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Home My WebLink About1/26/2007 • B A K E R S F I E L D CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE MEMORANDUM January 26, 2007 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: P7-t Alan Tandy, City Manager r..�s SUBJECT: General Information 1. Congratulations are in order, as Councilmember Couch has been named as the new Vice Chair of LAFCO! 2. Water Resources reports that as we approach the mid-way point in the winter snow pack season, the Kern River watershed is lagging well behind normal water content levels for this time of year. The most recent polar blast that hit the area last week brought record breaking low temperatures for Bakersfield, but little or no precipitation for the Sierra Nevada mountain region. With no storms on the horizon, indications are the February 1st forecast for Kern River snow melt runoff yield could be as little as 50% of normal. On the bright side, El Nino conditions in the eastern Pacific are predicted to bring above normal precipitation in the southern half of California during the February-April period. 3. We believe that it may be time to dust off the Request for Proposals (RFP) on the sale of the farm and try again. The worst case scenario is that we may not get acceptable bids, which would be the same as if we do not try! 4. The San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee, CalTrans and Amtrak held a public meeting on January 11th to seek input on passenger train service issues for their Strategic Business Plan. Enclosed is a staff report on topics that were discussed. 5. The Streets Division work schedule for the week of January 29th is enclosed. 6. The agenda for the January 29th High Speed Rail Authority meetin g in Sacramento is attached for your information. 7. A response to a Council request is enclosed: Councilmember Benham • Police response to BHS campus supervisor regarding suggestions for anti- graffiti efforts. AT:rs cc: Department Heads Pamela McCarthy, City Clerk San loaqui*n Valley Corrl*dor Strategic Business Plan 4..+.a.-...muar..R•+.r:.'wa.-c.c.�r...s...-.. ...-. ......,.....e...,.....n..nn rrs. P.O. Box 773 • Stockton, CA 95201-0773 • 1-877-464-4350 t Hottine@buethepr.com • http://buethepr.com/lets—talk—train—travel.htmi 1 January 3, 2007 X00 1 Rhonda Smiley, PIO r �� Bakersfield City 1501 Truxtun Avenue Bakersfield, CA 93301 When was the last time you took the train? it was last week, ten years sago... or never, we want to hear from you! We invite you to get involved with the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee(SJVRC), California Department of Transportation Division of Rail, and San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission in developing a Strategic Business Plan for the San Joaquin Rail Corridor.When completed, the plan will chart the course for future development of the corridor,based on input during the public outreach process. A public meeting will be held on Thursday,January 11,2007, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, at the Holiday Inn Select Beale Room, 801 Truxtun Avenue,Bakersfield. A presentation will be made at 4:00pm. Coffee,tea and cookies will be served; and maps and other exhibits will be available for you to review. According to the California Department of Finance,the Central Valley's population will grow from 3.5 million to 9 million by 2046.This growth will have a profound effect on our mobility. How will we cope? The goals for the corridor could include improved on-time performance,additional train service, improved safety and reliability,better schedules and more destinations. Other issues of local importance could include more convenient and shorter connections to Los Angeles, direct rail service to Los Angeles, and increased service to Sacramento. So, let's talk train travel. With your input,the Strategic Business Plan will recommend improvements that you care about.Please join us on January 11. We want to hear from you. In the meantime, enclosed is a project brochure. For more information, feel free to call Sadye Reish or me on the toll-free Hotline at 1-877-464-4350, or send email to Hotline(auethepr.com. Together, we can find the ways and means to propel the current San Joaquin rail and bus service into a world-class transportation system in the Central Valley. Se habla Espanol. Sincerely, udith Buethe Public Outreach Coordinator not r?_ Amtrak California n., : - A Partnership between Caltran •,,, ,. �� , p sand Amtrak Page 1 of 1 Rhonda Smiley - Re: Meeting .�'.,r�•��d�,�'.',�s,�� ;s :�,��;„t�.,,� � ��,� ��i�� ` ��G.,��ii�,'�,��.;e%�,, �a� .��,,��' .',��ai��'/w�/;,�.��' ��'?