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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday, February 13, 2012 <br /> Page 23 <br /> Mayor Roe sought comment on where those additional resources would come <br /> from and whether to include on the work plan or strategy. <br /> Councilmember McGehee opined that retail drained considerable resources from <br /> all departments; and that the City didn't seem to be too successful in getting any- <br /> thing back from those retailers. <br /> Discussion ensued regarding property taxes for retail businesses versus residen- <br /> tial; percentage of Police Department budgeting to address retail impacts and us- <br /> ing considerably more of those public safety service resources than residents; bal- <br /> ance of the retail tax base in reducing overall tax burdens; and realistic impres- <br /> sions on how much of the public safety services were used by residents as well as <br /> retailers. <br /> Fire Chief O'Neill noted that from a medical service standpoint, the retail com- <br /> munity, with the exception of Rosedale, used considerably few of his public safe- <br /> ty services compared to senior housing in the community based on medical re- <br /> sponses and the aging senior population in single-family homes in the community. <br /> Mayor Roe noted that there were also domestic issues and burglaries in the resi- <br /> dential community as well; and questioned whether a better analysis could be <br /> found through this process and future discussions of where resources were com- <br /> ing from and where they were being expended. <br /> Welcoming, Inclusive, Diverse, and Respectful of Each Other(page 7) <br /> At the request of Councilmember Pust (line 157), Chief Mathwig advised that this <br /> item was intended to design a stakeholder and faith-based group that could assist <br /> the Police Department in improving interaction with immigrant groups and busi- <br /> nesses catering to those specific groups to help them learn a positive rather than <br /> negative view of government regulations and get at their cultural and ingrained is- <br /> sues from their experience in their countries of origin. <br /> Chief Mathwig advised that he was looking at an ad hoc and more informal repli- <br /> cating modeling after the Karen community and those others coming from refugee <br /> camps and children without much previous schooling and their past interactions <br /> and experience with government. Once they're brought to the United States, <br /> Chief Mathwig noted the need to provide them with a better relationship with <br /> government and have conversations in non-government settings to avoid intimi- <br /> dating them based on those past and often negative experiences. <br /> At the request of Mayor Roe, Chief Mathwig addressed associated City resources <br /> in getting the entire community, including City Councilmembers, to react to and <br /> with the elders in those cultures and specific community groups to respond to <br /> their basic questions. <br />