"As The Times Turn"...

Here's a goodie from today's West County Times...I like John's article simply because it should make you take notice and ask "how" the City Manager will go about finding this person:

Anti-violence coordination sought

RICHMOND: City looks to hire consultant to develop new department to combat disturbances

By John Geluardi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Richmond is searching for a consultant to analyze public and private violence prevention programs and design a new city department to coordinate them.

This past week the city put out a request for qualified individuals or organizations to submit proposals for the consulting contract. The deadline is April 21. The city expects the consultant to begin work sometime in May, according to the request.

Based on Richmond's needs, the consultant will identify services and programs necessary to implement a coordinated and effective violence prevention effort, according to the request.
The consultant also will take inventory of existing government, school and nonprofit programs to determine which are successful and where there are gaps in service.

Then the consultant will recommend a permanent anti-violence coordinator and suggest an organizational infrastructure for the new office of violence prevention. The City Council approved the coordinator position and the new office in January.

The move to organize anti-violence efforts is expected to put on hold at least two prevention programs currently competing for city funding, according to several council members.
One proposal, for which the council has tentatively approved $200,000, was submitted by the Richmond Improvement Association. Another, which seeks $950,000 for a host of programs, was removed from Tuesday's City Council agenda until further notice by Councilman Tony Thurmond.

Truth Tazer Note: Where did that little diddy come from? My understanding is that this concept was supposeed to be funded by taxpayer dollars (that's you and I folks) to the tune of 950k...funny how it disappeared after some email eh?...and now, back to the show:

The city needs well-thought-out policies in order to effectively reduce violent crime, Mayor Irma Anderson said.

"All of us need to leave our egos outside and help this person develop a strategic plan that is data-driven," she said. "I'm very excited about this step."

Councilman Tom Butt, who criticized his colleagues last week for tentatively approving funding for the Richmond Improvement Association's proposal, said establishing a city office of violence prevention will create more cohesion among City Council members, city staff and the public.

"My take on it is that once we have an anti-violence coordinator and provide some structure for these prevention programs, you'll see the entire council get behind them," he said. "As it is now we're going in too many different directions."

Councilman John Marquez agreed, although he said he is concerned about how long it will take before the city begins to implement the prevention programs.

"If we all get together, we can do a lot more good things," he said. "But in the meantime we continue to find bodies in the bushes and people stop me in the store, on the street and coming out of church and they all want to know when we are going to do something about this violence."

Anderson said federal and state law enforcement agencies have been working with local police to suppress violence for months and that the anti-violence coordinator will be a new piece of the puzzle.

"This crime has been going on in Richmond since I first came here in 1959. The coordinator is not going to stop somebody from shooting someone else tonight," she said. "The time we take to find the right person is time well spent."

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A coordinator to coordinate the coordinatin' for a coordinator...as I said before, WTF? "Going in too many different directions"? You were elected to run the business of the city! I give Tom Butt credit for admitting this (as that is step one) and for Jim Rogers doing the same (stepping up and admitting a mistake), but that's a drop in the ocean...my hope is that the trend will continue in a positive direction.