� ��,�, ,,�'r��%Est':, .,�✓.G.y��% � „�,�' ��,� ��" ��, ", �'.E% ' From: Arnold Ramming To: Rhonda Smiley Date: 1/23/2007 4:52 PM Subject: Re: Meeting CC: Jack LaRochelle There were maybe a dozen citizens in attendance and four to six Amtrak/ Caltrans/ consultant staff there; a nice size group for this meeting format, which was an "open-mike” discussion. All of the citizens there are frequent train riders and so had a "vested interest" in the subject. The purpose of the meeting was to solicit input from the public regarding the type of passenger train service they desire. Amtrak and Caltrans' Rail Division staff will then use that information to develop their Strategic Business Plan. They basically asked the open-ended question "What does the public what to see as improvements to the existing passenger train service?" This was specifically related to Amtrak's San Joaquin Corridor. The public response to that question was varied and included things such as doing away with the reservation system; enhancing the reservation system; improving communications to the passengers so that they have a better idea of what to expect regarding transfers at larger train stations, such as Los Angeles Union Station; and reducing the point-to-point travel time by increasing the train travel speed or reducing the delays along the route (that resulted in a good description of the many items that negatively impact travel time - tracks shared with freight trains and other passenger trains, at-grade crossings, type of existing track construction). The meeting included a presentation by Caltrans' consultant regarding a possible expansion of train passenger service to the south. Under this plan, Amtrak passenger train service would be extended south from Bakersfield to the base of the Grapevine. At that location, passengers would get on Amtrak buses which would take them to the Castaic/ Valencia / Santa Clarita area. From there, Amtrak passengers would board Metro Link trains to ride to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles where they could then access other Amtrak trains. The public's main concern about this option was the reliability of the connection from Amtrak buses to the Metro Link train - would Metro Link hold their train in the station in the event that Amtrak buses are delayed due to inclement weather on the Grapevine. Overall it was an informative meeting. It will remain to be seen as to which of these elements Amtrak and Caltrans' Rail Division choose to put into their Strategic Business Plan. i I Page 1 of 2 STREETS DIVISION —WORK SCHEDULE WEEK OF JANUARY 29 — FEBRUARY 2, 2007 Resurfacing/Reconstructing streets in the following areas: No street reconstruction projects this week. Miscellaneous Streets Division projects. Continue installing curb & gutter in the area between California Avenue & Chester Lane, east of Oak Street. Crack Sealing on Buck Owens Boulevard, north of 24th Street. Will be starting the project to install a storm line at the location where the new Fire Station is going to be built. C:\DOCUME-1\rsmiley\LOCALS-1\Temp\2007 Work Schedule-Week of January 29.doc Page 2 of 2 STREET SWEEPING SCHEDULE Monday, January 29, 2007 Sweeper Operators are on their regular sweeping route. Tuesday, January 30, 2007 Sweeper Operators are on their regular sweeping routes. Wednesday, January 31, 2007 Sweeper Operators are on their regular sweeping routes. Thursday, February 1, 2007 Between Union Avenue and Williams Street, E. Truxtun Avenue to Brundage Lane. Between Bernard Street and Niles Street, Alta Vista Drive to Owens Street. Between Flower Street and Kentucky Street, Owens Street to Williams Street. Between Pacheco and Panama Lane, Old River to Progress Road. Between Don Hart Drive and Gosford Road, Kroll Way to Camino Media. Friday, February 2, 2007 Between Paladino and 178 Highway, N. Columbus Street to Morning Drive. City streets in the area between 178 Highway and College Avenue, Media Luna Avenue to Morning Drive. Between College Avenue and Azalea Avenue, Fountain Drive to Ravall Avenue. Between Ming Avenue and White Lane, Allen Road to Old River Road. Between Pensinger Road to Panama Lane, Freesia Way to Buena Vista Road. C:\DOCUME-1\rsmiley\LOCALS-1\Temp\2007 Work Schedule-Week of January 29.doc Judge Quentin.L.-Ko Marc Adelman,Vioe-Ovwr Fmn Florez,' ice- h Donna oy , r Rod D oseph E.Pebft SOW* .J s . LIFORNA:' pp: , i *' 4t. .: AL A -SPEED RAID AUTHORITY. j t i } January 17, 2007 1 JAN Dear Stakeholder: The California High-Speed Rail Authority's January 29th public Board Meeting will be held in Sacramento at the State Capitol Building, Senate Hearing Room 112. Please note the meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am. At this meeting Authority staff will be presenting the ranking of firms for the Sacramento — Fresno, Fresno - Palmdale and Los Angeles — San Diego Preliminary Design and Project-Specific Environmental Regional Contracts. Authority staff and will be requesting authorization to enter into agreements with the top-ranked firms for the three regions. Authority staff