recognize him for his second go around for a five year service pen. Sergeant. Sergeant like the limelight. He's already heading down the hall. He's got work to do downstairs. And last I want to recognize Captain P.J. Blondowski. P.J., if you don't mind coming up front. Captain Blondowski joins a pretty elite group of police officers. The FBI National Academy is an opportunity that is afforded to less than one percent of law enforcement in the United States. Very distinguished group of individuals. Very difficult to be selected and complete. He joins fellow Columbia police officers. Deputy Chief Kelly, Major White, Major Drafts and Captain Calvi in this distinguished group. And I want to read just a second just to take a few minutes to read a little bit about what he did. He graduated from the National Academy. He was a member of the 283rd session that was comprised of 235 law enforcement professionals from 49 states, 21 different countries, five branches of armed services and five federal law enforcement agencies. The curriculum at the National Academy is accredited through the University of Virginia. Law enforcement personnel who successfully complete this 11 week program have an opportunity to earn both undergraduate and graduate credits for their studies. Captain Blondowski chose the demanding graduate level curriculum which is very challenging. He studied areas of management organizational change. Lord knows we have that. Emotional intelligence. Lord knows we need more of that. Managing the law enforcement image, executive writing and fitness and as a result here in 17 graduate credits at the University of Virginia. He's now working towards completing his graduate studies. In addition to these academic accomplishments, he participated in a series of fitness challenges throughout the 11 weeks and successfully completed the Yellow Brick Road Challenge. The Yellow Brick Road is the arduous Marine Corps 6.1 mile obstacle course and it was awarded a coveted Yellow Brick for completing that. I would end with saying organizational success and maintaining the culture of excellence is achieved through developing leaders in an organization. Captain Blondowski has displayed significant sacrifice and commitment to our organization by completing the FBI National Academy. His performance exemplifies all that is expected of a leader and a law enforcement professional and it's my pleasure to recognize him for this achievement. And last, it's also my privilege to recognize him for 20 years of service today. Okay, we're going to keep going. I always thank council for allowing us to do this because it's so important. We'll have another recognition. I'm going to ask Miss Missy Gentry, assistant city manager for our development to come forward. And this is a surprise. Yeah, this is a surprise. So I'm going to ask Gloria Said to come up here with me and I'll start with it's her birthday. So I'm going to tell her happy birthday. So 20 years ago, some of you may remember Deborah Livingston, who is one of our former directors. We lost her a few years ago, but she hired Gloria, I believe 20 years ago for the city and Gloria has had several positions. She started with the city as a loan officer. So she came from the private side and came into the city and learned our loan programs. She served as deputy director for housing and development executive director for CHDC and TNDC interim director of community development. And then in 2017, she was promoted to full director of community development. I want to talk a little bit about personality as y'all of all went through the Myers-Brigg and all of the city department heads have also conducted Myers-Brigg. I want to talk about Gloria's personality. She's an ISTJ. So I don't know if any of y'all are ISTJs, but I want to describe a little bit of that. They carefully plan things well in advance. They enjoy orderly life. They like things to be well organized and pay great attention to detail. They prefer to follow rules and procedures that have been previously established. They love order and rules means they can sometimes be stubborn. And I will tell you, Gloria and I will sometimes talk about that. And with the help of our seated council, we're working on flexibility and expanding our horizons. And I know that she's up for the challenge. Some of the words that I would describe her, loyal, deliberate, responsible, responsive, careful, structured, conscientious, poised. There's never a moment that I've dealt with Gloria in my time at the city that she just hasn't been anything other than professional and kind, regardless of the message she's delivering. And I think that speaks really well of her. I will tell you, she's a true public servant. She cares about the city. She cares about her community. And she cares about all of the individuals that she serves and by virtue of her leading the department that the city serves. So I want to thank her for her service. We're better off for it and appreciate all that she's contributed. And some flowers and I do have her birthday gift. Yeah, I don't think your mic's on. Okay, starting again, beaming, smiling. I'm really excited about this hire, two new hires. And the first that I will announce with a release to follow to this from the city today, the city of Columbia announces Camisha L. Hepard as director of homeless services for the city of Columbia. And I want Camisha to come forward. I have got to learn that, or she will have to learn is a lot of moving parts around it all the time. And she said, Ms. Wilson, yes, you had said that, but you never told me where to be and what time. And do you know what I do every day in my day job? She was concerned that she was not dressed to the nines. I said you are beautiful inside and out. Everyone will see that. And as I had previously told you all, she's one tough cookie. So welcome to commission. I'm going to read about her as director. Hepard will develop the necessary systems and programs to include rapid shelter Columbia to provide accountability for the city's overall strategies and outcomes to address homelessness. She will serve as a liaison for the city to coordinate and strengthen community partnerships in an effort to provide greater impact through the agencies and organizations. Camisha has an associate's degree in applied science, bachelor of science and social work, and a master of social work which she received from the University of South Carolina. She is certified in trauma informed care, child welfare and forensics. And she specializes in working with substance abuse clients and their families as well as children, adolescents and adults in need of counseling. Hepard is a seasoned leader, certified again in those areas and very skilled and engaging clients to bring forth behavioral changes. Her prior experiences and relationships make her particularly equipped to ensure a seamless transition to a new era of homeless services in Columbia from my perspective. So welcome, Camisha. I don't know if you want to say anything, then I'll introduce your counterpart. I just want to say hello. Thank you for the opportunity. I look forward to doing the hard work. Thanks, Camisha. Thank you so much. So our second new hire is Ms. Macken Wall. Macken is actually traveling out of the country for a previously scheduled memorial service for her grandfather. But Macken Wall will be our new homeless services project manager. And Macken has served the homeless community for several years through her educational pursuits, volunteerism and work experiences. She is also a university of South Carolina graduate. She has her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Master of Social Work as well. She in 2019 received the South Carolina chapter from the National Association of Social Work as the Master of Social Work graduate student of the year. And so a lot of her experiences are going to be very helpful to us. She specializes in project management, outreach, fundraising and building a network of community partners. And as project managers, she will manage the day-to-day operation of Rapid Shelter Columbia and provide oversight for the provision of wraparound services and other strategies for homeless services. I do believe that Macken's skillset and collaborative spirit will be assets to Director Hepard as they focus on a positive community impact. And I do hope that as we took our time to hire these women with the credentials they have, but really more than that, the passion for service, I've witnessed how they already work with our unsheltered homeless population. And I know that this council has put a big priority on addressing that. And so that included my decision-making for hiring them. And I wish them the very best. So thank you very much. Madam City Manager, I think we can't go without recognizing Chief Holbrook for being named the Chamber of Commerce Public Servant of the Year. So Chief, congratulations. Thank you, Mayor. So many wonderful things happen in our city and in the city's team, so I appreciate the time. At this point, we can move forward with the consent agenda items six through 18. Is there a motion to move? Yes. Absolutely. