09/04/2012 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 09-04-12 ...~. includes looking for efficiencies and ways to better our city government. It just so happens that I disagree with this particular proposal. Two prior administrations did look ,,~. into this and decided no; it didn't even get to the legislative point. It was discussed informally, and there was never any proposal whatsoever of this kind to create a Mayors Court. There have been only two Mayors Courts created in the past 30 years in Ohio. Why aren't more cities doing this? Forty-eight states do not have Mayors Courts. The only other state other than Ohio is Louisiana. I will not get into the history of political corruption in the state of Louisiana. Why is North Olmsted doing this? Is there a need for a Mayors Court? Rocky River sets the standard in probation for the county, region and state. You're going to give up those services - a safety net -for our residents for 1 of our total budget? The next notion is if you accept the Mayor's proposal, we're going to raise $256,000 at the end of the day. That is just over 1% of our total operating budget. That's it. We're going to give up all those fine probation services for 1 % of our total budget. That is nothing more than the roof at the Recreation Center needing to be put under a change order because it leaks, etc. It's a drop in the bucket, nothing. Judge Hagan is correct. This decision is monumental. There is no going back. In a year if this doesn't work out, what are we going to do then? Crawl back to Rocky River Muni Court? Take into consideration the monumental decision we are making. It is altering the lives of our residents in a significant way. If Issue 34 was a big change for the benefit, this one may very well work out. I oppose it for the reasons I stated. Consider the magnitude. The other number that is significant is 2% recidivism of 100 first time OVI cases sampled by Ms. Nash. We know how often we see drunk drivers with ~ multiple arrests and multiple convictions. Here we are going to toss away to the side - for the sake of money -all those services for first time offenders? We are going to pass a 2% recidivism rate for extra money in our general fund? Don't get me wrong. I understand $256,000 is a decent amount of money, but not when you compare it to the entire operating budget of the city. In terms of the efficiencies pointed out by the Administration, the one I will quickly dispense with is the notion that it's more convenient for our citizens to go to our Mayors Court than Rocky River Muni Court. Rocky River is a stone's throw compared to some of the other communities in different counties. We shouldn't be making it easier for violators who speed through our streets or on I480 -and by the way a lot of these people getting these tickets will not be our residents, so why is it such a big efficiency to make it more convenient for them to come to Mayors Court rather than go to Rocky River Muni Court. It was also pointed out that it's a benefit to our residents that offenders pay less at North Olmsted Mayors Court. Pay less? That should tell you right there -you pay less at Mayors Court. Do we really want them to pay less? No. At the very first Committee of the Whole, I inquired whether or not the Administration would give up the first offender OVI cases, and the answer was no. The reason for the no answer is simple. Because, this is just an economic initiative. Nothing more. It's about the money. If you give up the OVI offenders who rake in the biggest fines and are assessed the largest fines, you defeat the whole purpose. Then, it would be completely inefficient to establish a Mayors Court. It's aneconomically-driven decision, one I cannot support based on what we're giving up in terms of Rocky River services. He pointed out that Chief Justice Moyer was adamantly against the creation and perpetuation of Mayors Courts. One court in 30 years should resonate volumes when you go to vote this evening. He urged Council to recall the statistics and comments presented 7