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Recreation Commission Meeting September 8, 2003 Page Two responded there should be more interactive activities and more participation from the various departments throughout the City. Mr. Jesse stated that the Rec Department may want to do something at the Mall, basically for North Olmsted residents. Then, at the Rec Center, do it with non-residents. It would be interesting to see the breakdown with non-residents, and the same questions could be used. A few members agreed that many non-residents attend Homecoming regularly. Mr. Jesse's thought was to assess why non-residents go to the North Olmsted Recreation Center. Is it price? Is it the facility? Is it programs? All of the above? Staff Safety Awareness Meeting The Staff Safety Awareness Meeting for the Rec Department employees was received very well and was very informative. Sgt. Kilbane with the North Olmsted Police Department gave an outstanding presentation relating to "verbal judo" pertaining to adults as well as children. This was the first of many steps that will be taken to improve security and safety at the Rec Complex. This meeting addressed how to talk to people and detailed procedures and protocol in the event of an emergency or threat to patrons, guests, and staff. Proper communications were established between the Police Department and the Recreation staff as well. The next step in safety awareness will involve "hard security" - perimeter building security, changing out locks and issuing keys. A good percentage of our current employees have keys to everything and another 50% of our ex-employees do as well. The perimeter locks are being changed. Mr. Stein and Mr. DiSalvo will be the only employees with master keys. Then keys will be given to employees according to the employee's office and the outer doors, allowing for a tighter system. It was good to touch base with the staff; the response was 42 at the first class and 48 at the second. This included part-timers, lifeguards, etc. There are about 165 employees at the Recreation Department. A lot of kids left to go back to school at the time of the meeting. The meeting was mandatory, but the employees were paid for going there, and Mr. DiSalvo was very pleased with the turnout. To have such a successful meeting will bring a payoff. The Rec Center’s consultant, Joe Rice, has an overall good picture of what security should be. Regardless, it was important to have Sgt. Kilbane at the meeting because he knows firsthand what goes on and how security should be. He's been at the skate park, for Friday Night Skates, and the staff relates well with him. He handled all their questions. Now the employees know how to handle patrons and "problem people" threats by handling through a supervisor or, if that does not work, calling the police. Everyone was pretty well satisfied as far as protocol established. The Police Department would rather have Rec Center employees call many times rather than not call one time when something blows up out of proportion. That was extremely reassuring to the Rec staff because they did not want to bother the police, Sgt. Kilbane said that's part of their job. Page 2