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mayor. Is there a second? Second. Any questions, concerns, comments? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bustle. Aye. Mr. Brennan. And Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickerman. Aye. Thank you. Ordinance's first reading, Item 19, Ordinance Number 2022-083, amending the 1998 Code of Ordinances of the City of Columbia, South Carolina, Chapter 14, Article 4, to add Section 14108, discharge of fireworks, establishing... Second. There's a motion and a second. Any discussion, Mr. Mayor? Yes, Mr. Duvall. Would you just take one second as the Chairman of the Public Safety Committee and just in kind of just for the public outline because I want to make sure everybody understands we're not saying no fireworks. It's just you put limits on fireworks. We're just adopting an ordinance that sets more reasonable times for fireworks to be used. There'll be a civil penalty. It will be enforced by CPD and it has exemptions in there for permitted fireworks such as the ballpark, fireflies, events, and other ones that are permitted by the fire marshals. And it is a compliment to the ordinance that's being considered by Richland County. We were trying to make this so that the whole county, Richland County and the City of Columbia would have almost the same type enforcement of the use of fireworks. Mainly, it says don't make your neighbors mad by shooting fireworks all night. Move to the previous question. I need a second. Second. Any further discussion, questions, concerns? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Taylor? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickamitt? Aye. Thank you. Item 20, ordinance number 2020-092, consenting to the inclusion of property in a multi-county industrial business part project framework. Second. There's a motion. There's a second. Any discussion, questions, concerns? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, please read the roll. Mr. Taylor? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickamitt? Aye. Thank you. Item 21, ordinance number 2020-095, amending the 1998 Code of Ordinances of the City of Columbia, South Carolina, Chapter 23, Utilities and Engineering, Article 5, Water and Sewer Rates, Section 23-149, Sewer Service Rates. And I believe turning knots will come forward to provide a bit of explanation. Thank you. So May 18, 2021, we passed an ordinance that did amend sewer service rates. And so it was Section A and B of our Code 23-149. When it was sent over to the Munico to be published, somehow a separate Section C was deleted. And so it's been deleted. We've been working under it, but it's been deleted. We could have put it back as a Scrivener's Era and not brought it forward. There's no legal reason to bring it to you. But just to be transparent, if someone was looking at the Code today and they find it is added in a couple of weeks, they'll wonder where it came from. So that's what we're adding. The Section C that was omitted by the Muni Code folks has been put back into the Code section. Could you describe that you brought up Section C? Can you just say what it is for the public? About what it is, Section C? Or just to clarify for the public. There's no rate increase. It's not a rate increase at all. It's not changing anything. That's one reason we want to bring it forward. There's no rate increase. That's right. Is there a motion to approve? Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Taylor? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickoman? Aye. Item 22, Ordinance Summer 2020-096, authorizing the conveyance of .16 acre being a portion of an unopened Washington, of unopened Washington Street in Richland County, where a project named a proposed hotel at Wayne Street and Hampton Street. Is there a motion? Move approval. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion, concerns, questions? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, reading the roll. Mr. Taylor? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickoman? Aye. Thank you. Resolutions item 23, resolution number R-2020-084 permitting the City of Columbia Fire Department to collect money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Move. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any discussion, questions, concerns, hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk? Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor? This is my annual no vote. I would like to- It's not your only no vote, so they don't make it sound like that. I would just like to explain, since we have a good number of new members of council on why I vote no on this particular ordinance. Resolution, excuse me. State law requires that municipal governments consent to having a collection of money in the rights of the way, in the highways. And I think, and I had always advised my cities that called when I was with the Municipal Association, don't allow this. It's dangerous. It's dangerous for the officers that are in the rights of way collecting this money. It's dangerous for a precedent for other people that see our officers out there and think that they don't have to have permission, and we have pop-up collections all the time, would boot out there. And it's dangerous because the amount of money that is collected by these officers, that's cash money, and I think it's a dangerous thing. So I vote no. I've got the proper tent. You haven't gotten there yet, but I would appreciate your question. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Taylor? No. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussles? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? No. Mayor Rickerman? Aye. Let the record show that I voted with Mr. Duvall. Oh, my goodness. It's a sunny day. Item 24, resolution number R-2022-090, Adopting City of Columbia Fats, Oils and Grease Fog Grant Rebate Program and Funding. Move to approve. We have a motion. We have a second. Discussion, questions, concerns? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Taylor? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussles? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickerman? Aye. Probably should have noted that that item also came with a favorable recommendation from the Economic Development Committee. Event resolutions, item 25, resolution number R-2022-069, authorizing consumption of beer and wine only at Paint the Town, Garnet and Black USC Homecoming Event at 747 Saluda Avenue. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Questions, concerns, hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Taylor? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussles? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickerman? Aye. Item 26, resolution number R-2022-077, authorizing consumption of beer and wine only at The Chili Cookoff at the 2100 Block of Green Street on Saturday, November 12, 2022. To approve. A little motion. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion, hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Taylor? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussles? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickerman? Aye. Moving into a period of appointments. Several here today and Ms. Wood is here to assist, starting with the Board of Zoning Appeals. Mayor, are you going to make the motion? I have a motion to accept the application and appoint Davis Whittle? Second. So, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Taylor? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussles? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickerman? Aye. I have a motion for the Columbia Musical Festival for Amanda Cooper and Nick, and I'm going to... White. White. Excuse me, I could not read writing. For the two open positions. Is there a second? Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussions, concerns, hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Taylor? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussles? