Please come to order. Members will please rise while Councilwoman Berka leads us in prayer
this morning.
Good morning. Thank you for being with us today and guiding us all here safely. This is a special
week for our city and we just pray that you will watch over it and keep us all safe, help
everyone make good decisions while they're out there having fun. And just bless us in
this meeting as we meet every other week, Lord, to make decisions for the city and
for the people of and I pray you'll give us wisdom and guidance and help us do
what's best for everyone and help us to know what that is just watch over
everyone today keep them safe as we leave here and as everyone runs around
the city and bring those people who are coming in safe and as everyone goes
home keep them safe as well just watch over it and let it be a good safe
time in Jesus name I pray amen thank you so much council member over
We're sure you would please let us in the pledge.
To the flag of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands
to take.
Nikki, will you please call the roll?
Annie.
Berka.
Burton.
Separately excused.
Cook.
Begrie.
Feral.
Giannola excused.
Haas.
Hoover excused.
Jenkins.
John's. Kerns excused King.
Minority. More. Overstreet.
Pepper. Bar. Robinson. Rubio
excused. Selango.
Excused
Clerk, please read the journal, Mr. Chairman.
I request unanimous consent that the reading of the journal be dispensed with.
It's been a motion on floor dispensed with the reading of the journal. Hearing and seeing no objections, the reading of the journal is now dispensed with.
We have one public speaker this morning, Rachel Rubin. Rachel?
Is there a time limit that I need to respect?
I think just two or three minutes, if that's okay with you, Rachel.
Be great.
Yes ma'am, thank you so much.
Hi, y'all. I'm Rachel Rubin. I'm a tenant. I've lived in Charleston for three years. I've been in West Virginia for six.
I work at the Chicanoa County Public Defender's Office. This is now the second year in a row that, in order to have its big party,
that the city has undertaken an entire effort to disappear anyone that they don't want to see ahead of their gata.
Over 25 people were booked at South Central on Thursday.
Over the course of the last couple of days, 16 people have been charged for sleeping in a public park.
Eleven are being held on nothing else.
So that means it's coming out of the city's jail bill in order to incarcerate these people for six days.
Let me go over that.
The city's discretion was used in order to sweep people out of public parks, go on an entire war and sweep.
There are 11 people who are being held for nothing else but being in a public park after hours
That's 1425 for the finance boys in the room
4825 per day per person
So that's excess of $4500 strictly for the city's jail bill
In order to disappear people that the city did not want to be part of the regatta
I wonder what that line item is going to be for next year's regatta
How you will describe how you are spending that money in order to disappear
here, my friends and my neighbors.
For the technocrats in the room,
whom I think the legal procedures work itself out,
two things.
People are technically entitled to a PR bond
for nonviolent charges and violation of city ordinances.
And city judge Matt Smith canceled court on Wednesday.
I can promise you the public defenders
filed bond motions for every single one of those folks
that were arrested and the latest of those
was filed before 3 p.m. on Friday.
So it is the city judge's discretion
to not have ruled on those bond motions.
Those people don't have a prayer
of getting out of jail before Thursday.
Corporal Cooper and Corporal Harper
have been the foot soldiers of this operation,
but I want y'all to know
that they're carrying out your wishes.
You have the control and the discretion to direct CPD.
I guess the last thing I'll say
is that I'm a young person
who's raised in another state.
I went to college in another state.
I decided to move here.
I brought friends of mine here.
And what the city has decided to do
in my name just disappear an entire generation of people who they don't care about is embarrassing.
For
your comments this morning, that will be it for our public speakers.
The clerk will now please read the claims against the city.
A claim of Terry Natsen alleges damage to property.
A claim of Nikki D. Robinson alleges personal injury.
A claim of Patricia Thacker alleges loss of property.
Thank you. Please refer to the city's solicitor.
The clerk will now please read the committee report in resolution 841-23.
3. Your committee on finance has had under consideration resolution number 841-23, authorizing
the mayor as city manager to purchase 2023 Ford police interceptor SUVs from Thorne Hill
Ford Lincoln in the amount of $848,980 or the purchase price was determined through
a competitively sourced statewide contract and reports seem to cancel with the recommendation
that the committee report be adopted. Mr. Chairman.
Thank you Madam Mayor. Recently in the past couple of years, essentially beginning with
the pandemic, there's been a shortage and a delay on obtaining from Ford the police
interceptor SUVs. Through happenstance, Thornhill Ford Lincoln had ordered about 50 or so of
these for the state police but they came in the wrong color and so the state police
declined to take delivery, thus making many of these SUVs available for purchase
from other law enforcement agencies. We are able to purchase 20 of these, which is great
because we recently purchased 16, and we may not even get all those, and they're still delayed.
Possibly only get seven of those, and so the replacement schedule for CPD, particularly
the patrol cars, is behind schedule. And so, therefore, your finance committee recommends
the approval of this purchase.
Thank you. The floor is up for discussion on the resolution. The question is the adoption
of the resolution on favor of vote aye. Opposed vote nay. I declare resolution 841-23 as adopted.
