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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07251989 - IO.3 I.O. 3 TO: Board of Supervisors FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE DATE: July 17, 1989 ST'4 COUti'� SUBJECT: PROPOSED RESPONSE TO THE REPORTOFTHE 1988-89 GRAND JURY ENTITLED "REDUCTION OF CRIME IN EL PUEBLO HOUSING PROJECT" Specific Request(s) or Recommendations(s) & Background & Justification RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Adopt the following report of our Committee as the Board of Supervisors' response to the Report of the 1988- 89 Grand Jury entitled "Reduction of Crime in El Pueblo Housing Project". 2. Remove this item as a referral to our Committee. BACKGROUND: On April 21, 1989 the 1988-89 Grand Jury approved the attached report on "Reduction of Crime in El Pueblo Housing Project". On July 17, 1989 our Committee met with the Executive Director of the Housing Authority and members of the 1988-89 and 1989-90 Grand Juries. We reviewed the proposed response suggested by the Executive Director of the Housing Authority and discussed the Grand Jury's recommendations with the members of the Grand Jury and the Executive Director of the Housing Authority. At the conclusion of these discussions we formulated the following response,utilizing a format suggested by the Grand Jury in their final report,in which the Grand Jury requested that written responses to Grand Jury recommendations clearly specify: A. Whether the recommendation is accepted or adopted. B. If the recommendation is accepted,a statement as to who will be responsible for implementation and a definite target date. C. A delineation of constraints, if a recommendation is accepted but cannot be implemented within the calendar year. D. The reason for not adopting a recommendation. Continued on attachment: YES Signature: RecoS- 0m o ounty Administrator Recommendation of Board Committee —p ther: ��1�. Signature(sWERS sl WRIGHT MC PEAK Action of Board on: . July 25 1989 Approved as Recommended x Other Vote of Supervisors I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN x Unanimous (Absent — ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE Ayes: Noes: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON DATE SHOWN. Absent: Abstain: cc: County Administrator Attested PTT /989 Executive Director,Housing Authority 1461 B chelor, Clerk of the Board Foreman,1988-89 Grand Jury of Supervisors and County Administrator Foreman,1989-90 Grand Jury Superior Court Judge Wayne Westover CLVM:eh(io-3) By , Deputy Clerk This and all future responses to Grand Jury recommendations coming from our Committee will follow this format as closely as possible. RECOMMENDATION# 1: The Housing Authority of the County of Contra Costa continue its efforts,in cooperation with the Pittsburg Police Department,tofurther reduce the incidence of narcotic sales andsubstance abuse in EI PuebloHousing Project. RESPONSE: A. This recommendation is adopted. B. The Executive Director of the Housing Authority will be responsible for implementing this recommendation. The Housing Authority is strongly committed to eliminating the sale and use of illegal drugs in El Pueblo and other public housing developments with the Housing Authority's jurisdiction. The Housing Authority will continue its close cooperation with the Pittsburg Police Department in a variety of efforts to combat the sale and use of illegal drugs in El Pueblo and the surrounding community. This is an ongoing effort which cannot realistically have a target date for its completion. C. This recommendation is, by its nature, on-going. Major progress has been made in this direction and will continue not only within the calendar year, but through the foreseeable future. RECOMMENDATION#2 The Housing Authority continue to cooperate with the City if Pittsburg and its police department in pursuing measures to eliminate narcotics problems along Diane Avenue. RESPONSE: A. This recommendation is adopted. B. The Executive Director of the Housing Authority will be responsible for the implementation of this recommendation. On May 17, 1989 Housing Authority staff and Advisory Housing Commission members met with the City Manager and the Chief of Police of the City of Pittsburg to discuss the recommendations of the County Grand Jury. Several proposed solutions were discussed with the City of Pittsburg officials which would effectively address the narcotics problems along Diane Street. The City Manager said he would explore the implementation of some of these proposed solutions with his staff and the Pittsburg City Council. Follow-up meetings will be held with City of Pittsburg officials on this subject. In effect,this meeting has already begun the implementation of this recommendation. Precise measures will depend on the City of Pittsburg and will, no doubt,require on- going vigilance and increased police patrol. C. This recommendation again requires on-going efforts to cleanup the narcotics traffic on Diane Street. ltisneither a simple problem nor will the solution be one which can be implemented at one point in time and not be expected to reoccur in the future. Substantial progress can be expected by the end of the calendar year. RECOMMENDATION# 3: The Housing Authority and the Pittsburg Police Department give a high priority to the reduction of excessive speeding on the streets of EI Pueblo. The addition of speed bumps and stop signs are possible solutions. RESPONSE: A. This recommendation is adopted in part. - 2 - B. The Executive Director of the Housing Authority will be responsible for working with the City of Pittsburg to accomplish as much of this recommendation as is possible in a timely manner. The Executive Director of the Housing Authority reported to our Committee that since the streets in El Pueblo are public streets the Police Department is reluctant to install speed bumps because of the potential liability exposure. To this extent the recommendation has not been adopted in part by the City of Pittsburg. The Pittsburg Police Department has indicated they will be exploring with their Traffic Committee the possibility of additional stop signs in the El Pueblo Community. The Pittsburg Police Chief has also indicated that he would instruct his traffic enforcement staff to do a special traffic enforcement effort in El Pueblo to reduce the incidence of speeding cars. C. The extent to which this recommendation can be fully implemented within the calendar year rests more on the ability of the City of Pittsburg to move swiftly on the issues involved. The Executive Director of the Housing Authority is asked to stay in close touch with the City of Pittsburg and keep the 1989-90 Grand Jury briefed on developments as they occur. D. This recommendation is not adopted to the extent that it recommended the installation of speed bumps in El Pueblo because of the concern expressed by the City of Pittsburg for the increased liability to which they might be exposed if this piece of the recommendation were implemented. We must respect the decision of the City of Pittsburg in this regard. RECOMMENDATION#4: The Housing Authority closely monitor the maintenance of newly renovated housing units and take immediate corrective action when rules of maintenance are violated. Continuation of the monitoring and inspection program is essential. RESPONSE: A. This recommendation is adopted. B. The Executive Director of the Housing Authority will be responsible for implementation of this recommenda- tion. The Housing Authority will closely monitor the maintenance of modernized apartments in El Pueblo. The Housing Authority is committed to maintaining all of its rental units in good physical condition. A system of annual inspections of each apartment has been established throughout the Housing Authority's public housing developments. This annual inspection program is closely monitored by El Pueblo housing development staff, as well as Central Office staff. In addition,the Housing Authority has a comprehensive system of making regular maintenance repairs,as well as emergency repairs,on an on-going basis. This maintenance repair system is also closely monitored by the Central Office staff. If residents do not maintain their apartments in good condition, as required by the Housing Authority lease,the housing manager counsels and works with the family to improve the maintenance and upkeep of their unit. If repeated violations occur and no improvement is made, the Housing Authority then moves to cancel the lease and begin proceedings to evict the family from public housing. We believe that this recommendation is currently implemented.