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickerman? Aye. Thank you. Next up, we have the Columbia Tree and Appearance Commission. So, I have two. It looks like we have two. Mr. Mueller and Mrs. Stevenson? Motion to approve. Are you making the motion? I'm making the motion for those two. Is there a second? Second. And any discussion, concern? I know that we need to confirm a third applicant. There's actually only one opening on the Columbia Tree and Appearance Commission, and it's for developer Realtor. Okay. I'm on the Columbia Tree and Appearance Commission? Yes, because Council actually appointed other people earlier, I believe, this year, and so we re-advertised for it right after we sent out the initial press release. What was the requirement? It was to develop, so the one position that is left is developer Realtor, or Realtor. The other one's like Columbia Green and some of the ones that we thought were realtor. So let's hold that so that we can go back. When we advertised it again, it was for developer Realtor, and that was September 15th, I believe. Once they formed us of the change. There's only one position. Oh, and it's got to be a developer Realtor? Yes. Mr. Stevenson, you could do that. Well, that's the question. Since Diane and Hal developed this to buildings, does that build a requirement? Pretty close. I think so. That's the one person that seemed like they wouldn't match. So let's amend their motion to include that we'll take Diane and Stevenson to fill that position. Or second? Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any discussion here, none seeing none. Madam Clark, could you read the roll? Mr. Taylor? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickerman? Aye. Thank you. Before we go to the next one, can I ask a quick question? Yes, ma'am. In looking at the binder, I love... I like mine. I know. I did not realize that we had two individuals seeking reappointment. Do we get that with the match? For which? For Columbia Music Festival Association? Yeah. Do we get the seeking reappointments on the match board? Yes. You do. It's listed. I named them on the message that we send out. We'll say that these two are seeking reappointment. It was for the two names, Christopher and Basil. So... Double check. I don't think I saw the reappointments, but not double check. Okay. You good? Yeah. Okay. I just want to make sure the greater community... The greater Columbia Community Relations Council. Yes, sir. There are seven vacancies and one... Actually, eight total, but one is reappointment. And he was voted as the incoming chair while his term was still... So I have a motion for the Greater Columbia Relationship Council for Lindsey Shealy, Erica Wright, Carl Hoffman, Alexis Boland, Tyler Bailey is the reappointment. Sarah Lyles, Willie Hartford, it looks like. Heria. Heria. Heria. Excuse me. Ashley McClendon. Second. Got a motion and a second. Any questions or concerns? Hearing none, seeing none, Madam Clerk. Could you read the roll, please? Mr. Taylor. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. May I recommend? Aye. Thank you. Then we had the Planning Commission next. Yes. We have one position, one applicant. Mr. Goodlett. Got a motion. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, seeing none, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Taylor. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. May I recommend? Aye. And then we're deferring the River Banks Park Commission to another day. Yes, sir. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, just for clarification, just we're going to defer because there was a little mix up on term and we don't have an opening at this time for Riverbanks. Is that correct? That is correct. Just wanted to, I didn't want anybody that applied to think that we were, we were just bypassed. Yes, sir. One of them had an extended term based on agreement. Mr. Mayor. Yes. On the planning commission, we thought there was only one appointee, but there's several listed here. On the planning commission, we've, you've got, you've got four names on this sheet, but we only had one name on the so essentially the, the applicant, so we listed the extra applications that came in beyond the deadline, just in case they had been council recommendations or someone that you all had recommended to apply just so that you could see it. But the majority of the applications, all of them that you reviewed, you received, those came in after the deadline, but just in case we wanted to make sure include them in your book. In case they were someone that you all had recommended. We didn't want to exclude them. One of the applicants had several after the date, that was after the application. Mr. Volley had asked Ashley that if she would notify that lady that applied late when we have the next application for the next opening on the commission, we'll do that. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Wood. At this time, we are moving into a period of other matters. One item, item 33, Office of Gun Violence Prevention Briefing. The Honorable Daniel J. Rickham and Mayor. Thank you very much. As you know, and I don't know who's driving the presentation since I'm up here. But as you know, this is a crisis in our community and we're up 31% in gun violence here in our community and the rate we're going, we're going to be over 100 and probably 130 shootings in our community. And so as we look at what other cities are doing and looking at the impact of gun violence, we want to make sure that we're moving forward. And with this office, we really wanted to have an opportunity that we could take advantage of not only the funding opportunities that are here today, but the future funding opportunities at the federal level and the state level to address gun violence and having an office that would would be the quarterback. If we could just run through the slides. You know, just to give you an idea of gun violence impact, it's close to $330 billion annually, $531 to $1,000 per person. Single murder is estimated at a cost of U.S. cities between 10 and $19 million. And these are previewed from all studies. Next slide. Obviously gun violence disproportionately affects black males in our community. Same rate among black males in South Carolina in 2020 was 35.4 or 4,000. Four points higher than national average. And twice the rate of gun related deaths among South Carolina white South Carolinians. The Columbia's Office of Gun Violence Prevention. The general overview will serve as a quarterback for the city crime reduction. The key element of the mission will be assessing and improving environmental conditions behaviors that lead to violent outcomes, cataloging, coordinating available resources from service providers, stakeholders, also being a critically responsible piece of the overall puzzle will be charged with connecting community members with job training apprenticeships and alternatives to lifestyles that lead to violent outcomes. The office also helped connect CPD with communities in order to establish strong relationships. As you know the framework for addressing we've talked about this for people, place behaviors prevention intervention and enforcement which is the key framework on all national programs from curb the violence curb the violence and other programs that have been nationally recognized and worked in several other communities all leading from Office of Gun Violence. This is everything from therapy to gun violence reduction strategies to street outreach to blight nuisance abatements hotspot policing as you saw from the data that was shared with us from our police department how much data and material that they have and now we've got to have someone who can help use that information and help with those strategies by bringing those community partners along with CPD into the program making sure that we're hitting every aspect of this. Next slide. All right and then obviously having a gun violence gives us advantages for federal funding. It allows the city to be eligible for numerous federal grants. Senator Scott has vocally supported Columbia creating this office to put federal funds into play to reducing that crime and as we said that's 31% increase this year. Allowing the city to serve as a custodial for these efforts will remove duplicate services allow the city to work with partners and engage in succeeding in the community. This has to be a partnership between the community, the city and law enforcement. Obviously there's several case studies that we can cite Richmond, California one of the first seeing an 80% reduction in gun violence since 2007. States like Illinois and Colorado have established statewide office seeking local success. Peace dividend and it's a very