Before we close out, just want to say a couple quick things. First of all, we have a very
special guest in the room, Nora Wood is here with us today. Nora, we are so happy
to have you here at Council, honey. She's been very helpful earlier this morning. Thank
Thank you to Chairman Jenkins for bringing coffee and donuts for those of us who slept
two hours and those of us who just like donuts, so we appreciate you very, very much.
Let me also just say thanks to council members who have volunteered or showed up to haul
ice or water or sit at one of the booths and work, but especially to our refuse streets,
traffic, police, fire, EMS, they're doing a wonderful job.
Last night we had a little burst of weather that popped up pretty quickly when it's when
you're working in event with a meteorologist you get those things in real time so the winds
picked up to about a burst of 40 49 miles per hour and one small burst so it felt like
it I'll say that it felt like it Matthew Sutton grabbed a tent from out of the air
So it was amazing, but thanks.
You know, we take for granted sometimes when we have those things in town and our streets,
especially our refuse department, they work really hard.
It's been really hot and they work extremely hard.
It's a running joke now we see them.
The first folks we get up in the morning and the last folks we see at night.
Our streets and our refuse department are doing such an amazing job.
So I do want to give a big shout out and say thanks to them before we close out
Are there any remarks by any members of council this morning?
Councilmember Solomon, do you have any announcements or remarks?
Thank you, Mayor. I just want to comment on what Ms. Rubin said. We had 16 people charged with parks after dark or parks after hours.
years, and we had,
I mean, there's only five of those people had warrants, so we're sweeping
two additional people for every warrant served, and before June 29th, only, that charge was
only used seven times in the last seven years, and it was, it's kind of a, like, what, just,
why did we just reinvent a prosecutable offense that is going to put people in jail for
six days?
I think I've asked questions I've not received answers and we can debate that but it's it's
something that we're there we're hearing a lot from folks that are concerned about it and it's
just not looking good it's not a good no not good optics when we have 25 people arrested on one
day, the day before Regatta starts. It's primarily on house folks and it's just not a good look
for the city. Thank you.
Thank you Mayor Goodwin. I would echo the speaker's concerns and questions
questions, as well as Councilmember Steelehammer's concerns and questions.
I spent some time with others visiting parks and the monomial parking lot on Saturday,
a regatta day, and just listening and trying to learn more about what was going on.
And one person told me, I overheard one person share, either all my friends just
died or they've been swept away to jail. And I don't think they all just died. And that
just really, really resonated. I think the numbers are also so far. We're trying to learn
more. We're the of concern. But one area where it seems like we could reduce the harm
of the arrests that have been made since court has been closed since last Thursday
is to ask Judge Smith to return to the bench before Thursday, today, Tuesday, Wednesday,
and help clear out some of these cases. I don't really know how to do that, but if anyone
has any advice or suggestions or relationships with Judge Smith to ask if he might return
to the bench, that would be much appreciated. I'm happy to work with you on that. Thank
you.
Yes sir thank you council thank you councilmember Solomon councilmember King
and I'll think I see any other hands yes sir I just like to that say thank you to
our law enforcement agency for doing their jobs all year round not just right
before we got it thank you any other comments where we close out tonight
Mr. I'm gonna call you the ice man now since you've been doing ice is that
okay with you slinger slinger hey there a couple of us have been out there
each morning slinging ice and helping the vendors and the mayor mentioned some
things about all the hard workers of the regatta but I want to recognize the
administration these the individuals sitting up front are here at daylight
they're here till dark they're here till two in the morning they're jumping in
they're doing everything starting from Jane Bostic to the regatta commission
to Mayor Goodwin, to Matt Sutton, and I'ma miss the people. Tina, all of them. Andrew, you know,
they're all out there riding in carts. They're all out there slinging ice, taking the vendors,
making sure the vendors orders are taken care of, making sure all the behind the scenes,
means I listen to the radios. They won't give me a radio by the way. But there's a lot that
goes into this regatta. And until I started working with Bruce and riding around the
cart with Matt, I didn't recognize what goes into an event like this. I put on a lot of
myself but nothing to this that stage- but it there's a lot of people doing a
lot of things behind the scenes and they should deserve the credit they deserve
so I just want to recognize those people sitting up front and those that are
not here and out there working now the refuse and the fire the police that
I mean they're out there we did get to see the new officers the officers
new shorts this weekend so they were pretty sure that so I just want to
make that recognition. Thank you councilmember Robinson we appreciate it
and it's not just during regatta we care about our work all the time we care
about our work and we care about every single person that lives in this city
every single person if you own a business if you live here if you work
here if you are just here we care about you we have amazing teams plural
not just in the in the mayor's office or the city manager's office we have
lots of different departments that were here before we got here, and departments that we
created to make sure that we're doing the best that we can for the most that we, for
all, for everyone. So we don't always get it, we don't always get it right, but our
heads and our hearts are certainly in the, certainly in the right place. Thank you
so much. The clerk will now please call the roll.
Annie, Berka, Burton, Seferly, Cook,
Bagree, Barrel, Giannola, Haas,
Hoover,
Jenkins, Jones, Kearns, King,
Minority, Moore, Overstreet, Pepper,
Farr, Robinson, Rubio, Solango,
I am here. Thank you so much. Mr. Chairman, most adjourned until Monday July 17th at 7 p.m. There's a motion to adjourn until July 17th. Thanks everybody.