will be presenting draft Request for Proposal for the Project Manager Oversight contract. Additionally, the board will be given an overview of the engineering design criteria. At the December 13, 2006 public board meeting the Authority authorized the Executive Director to enter into agreements with the Joint Venture of Hatch Mott McDonald/URS/Arup for the Palmdale — Los Angeles Preliminary Design/Project-Specific Environmental Regional Contract and STV Corporation for the Los Angeles — Orange County Preliminary Design/Project-Specific Environmental Regional Contract. For information on the all of the Authority's work visit the Authority's website located at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov. look forward to seeing you in Sacramento at our Board Meeting. Sincerely, Mehdi Morshed, Executive Director a Sacrament . C.A. ` 5814 ! 4 1:541, �- 1 3� . WW r.cahigh eedraiLea.90 B�T F� O `a,01610R.4 - BAKERSFIELD POLICE ' MEMORANDUM >,f /AR 11.�� I.,IF 01R TO: ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER FROM: W. R. RECTOR CHIEF POLICE O F DATE: January 25, 2007 SUBJECT: Suggestions for Anti-Graffiti Efforts Council Referral No. 1688 (Ward 2) Council Member Benham requested Police and Graffiti staff contact Mr. Steven Perryman, a BHS Campus supervisor, and respond to his suggestions regarding anti-graffiti efforts; staff provide him information regarding the City's limitations; and refer to safe neighborhoods committee to address the suggestions. On January 17, 2007, Graffiti Officer Chris Bowersox provided a detailed e-mail response to Mr. Steve Perryman regarding his suggestions for anti-graffiti efforts as well as current statistics. Please refer to the attached e-mail response. WRR/vrf CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL AUTHORITY PUBLIC MEETING January 29, 2007 State Capitol Building, Senate Hearin g Room 112 Sacramento, CA 10:00 a.m. Agenda Items Responsible Party Status 1. Approval of December 13,2006 Meeting Minutes Chairman Kopp A 2. Authority Members' Meetings for Compensation Chairman Kopp A 3. Member's Reports Chairman Kopp I 4. Executive Director's Report Mehdi Morshed A 5. Sacramento—Fresno Preliminary Design and Project-Specific Environmental Contract Mehdi Morshed A Staff will present an overview of the Sacramento — Fresno Preliminary Design and Project- Specific Environmental ranking and request for authorization to enter into contract. 6. Fresno—Palmdale Preliminary Design and Project-Specific Environmental Contract Mehdi Morshed A Staff will present an overview of the Fresno — Palmdale Preliminary Design and Project- Specific Environmental ranking and request for authorization to enter into contract. 7. Los Angeles—San Diego Preliminary Design and Project-Specific Environmental Contract Mehdi Morshed A Staff will present an overview of the Los Angeles—San Diego Preliminary Design and Project- Specific Environmental ranking and request for authorization to enter into contract. 8. Request for Proposal for the Project Management Oversight Contract Mehdi Morshed A Staff will present a Request for Proposal for the Project Management Oversight Contract for Board review and approval. 9. Presentation on Design Criteria Tony Daniels I Program Manager will present an overview of the engineering design criteria. 10. Public Comment An opportunity for public comment will also be provided during each public agenda item. 11. Adjournment "A"denotes an "Action"item; "I"denotes an "Information"item. Reasonable Accommodation for Any Individual with a Disability Any individual with a disability who requires reasonable accommodation to attend or participate may request assistance by contacting the Authority at (916) 324-1541. Requests for additional accommodations for the disabled, signers, assistive listening devices, or translators should be made no later than one week prior to the meeting. 925 L Street, Suite 1425, Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 324-1541 916 322-0827 fax For further information you may visit the California High-Speed Rail w ebsite at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov UN�ON�LASEL Page 1 of 5 Vicki Fagot - Graffiti in Bakersfield From: Chris Bowersox To: scubasteve63 @sbcglobal.net Date: 1/17/2007 9:06 AM Subject: Graffiti in Bakersfield Mr. Perryman, My name is Christopher Bowersox. I am a Senior Officer with the Bakersfield Police Department and oversee BPD G.H.O.S.T.