interesting term. I've learned a lot of terms over the last nine to 10 months but this one hits 25% reduction in gun violence and the city can lead to incredible economic embeds dubbed peace dividends and you think about when we take those pockets out of our communities and we start rebuilding reinvesting giving people job opportunities taking the elements that create more crime out what we could do think about 25% reduction of 131 shootings. Obviously the funding sources we've discussed this would be to use American Rescue Plan Act to establish a three year of gun violence and this gives us the opportunity to build up all the national and federal state opportunities to fund the office and continue to do that we've got to get started this is an eligible expense for ARPA. As you can see we're looking for three years worth of funding to to set up the office staff for director and the staff obviously that will be an RFP process that will go out to have that that person along with community involvement. I think you can go back to the memo that we had previously for this and that it's a justified expense. So we're looking for a total of 802,000 which I will tell you the police department and several other folks will tell me that's not enough money but we got to start somewhere and we got to invest to get it so step one we got to look at is identifying people in places behaviors then step two is obviously the prevention intervention enforcement of those measures coordinating existing gun violence prevention organization law enforcement create a process to choose fund and implement anti-gun violence efforts track the progress of anti-violence efforts and reevaluate his need offer drug abuse and CPT services create community centers to act as one-stop shops for additional resources we have to get into the communities and work and we've got to have somebody in charge obviously the structure as you see is the office of gun violence non-profit government agency law enforcement people places and behavior the three that keep coming through every bit of the framework people places and behavior then prevention intervention and enforcement obviously we've identified where the 2% of Columbia surface is up 53% of the gun violence this is spread through multiple districts through our community so it's not in just one community some communities have been tagged with having more crime but actually they don't they just have pockets we need to make sure that we're pinpointing those pockets that we're building trust in the community encouraging them to seek alternative to violence short-term goals achieve 100% government agency participation and statistic reporting increased participation of the local non-profit organizations involved in data sharing implement a six-month deadline for action plan proposals with a yearly follow-up create a catalog available state federal grants and those are everything from collaborative reform initiative grants to project safe neighborhoods grants to crisis intervention team grants there's so many grant opportunities out there if we have an office that we can go after plan a number of annual of community events to foster continuous interaction create goals for the agency to meet so you know outputs outcomes reduce gun violence should be our number one coordinating with existing organizations which is what we've talked about aligning and leveraging those resources making sure that we're effectively and efficiently combat gun violence and identifying other courses of actions to stop killing put down guns now young people with miracle deliverance temple spearheaded by Jack Lowe or justice in columbia is advocating for gun violence better community building better communities the sally brazil foundation nonprofits project safe neighborhoods which is run by cpd serve and connect and ceasefire are just some of the existing organizations that we can leverage resources and opportunities to reduce gun violence targeted state local agencies to participate that's our municipal district family richland county school board district attorney police departments solicitors office health and human services department of commerce columbia street department parks and wrecks and columbia housing authority to name a few prevention intervention enforcement can't say those enough people places and behavior prevention intervention and enforcement so we'll coordinate the efforts to interrupt transmission of gun violence by focusing upstream lives delivering appropriate interventions based on age and circumstances evaluating whether interventions are having the attended outcomes this is not a deterrence it's a prevention by addressing the root causes of gun violence gun violence is evidence based strategy involving law enforcement elevating roles of the community social service to reduce those guns that's active engagements that's home visits that's responding to incidents that's having a crisis team to be out there and deal with all the things that go with that that affects the shooters the families and the neighbors also later into blending transitional job program housing assistance stables and ID obtainment resources making sure that we're getting the existing wraparound services and the opportunities to those folks that they know what their opportunities are prevention and intervention enforcement again goes back to play create projects and pinpointed communities provide safe spaces safe space provide things mentorship trauma support recreation activities educational workshop job readiness how to do an interview how to dress for interview career development vocational training helping people get better quality jobs in our community organizing cleanups and reinvestment taking advantage of love our block that we introduced taking advantage of the community development block grant money to improve our neighborhoods creating programs like we did this summer where we had young people cleaning up in their own neighborhood getting paid to do that so they had a source of income to get things that they needed but also had an ability to make a difference in their community shootings must stop consequences will follow and violence doesn't stop we know that we're we're having more and more violence gun violence and it's becoming a solution for simple arguments violence is wrong and obviously genuine offer to help to extend those who want it we want to get in the community and make a difference and we have to do that as a community as whole as a government role there's a community role there's a law enforcement role and there's a judicial role end of the day we got to decrease that number we just have to decrease that number so council we've talked about this we've provided a source we want to put a resource an RFP process out to hire a director to hire a staff to coordinate much like what we've done with our homeless task force to address the issue that is a problem in our community and it's affecting our entire community so with that Mr. Mayor yes Mr. Mayor we have a program already underway in the city of Columbia that was funded by the Department of Justice for $900,000 that is almost a carbon copy of what has just been explained to us by your slideshow how is this going to dovetail with an existing program that's just getting up and running right now doing the same thing well first of all I will tell you that it's not a city program we we were named a partner a third party entity went out and and got a justice grant and it's focused on a single zip code in a single area where this plan is the quarterback to deal with all the pockets through our community which is not only district one district two district three district four where we we have identified those pockets so it's far reaching beyond just the existing grant that is brought in there and this will obviously tub, del, and coordinate so that we can impact a larger part of our community and how many people plan to hire to fit into this office I think that's we're going to have to hire the director first and then figure out exactly how many more people would be in within that budget cycle it probably will be up to three people to be able to coordinate out there and these will be hired by the city manager like the homeless coordinator anyone absolutely Mr. Mayor Mr. Taylor Mr. Mayor let me say I respect your your concept and your ideas and your commitment to reducing gun violence in Colombia very very much I just I feel it necessary to say because I heard you include several of them as part of your program but uh you know we have some blocking and tackling still to do too and we can't let those go