March 24, 2009
Fresno Chamber-Supported
Independent Police Auditor Gains City Council Approval
The
Chamber's support proved influential today as the Fresno City
Council voted to create the Fresno Chamber-supported Independent
Police Auditor (IPA).
Council
Members Mike Dages and Henry T. Perea cast the only votes against
the IPA. Many of the Council Members, including Mayor Ashley
Swearengin, said they appreciated the Chamber's support for the IPA.
Chamber
President and CEO Al Smith spoke at the meeting and urged the
council to approve the position saying it is a worthwhile venture
backed by Police Chief Jerry Dyer. He also stressed the Chamber's
concerns about the position costing too much and it becoming another
layer of bureaucracy.
March 19, 2009
Fresno Chamber Supports
Mayor's Proposal To Create An Independent Police Auditor
The Chamber’s Government
Affairs Council lent its support to Mayor Ashley Swearengin’s
Independent Police Auditor (IPA) proposal. GAC members felt this was
the right step for the city to take, but still expressed concerns
about the $360,000 annual cost.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer and City Manager Andy Souza attended the
meeting and answered questions. Jacky Parks, president of the Fresno
Police Officers Association, also attended and gave his reasons for
why the city doesn’t need an IPA.
August 16, 2006
Public Safety
Integration Drives Forward with Chamber at the Wheel
Headway made on integration of public safety services
On July 20, the
Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the
Fresno County Board of Supervisors and Fresno City Council, held
a rare joint meeting to discuss crucial items that could be
merged to improve safety and
eliminate duplicate costs to taxpayers.
After decades of
troubled discussion on the topic, city and county officials
voted unanimously to create four committees to begin studying
and gathering information on law enforcement operations. The
Chamber, which has been instrumental in moving the discussion
forward by commissioning an initial review of safety services,
was commended by both city and county officials and asked to
continue its role as facilitator and oversee the ongoing
discussions. Board of Supervisors Chairman Phil
Larson said, “This is an opportunity that we’ve long awaited for
to bring the City Council and Board of Supervisors together to
discuss the issues that affect us both countywide; everyone is
to be commended for participating.”
“It all begins with
a willingness to talk,” Mayor Alan Autry said. In a post 911
world, the number one topic is public safety. I am excited about
today’s meeting. It’s a step we had to take, but it couldn’t be
driven by city or county officials. I am very pleased that a
reputable organization like the Chamber stepped up to see this
through,” Autry said. The four, newly created committees will
consist of equal representation from the city and county,
including representatives from rural cities, facilitated by
Chamber leaders. Areas to be studied by the committees include:
a joint public safety dispatch center, a joint
prisoner-processing facility, a joint property/evidence storage
facility and governance of the process. The committees will have
90 days to make recommendations before reconvening.
While most of the
discourse about prisoner- processing, property and evidence, and
governance went smoothly, the topic of a joint dispatch center
proved to be a bit more difficult. Both the city and county have
differing perspectives as to where such a facility should be
located.
“As sheriff, I have
no preference on site,” Sheriff Richard Pierce said. “Efficiency
is more important, not only for the officers, but for the people
we serve. Efficiency to me is one dispatch center and I have no
preference about where it is.” Presently, the county’s emergency
medical communications center dispatches ambulances to Fresno,
Madera and Kings Counties, including calls for Fresno Fire
Department. This year alone, the center is expected to respond
to nearly 140,000 ambulance calls across the three counties.
“The communications
center is already a model of how governments can work together,”
Dan Lynch, county emergency medical division manager said. “It’s
a service that already dispatches across agencies.” When asked
about the capabilities of a combined center, Lynch added that
such a facility would benefit the public and could easily handle
more than a million calls a year. Supervisor Susan Anderson
moved that a committee be formed to investigate how to expand
the current Southeast Fresno emergency communications center to
include a public safety dispatch center. Supervisors approved
her motion, but the council rejected it.
Councilman Larry Westerlund said, “It’s too early to begin
studying sites. We should first gather information to decide
what we want and what’s possible. That will help us make those
decisions.” After more than three hours of reports and
discussion, city and county officials decided to form the four
information- gathering committees (facilitated by the Chamber)
as well as Anderson’s committee, under county direction as a
subcommittee of the joint public safety dispatch center task
force.
“This is the Board
of Supervisors and City Council working together,” City Council
President Jerry Duncan said. “These efforts are clearly in
the best interest of the taxpayers as we look to improve public
safety and save money.”
Al Smith, Chamber
CEO said, “Members of the City Council and Board of Supervisors
are to be commended for developing a unique forum to address a
vital issue of our city. Public safety is one of the top
concerns of the citizens; we now have an opportunity to improve
that service and look forward to something positive coming out
of this meeting.”
“Sometimes people
get bruised egos,” Westerlund said. “I’d like to ask everyone
put their egos aside and not look at where we differ, but where
we agree. The end product is how do we best serve our citizens?”
August 1, 2006
Fresno Chamber Takes Lead in
Integration of Public Safety Serves and Systems for Fresno
Council Residents
In a step toward enhancing public safety for Fresno County
residents, while reducing the need for future fee increases, the
Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce announced today that it
is taking a lead role in assisting local public agencies as they
work toward integrating certain city and county services
provided through City police and fire departments, the County
Sheriff’s Department, and Homeland Security.
In announcing the decision to make this a central activity for
the Chamber, Chairperson Ruth Evans said, “We believe the
Chamber is in a position to assist these agencies as they move
forward in their collective efforts to integrate public safety
services and facilities. This integration will result in
reducing response times to emergencies, improving communication
among agencies, and generally enhancing the overall public
safety for all residents of Fresno County.”
Recently, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer and Fresno County
Sheriff Richard Pierce asked the Chamber to look 10 years into
the future and identify what our public safety services and
systems should be in order for the County to enhance public
safety and increase efficiencies. Integration of safety services
has been discussed for more than 10 years. Evans said the
Chamber’s decision to commit to this effort was inspired by,
“…the types of crimes we are seeing today, the need to ensure
effective communications among agencies, the concerns that were
expressed by chief Dyer and Sheriff Pierce, and a need to ensure
efficiencies so that additional fee increases are not needed.”
She said that public officials see one of their first priorities
as establishing a regional Emergency Dispatch Center A regional
facility will make it possible to centralize such services as
the 911 Emergency Call Center for Fresno County. Other
improvements under consideration include the centralization of
prisoner processing, crime investigation laboratories and units,
and the purchase of special equipment.
The Fresno Area Chamber has held a series of
information-gathering meetings over the past few months and is
now ready to move forward. “As a third party that is committed
to the well-being, not only of our members, but of all Fresno
area residents, we believe we’re in a position of being a
catalyst among these agencies to help achieve a host of
improvements in the shortest amount of time possible,” Evans
said.
“We are looking forward to helping bring this vision into
fruition, thus enhancing public safety for all Fresno County
residents. Evans added, “This is the right thing to do.”