(the Graffiti Habitual Offender Suppression Team). I understand your points and they are very valid. Let me first say that we do work closely with all school levels in Kern County (Not just Bakersfield City). The Bakersfield Police Department has School Resource Officers that handle most problems present in the Elementary and Junior High Levels while, as you state, the Kern High School Police Department handles problems at that level. In calender year 2005,, 74 subjects were arrested by G.H.O.S.T. alone. That does not include arrests made by patrol officers working their normal shifts and beats. In 2006, G.H.O.S.T. made 222 arrests of graffiti vandal offenders, tripling the output of 2005. In nearly 80% of those cases, the subject arrested was taken into custody and booked in the appropriate facility,, Kern County Jail or Juvenile Hall. The remaining subjects were arrested for lessor graffiti related offenses and were released to their parent or legal guardian, which under the circumstances present was the only available option. Currently, there are three officers assigned to G.H.O.S.T. I oversee most of the operation and have a Police Officer and a Detective assisting me. Because, as you also state, most of these individuals are Juveniles, confidentiality issues arise and the ability to put them into a "database" is extremely limited. Recent court decisions and cases currently in litigation,, have limited our ability to create information sharing "databases". We do exchange information on a case by case basis which is very beneficial and works, in my opinion, just as well. They areas surrounding Edison Highway and Oswell, are, in fact, very active in file://C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\vfagot\Local%20SettinLys\Tema\GWi nnnni u'rXr 1 i?r-%i')nm Page 2 of S graffiti related crimes. That specific location is within the jurisdiction of the Kern County Sheriffs Department and although we work together, we do not have control of the County's patrol patterns or surveillance operation schedules. The BPD G.H.O.S.T. has conducted numerous nighttime surveillance operations with limited success. The subjects committing these offenses are not alone while committing their crimes and it is not as easy as it may sound to just pounce on them while they're painting. These subjects go out in groups of 2, 3, even 10 at a time and use lookouts. They don't look out for patrol vehicles. They look out for headlights. It matters not what type of vehicle the lights are on. If headlights are seen, the subjects flee,, long before the vehicle ever reaches their actual location. When subjects are arrested and probable cause exists to conduct a search of their residence, that search is conducted. The majority of subjects arrested are already on probation for one reason or another and their residences are subject to search to begin with, so again, it's done. Unfortunately, the Police Department does not dictate the punishment for offenders or the consequences they, their parents or their legal guardians might face. That is a decision made by the courts and the probation department. I assure you that if the decisions were up to me, the penalties would be! much more severe. Legally, the parent or legal guardian cannot be held financially responsible for their child's actions. They can be held civilly liable, which is a step the Bakersfield City Attorney's Office has seldom had to take as the Court or Probation often issues restitution orders as part of the sentence. G.H.O.S.T. does monitor the online communities that you speak of. Through the monitoring of those communities, at least 50 arrests last year resulted from a combination things including identity verification(Moniker, Picture and Name) within those communities. In regard to the shooting of the civilian that you mentioned, I was not working in my current capacity at that time and was not assigned to that case. If I recall correctly, the case fell under the Jurisdiction of the Kern County Sheriff's Department. I am attempting to obtain a copy of the case at this time and will then confirm who was responsible if that subject or subjects were identified. I am not specifically aware that members of TFC were responsible, but again, I was not involved in that case. file://C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\vfagot\Local%20Settings\Temp\GW}000O1.HTM 1/25/2007 Page 3 of 5 I assure you the Mayor and the City Council in Bakersfield take this issue very seriously and have taken numerous steps to bolster the graffiti units capabilities. Reported graffiti offenses are on the decline and arrests are on the rise. To me, this does not indicate a "growing menace". This indicates to me that we have the majority of these offenders thinking twice about committing this type of crime. I appreciate the time you took to bring your proposals to our attention. I hope that I've been able to reassure you that we do take this issue as seriously as you do and we do what we can to make the City of Bakersfield a nicer place to live. Please contact me directly if you have any questions at all. Sincerely, Chris Bowersox Bakersfield Police Department 1601 Truxtun Ave. Bakersfield, CA. 93301 661)326-3103 Mr. Mayor, There is to be held or has been held a conference regarding grafitti and what