by the wayside in a new program that's that's ensuring that our sworn officer positions are fully staffed in our police department we're not where we need to be and we need to double down on our commitment to get our police department fully staffed we've got to make sure as a community that people who do bad things know they're going to jail I mean Sheriff Lott and and and the chief and others have called it a catch and release program and it starts at the basics and goes all the way up I mean I'm just not so sure today that there's a fear in our community of being punished for doing something bad and that's got to be we can't get we we've got to address that either as part of this as a major part of this or it's got to stay out in front we've got to and I saw where you've got a slide about engaging other other local entities I'm told that our solicitors department our solicitors office I guess is a better way to say it had prosecutors at bond hearings before COVID but they're not there today you know and we need the prosecutors that we pay for as citizens of Columbia we do pay into the solicitor's office fully engaged to make sure the people that commit these gun crimes understand they're going to stay in jail if you do something bad in our city and last I would just say and I I want to thank you for being willing to meet with Elaine Midkiff from the jobs for American graduates program here in the next two weeks that the one thing that's out of our purview but in the middle of our purview is our high schools in our schools I mean the jobs for American graduates program the South Carolina has been a leader in that and addressing the most at-risk students that we have across our state in the in the ninth grade and I tell folks a lot of times it's like a truant officer with a smile on his face where these young people know that there's somebody that cares about them that when they don't show up at school they go find them and make sure nothing's wrong that's and we if you know if you're telling me and I'm hearing that you're willing to incorporate these things far deep into this program I'm with you but if these things have to stand on their own then these have to be a priority for me I would tell you that it's a hub and spoke process because all everything you talked about plays a role in it but the police department can't continue to do it without all the resources and they have to focus on those resources so this complements what they're doing having conversations with our solicitor and our judges and others to talk about that because you gotta have you gotta be tough on crime but we also have to have an opportunity to prevent it so it's it's it goes we keep calling it the stool which it is it's government it's it's community and it's judicial system and all of those parts have to come together but as we've seen with the homeless task force and being able to get these folks you gotta have somebody quarterback it we didn't even know how many homeless services we had until we did that we didn't know how the type of funding that was out there for that how much was being spent we collectively now have a process to move us forward and I see that moving in the same direction which is incorporating all of those factions as part of it because they're all part of the hub and spoke Mr. McDowell Yes I appreciate you bringing this to us today this is not the first time but you've done made of course some clarifying statements about your proposal for this gun control office the the data and the statistics are values and of course for our city of course if I read and listened very intently I think it was said that African Americans in Black men in South care not in South Carolina but in Columbia I think it was about 31 percent sir 93 percent 93 percent 31 percent increase over the last two years 31 percent I'm sorry that's what I was shooting for I'm sorry thinking about it would seem to me that with the data you presented and of course we're talking about eight hundred and two thousand dollars I need I need some more time to dig deep into this and to look dig deep into the the weeds I think it's needed I think it's necessary I think our chief has of course played a very valuable role and looking at this document and knowing what those needs are in our community but it seems to me that there needs to be some digging deep into I don't have the presentation before us and I'd like to have that in front of us so that when we send out this week yeah if we could if we could get that document sent out before we make any clarifying or resolution all kinds of statements could you clarify what your concern is because I'm going to be honest out this is the third time that I've come forward with this I sent the information out ahead of time and to be quite honest we spend three times this amount of money paying third party entities with hospitality money whose directors make $200,000 a year more money than what we're trying to invest in gun violence so I'm a little just excuse me if I'm a little put back there you know I've been sharing all this information so if we want some deeper and clarifying information I'd like some very specific questions because we need to start moving forward because the numbers aren't decreasing they're increasing today and I agree with your wholeheartedly Mr. Mayor but there has not this is the first time you've talked about it of course you have but this is the first time we've seen this in printed form and spelling out the program itself I'm not disagreeing with what we want to do and what we need to do because it is very much needed in our city but I think it needs there needs to be something that we can dig deep into the greenery of this thing and I agree with you you've expressed what you want to do but this is the first time that I've seen it in written form because I think we've got to we've got to talk about budgets we've got to talk about who does the hiring does the city manager take care of that is that a part of would that be a part of your just discuss that your responsibility if that is what you all do right yes sir that's what I'm getting at and that's not to say you can't do that what I'm saying is there needs to be better clarification of what we need to get done who does it and because it's a need in our city so I'm not disagreeing with you may I'm just simply saying yes you've brought that to us we understand that this is the first time I've seen it in written form and in more deeper clarifying statement so I agree with you sir let's just make sure yes ma'am a couple of things I I do need to digest the the power point so I want to review that and I think everyone here knows I have always supported advocated for an office of gun violence prevention so the concept I am very supportive of I do have specific issues I have I think that the dollar tag is a lot I don't know if we need to start off with three people for three years so I do have concerns about that and then in response to Mr. Taylor I would have to disagree from the standpoint of if we look at because other cities have done it we need to follow what other cities have done because they have been successful in what they've done as opposed to expanding you y'all know it's about narrowing the focus and what folks are going to work on because if it's too broad we get nothing done so take those comments there as as best as you can but I do believe that 800,000 is is a big dollar tag I will tell you that everybody that I've talked to who has an office like this and our our own police department other folks will tell you it's not near enough that you got to start somewhere and we got to have we got to have opportunity to go after the other grants by establishing this office so I would tell you that over a three-year period $200,000 and not considering what we dish out every year third-party organizations and we're talking about trying to save lives we're trying to talk we're talking about saving lives not providing somebody's car payment well and actually I'm glad you said that part because I want to make sure I think for me spending the bulk of that 750,000 pretty much on salaries maybe that's where my heartburn is well you know at this age we have to budget for it and I think until we get the director in there the director may say you only need one person and we need the second person needs to be grant writer or put that money towards grants we don't know that we got to create a budget for us to to move forward with and that the discretion of the city manager how that could shift if that director that we hire says well I really don't based on what we have the community I don't need to other people what I need is grants or I need this and I think that's where this was staged and I think we talked about it the last time I did the the version of this but look I'm glad to clarify any questions we just we're getting to a point where we we have to start moving forward so if there are quite other questions and details needed let's bring it forth because we need to move forward so just I'm sorry this last thing so I will tell you I would be more than supportive of hiring and budgeting for one person to come in develop the program develop a budget and give us like that path I mean I would be more than supportive of that I just want to put that out friend the um this position much like our our homeless task task force director new task force director very it needs to be very community minded knows know the service providers just quit comments what what what is the profile that you see that director happening and what do you need from us today to move forward and and having staff start preparing what that that job posting might look like because I'm very supportive and want to move this forward with you I would tell you I think you know first of all we need to give the manager the ability to move forward with a designated funding source so that they can build up a profile because if we have no funding we can't put a job description out we can't do anything we can't move forward you know so looking at it forecasting over a three-year period was because of the what was left with the ARPA funding it's a four-year allocation that we have to use it within four years or three years left because the time we can even probably hire some ways probably going to be the first of the year I'm guessing I think we want to develop the criteria really about who has the experience community based because that's where it's got to start with and has the relationship with law enforcement and I think there's probably several candidates out there in our community and there's probably several folks that are in neighboring communities that would be interested in applying and I think when you look at the job descriptions that you see these directors a lot of it is from their community based activities and how they interacted with law some of them have mental health background some of them have addiction counseling background some of the folks are involved and from school resource officers to former police officers and various so there's a wide range on how we develop it but this is where I think we have to sit down with staff and really carve it down and there and with the beauty part is is multiple cities that have these offices are willing to share all of their information with us so we're not starting from scratch and we're not going down a path that there hasn't been guardrails put up so I think we're strong there so are we are we are we taking a vote was this just another another presentation or are we taking action to move forward what I'm hoping is is that council would endorse it we could get it on the next agenda because of where it is in the agenda today it's not a voteable item are you discussing today how you want it to be more narrow if it is coming back is it going to come back in the current form for the current funding amount I know that's me recommend what you're proposing or will we leave here today with some idea if it's being more narrowly tailored to come back as an action item and does that we're not spending the money today but having a budget that we know that we can build into because we don't know 100% of the needs yet because obviously getting the local having the assessment but this is one time money with deadlines attached to it and it's and it's appropriated it's what it's was designated to be used for or one of the resources that could be used for so it's what I'm looking for is the commitment so that we can dive down with your team to put together the right job description and I think that's the key to it all so the job description is one thing the I guess I'm trying to make sure I'm clear so we know how to bring it back the 802,000 or however much it was exactly would certainly be entail more than the job right so the budget I would just work with you and your staff to actually compile what the whole dollar amount it looks like over the course of three years including salary and benefits for one position well I mean what we have designated here is what we which is what a standard office had so we've got a designated amount there obviously to go after grants and stuff or the others bring that in but having that as a whole budget which we can adjust at a yearly basis but I will tell you I think you'll hear from all the experts out there that you know this is the bare minimum and so with that I would push to have it designated and you know in a year we don't have we don't have what we want or we need less money or whatever we can make adjustment but because it's one time money I think we have to appropriate it for for the the entire three-year period so but again I guess my question is we're not taking a vote today how do we move it forward to the agenda is that a city manager decision to move it forward open up for two weeks for question input before we go to a thumbs up thumbs down on the first reading for for the program is it my decision it's not my decision I don't think on if y'all want to do the program so how do we move it from where it is now third third presentation to it's actionable let's let's put it into play well I can I will take ownership of sitting with me I recommend maybe and more thoroughly defining this you know I I'll be honest I have not I know I've seen the program just as you all have I think some of my questions would probably be for me I recommend and the team who've been working on this to help me explain how to delineate between you know efforts and CPD and I know the intention is for it not to be housed there I think that's intentional so I haven't seen any job descriptions so I'll I'll do that and I'll switch gears from homeless services now to Office of Gun Violence Prevention and focus in on how to help frame the job I think the approach is very very similar I think so if this whole council is saying this is what we're going to do I mean I think I had that clearly that clear direction with that and so I'm just trying to make sure before we spend a lot of time on me framing helping the mayor frame it as far as a staffing piece I just want to make sure I'm clear on what y'all are asking for us to do with his program Mr. Mayor Mayor I'm sorry Mr. Mayor yeah um again I think my list would be closer to Councilman Taylor's list and I'm not sure that his list is going to be covered by the Office of Gunfire Prevention Gun Violence Prevention and I also would endorse Ms. Herbert's recommendation that we limit this to one person that might could be the coordinator but that one person could do more of what's left on Mr. Taylor's list because we already have a gun violence prevention program funded at $900,000 in City of Columbia for one specific area you can't keep confusing the conversation it is one specific area which does not does not let me repeat does not cover all the other areas so it's it's it's not it's in that one specific area is 80% of the no it's not of the of the it's not 80% that's incorrect information I think this is a duplication of a program when I would not support it in the way it's presented I just I want to be on a record that we support directors of ballets and all kinds of stuff getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding but we're not going to fund or support an office of gun violence prevention just just want to know is that what you're telling me because right now I'm more worried about lives and innocent lives being taken hit and have these issues we're talking about spending pennies of what this group spends paying folks who are riding around in porches Mercedes getting paid six figures and we want to bring a director in here to help us reduce I just want to I just want to know is that what you're telling me Howard paying festivals and everybody is more important than taking money that the federal government has given us to put towards these efforts and they've already given us I just want to know I just want to and that's a drop in the bucket that's not it look at the millions of dollars that come in for programs this and that and we're talking about a program to try to reduce gun violence in our most challenged areas that's all we're asking for is a commitment to do with the money we have and leverage it to get something better