solutions should be taken here in Bakersfield. I am a campus supervisor at Bakersfield High School. Our school, like many others, goes through cycles of grafitti from kids that assemble in "crews" who put their crew names on the buildings along with their monikers. Most of the grafitti that is seen in town comes from these crews, and most are in high school, having honed their "skills" in junior high or learned their grafitti from an older brother who was a "tagger" before him. Without prejudice, most of the taggers in high school, and out in town, are young hispanic males. The taggers that I catch at my school, the vast majority are hispanic males. The solutions, I believe, are pretty simple, in regards to identifying tagging crews and reducing grafitti in Bakersfield. The most important concern that the conference should review is how the police and sheriff departments work with local junior high and high schools to identify tagging crews. Bakersfield police have an officer in charge of the grafitti task force full time but file://C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\vfagot\Local%20Settings\Temp\GW100Om u'rM 1i9Si9nm Page 4 of 5 am not sure how many officers (if any) are under his authority to combat this issue. What I believe needs to be done might be considered harsh but without these steps taggers will continue to ply their trade without consequences. First off, all taggers who are caught in our school must be arrested and taken to juvenile hall. Many of these taggers are freshman and sophomores and have never dealt with the judicial system. This could be a wake up call for them and their parents who might not be aware of their child's activities. Every high school has an officer and he can make the arrest, but am not sure about junior high school's, if they would have to call local authorities to make the arrest. All taggers should be put into a data base with photos of them and the crew they belong too, along with the grafitti that they wrote upon the wall to identify their unique style of writing. Their parents should be put on notice that if their child is caught tagging again after this first time they will be held to account, whether that is paying to clean up the grafitti, being put to work along with their child to clean up grafitti, or even being arrested if they knowingly condone and support this activity (buying their child permament markers or spray cans). There are areas in town that, once painted over, are hit again soon after (Oswell street on the overpass over Edison Hwy and south of the overpass is a prime example). There needs to be an undercover officer (s) in unmarked cars patrolling that specific areas once the grafitti has been removed. All the tagging happens at night, usually after 9-10prn but probably much later). If an officer is patrolling these areas you are bound to see and catch these offenders. The police and sheriff departments might say that they need these officers patrolling looking for criminals, but these young kids are criminals who will grow up learning other crime tactics unless we catch them early to change their behaviors. Once a tagger is caught this is a step that needs to be done which might be controversial but necessary: a warrant needs to be served to search the home of the offender to see what other tagging materials the offender has in his/her possession. I have searched taggers who were carrying "tips" that you put on spray cans to make wide, sweeping markings when they spray paint their crew name or moniker. And by doing a search of their home you might find more information on who belongs to their tagging crew (other monikers or pictures of their crew members). If there is a computer in the child's room that needs to be searched to see what online communities (MySpace for instance) the offender is registered too. This can reveal valuable information on his tagging as taggers will take pictures to admire their work and show it off to others online. Yes, these steps are time consuming and will take resources, but these young males you see now, in time, will become more brazen in their tagging and, as you file://C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\vfagot\Local%20Settings\Temp\GW}000O1.HTM 1/25/2007 Page 5 of 5 are well aware, will use violence if another tagging crew or a citizen tries to clean the tag up or cross it out (the crew TFC, The Few Chosen, was responsible for shooting a civilan on Wible near his home when he confronted this very violent tagging crew, which still operates in town). These are my proposals regarding grafitti. I work hard to catch taggers at my school and I hope that the city council will get taw enforcement, schools and parents, to work just as hard on this growing menance. Sincerely, Steven Perryman file:HC:\Documents%20and%20Settings\vfagot\Local%20Settings\Temp\GW}000O1.HTM 1/25/2007