I'm just you know I gotta tell you I'm just very put back some of this there's been a lot of information shared PowerPoint's been on the council's stuff since the agenda went out so it's not like this is all new information but if this council I'd rather you vote right now and say you know what I don't support it I'd rather continue to allow people to get shot in our communities than put money into this program if you put it on the agenda you'll what was that it needs to make it to the agenda that's I mean that's at the root of it Mr. Mayor take it forward request it to go to the agenda and let's let's let's take our votes in two weeks whether you support the program I support the program I look forward to getting the questions answered about that some of our colleagues have maybe changing the program to meet their needs but this needs to move forward this is a community discussion we can make adjustments I'm all for ideas but the fact that we're trying to penny pinch on a program like this just I tell you I'm just shocked well I want to agree with you Mr. Mayor and I want to agree with you on this stance I live in District 2 in District 2 and 1 is where you get your your violent acts taking place no question about that so it's not an argument whether or not whether or not we're going to do the program or not do the program sir I think that the question is let's put it on the agenda let's have continued conversation and let's be ready to do first reading next time simply as that it's regrettable it's regrettable that young boys young men and families are being devastated by gun violence I get it in my district every day actually Tina and I get it every day this whole city gets it every day we're impacted every day by an act of violence gun violence now if we want to equate this to something that is totally that you don't want to do it hell just say you don't want to do it just say you don't want to do it lives are still going to be shattered families are still going to be displaced because of violence now let's put it on the table let's make sure it's refined make sure our city manager has what she needs to make this thing work and let's let's do a first reading yes ma'am and I will I will tell you I got a call I guess then I hear I got a call from a news station yesterday asking about what the presentation was going to be and I said what we're waiting to hear from the mayor and this particular news person said well what happened to the committee with the mayor and councilwoman Herbert and councilwoman McDowell and they picked it up from a discussion that was had in the work session what I will say is in order for us not to have this again I think it is imperative that we sit down and discuss it prior to coming back to full council to really have this discussion because we don't need to have this full discussion like we're having it now but we haven't been given that opportunity so I would request that before it comes back that we make sure we take the time to sit down and talk through the nuts and bolts so that people can feel more confident I mean I'm the one that's that came up I mean like I'm the one that wanted the office of gun violence prevention but I won't just support any old name and just to be honest so I would hope that we will have a meeting where we can discuss this in more detail particularly with myself and particularly with Rev I'm sorry Councilman McDowell because our districts are the ones that are most impacted before we come back here for a vote and the conversation may be totally different and Mayor I I will take responsibility too because I don't know I really take it very seriously about understanding something you're charging me to stand up or or hire a person I'll be honest I don't know that I totally and you and I've had lots of conversations about this and and I know it's very important to you so first and foremost let me say I'm a bit uncomfortable because I don't feel like I'm helping you articulate where we need to go or being able to answer the questions of the Council I'm not you know I'm not a big fan of just bringing something and bringing something and bringing something I want you to get out of it what it is all of you collectively you're trying to achieve and I was asking sidebar and with with the Chief a little bit even though it wouldn't be housed in PD you know what is the type person who would be a director of Office of Gun Violence but it's prevention and he's saying like a Masters or a PhD level person you know I need to familiarize myself with what that looks like and I just haven't done that I really to be honest with you thought that the office over at Busby Street that we've embedded over at Busby Street which I know is it has the serve and connect component I thought when we talked about this at one point in time we could integrate while that like you said is more specific to that particular program the office has been stood up there and the they have the staffing there and we're contributing in that way with the office space so I probably made an assumption and I shouldn't have that whatever the council holistically agreed to fund with the office of gun violence prevention would somehow be integrated with that piece and I don't know it still could be maybe I just need to think about how to advise on the staffing part I mean I'm not an expert in it but I will certainly try to dig that deep to getting that deep in it to bring you all something that you can take action on and we'll sit and go through it line by line if we have to it sounds like the councilwoman Herbert is asking for a work session or just some meetings so we can get clear because I do need the clarity as well on what the staff person looks like and I'm hearing one person now right a director no no no that was just what I said the mayor's the first answer is three positions okay I'm I'm what I'm hearing is is the reality is is that we've been talking about this we have a basis we got to make a commitment you can't start talking about hiring people you can't start doing this unless you know there's a commitment there and we have a basis to do it I agree with that commitment and for me that's the first step and as always all employees work for the city manager in the city of Columbia that is the way our charter works I mean that's not even a discussion point I think for me I think if there's questions specific questions concerns comments let's get them in let's formulate we'll lay it out down to the detail a similar thing but conceptually this is how you have to go forward you don't have all the answers yet we didn't have all the answers when we started the homeless and we look what we ended up doing we're doing something that's impactful changing our community addressing an age-old issue with real responses and compassion tied to it and I hope that's where we're headed here I apologize for my frustration but you know we got to start reading materials we got to start sharing stuff and making sure that as we go forward that we give the ability because at the end of the day if it doesn't work it doesn't work I totally that's one thing but this this idea that that's duplicated services I could say that about the ballets and everything else you bet on ballets tonight man well I mean you know it's frustrating when you see the amount of money that will dole out we'll give eight hundred thousand dollars to a group out of hospitality without asking to see their 990 doesn't matter but we talk about trying to change gun violence you know well that's too much money what is too much money how much is a life worth today I'll leave that I hear you mayor and I think that there's a lot of great ideas on the table I am supportive of this initiative and I'd love to talk to you from a public health perspective how I think we can be successful and in terms of who would be successful in this role I'm happy to meet with you and city manager about that there are a couple of models out of Baltimore, Portland and I think somewhere else in the south I think Atlanta where we can kind of look to them to see what works but I certainly think we need to continue some of these logistics and technical conversations in our off week next week and make sure that we have our ducks in a row so that we can take our vote on November 1st and I just want to interject but that is not to because we have already requested a meeting so I just want to make sure I throw that in so I don't I don't want there to be a whole another shift in the whole different direction with Dr. Bussles and her goals when Rev and I have already asked for a meeting to discuss about what's going to impact our district well as an at-large member that's also my district so I'm happy to participate in that conversation as well we just have a group meeting whoever can be there can be there that's all I have that takes us to the city council committee referrals reports and new business I'm not sure that we have any okay I don't think we have anything and that would be for public input any additional public input has anybody signed up to speak no sir and no one is online does anybody in the audience would like to speak and this is your opportunity to address council yes ma'am city council members and city manager as you know my name is Ada Durin Skelton and I live at 3818 Eureka street in Columbia South Carolina I came up here to speak to you all about homelessness I had applied for a position that I realized that that position wasn't what I want to do so I'm really glad that I didn't get it because it's not the field that I want to be in I want to end END homelessness I have several programs and plans that I know I've talked to so many people and everybody agrees with me that these programs would work and I'm just asking the mayor city council members I even sent Ms. Dr Ms. Herbert she asked for some of my plans because something I mentioned to her and Mr. McDowell so I'm asking you all I feel you for the gun violence you know it's my passion to end homelessness and I'm just asking you to give me a job I'm asking I told them I'd take that other job for $25,000 but I'm glad I didn't get it because even $25,000 that job was not what I wanted so I'm asking you now to consider making me a project manager over these plans that I want to implement to end END homelessness and I know they will work like I said I've talked to so many people educated people with degrees and they're all for me so I'm asking you to give me some time to sit down with you all and go over my plans I've got them all wrote up matter of fact Ms. Wilson has a lot of them even for the Rapid Shelter I gave her specific plans how that should be run and I'm not telling you it's about me it's something in me that gives me these plans I mean even when I had applied before I had applied for the job I started getting thoughts about what to do so can you schedule some time with me Mr. Mayor and City Council I mean before this month is over to sit down with me and I want to work with planning zoning and community development and implementing these plans and I promise you you looked over the plans didn't you Dr. Herbert Ms. Herbert I mean Ms. Herbert No I did and I just want to clarify you left me a voicemail saying that you wanted to share some information with me so when I sent you that message I was saying email me that information that you wanted to share with me and I wasn't aware of what was going on with the job and position I didn't know one thing had anything to do with the other but what I can say with respect to positions we just had a long budget season we don't have any additional positions we won't be budgeting for new positions and that would be a whole new position that we don't have right now until next budget cycle so and City Manager can put that on the list of what we look at in for 2324 as a consideration but I don't think we have anything there is no position like that now I understand that I'm asking you and you see how we fighting over to you know some other positions I understand that $35,000 and then I'm asking you to put a million dollars towards ending homelessness not for me but to those departments and helping us in homelessness what I want to say is that people's lives this would also help with the gun violence if we could get people off the streets a lot of that is cause because people are on the streets drugs and all of those things are caused because people on the streets so if we can put our effort towards helping people to live the kind of lives every day I go home and I go to bed in my bed not on a bench and I just want you to think about that if it was you I've been in a situation where I could have been homeless but because I know so many people and I have someone on my side that just would not let it happen so these people don't have that so just consider what I'm saying $35,000 that's nothing that's a like a drop award in the bucket to you the city has the money I do know that okay so you know I hate to say don't tell me that you know because you can do it you can create a position like tomorrow if you really want to so like I said you know glad to hear your ideas if you'll share them with them so I haven't gotten anything but if you'll share them with them I'd love to hear your thoughts so when would you like for me to share them with you you have to make an appointment ma'am I don't have my schedule right here I don't even have my phone on me yes so I try to schedule appointments with you several times and I haven't heard anything so who have you spoken with I've spoken with the person in your department city the mayor's assistant and while back you had a guy named Shelton working for you is that correct Chris Sheffelton that was back in February okay and I had called about some of these ideas of course I didn't have I didn't really have a plan then but because I've been working with the unsheltered and you know just talking to them and trying to do what I can do and on the task force and all I've learned a lot ma'am I'm glad to hear your thing and we'll find a time to make it happen okay all right thank you mr. yes ma'am and city council uh was there anybody else that wanted to speak at this time sir good afternoon going on evening but I thank the council for making consideration to multiple proposals to end gun violence I'd like to just briefly bring to reality wherever you hire for these programs please make sure that they have not only the educated reality of it but the street smart and common sense for one thing about it it don't matter how much education you have but you don't know what the streets think say speak you don't know the codes if you don't know what the real agenda of what's actually taking place is you will have ultimate failure again and again and again I haven't seen so many programs come out sounds good but who has the common sense to communicate with people that's on the street so far out of all the programs you have put I have not seen none of it I used to be highly involved in this activity through the help challenges of myself as well as my fiance aka my boss excuse me we both have she had hit replacers and also have suffered with epilepsy in which I was fortunate enough to go to Florida and have a major operation that remained the calluses on my brain that's causing my seizures by step out of community service now I'm back I'm back with solution and with inventions of success I personally want to make sure that you're on the right track of reality and two other brief moments I don't know if I'm known or allowed about two or three minutes but make sure the people here hear a word of the new games that's in town from the Latino community or from the Asian community and not touch that reality we're talking about what's already here but you have no idea what's actually already arrived focus on again people who understand what's going on in this country who understand how South Carolina is a main focus point where they can launch in all directions you need to be aware of that again education is one thing for education reality it's a totally different reality altogether one final thing is the movement here for corporations and individuals to take unincorporated land come in to zoning have one opportunity to speak if they pass it if they stop if they don't it can move on to you for what you all don't realize they're coming in to build certain industry it is a surprise by a lot of builders to come in take part and also produce housing under the term of low cost which the main purpose is to come in put so-called affordable housing in so anybody come in where they can come in and get out it was none whatsoever lose regulations on making sure that housing is truly affordable housing take a look at that process to stop the old tradition that other people from outside the state have came in and matched have more to say but I know I know I only have a certain period of time but please take a look at that truth that I'm sure thank you for taking the time today sir thank you for for your words with that I will entertain a motion to adjourn there's a second and madam clerk could you read the roll Mr. Taylor Mr. Herbert aye Dr. Bussells aye Mr. Brennan yes Mr. McDowell Mr. Duvall aye Mayor Rickamon aye have a good evening