Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat vetoed three ordinances pertaining to the 2021 budget, prompting the council president to consider scheduling a meeting early next week to discuss whether the governing body should further amend the spending plan or override the veto.
Cusat announced in an email Friday that he is vetoing ordinances that appropriate funds and establish property tax rates for 2021, as well as legislation that authorizes the city to levy and collect the mercantile tax.
Cusat said his veto of the budget ordinance was due to council reducing a police salary line item by $329,000 â a move that he said eliminates expenses and would allow the city to hire four officers under a Community Oriented Policing Services grant. The grant would increase the number of full-time police positions to 46, he said.
Viewpoints: Broader conversation on public safety needed now
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Editor’s note: The Milwaukee
Common Council this week voted to reject a $9.7 million federal grant to pay for 30 additional police officers, covering all costs related to the officers for three years but requiring the city to keep the positions for a four year. The following is a joint statement issued by Ald. Milele Coggs and Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, following the council vote to reject the funds.
After months of community conversation the majority of the Milwaukee Common Council voted to break with the institutional tradition of expanding the police department budget with federal funding from the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Grant. While this topic is ongoing, it represents a change in the conversation our city needs.
Nine council members blast Barrett, claiming he s not committed to police reform. By Jeramey Jannene - Dec 16th, 2020 04:02 pm //end headline wrapper ?>Police Administration Building, 951 N. James Lovell St. Photo by Christopher Hillard.
Should Milwaukee accept a federal grant to pay for 30 additional police officers?
Some Milwaukee officials, including Mayor
Tom Barrett, believe it’s a simple answer: yes.
But a majority of the Common Council has argued it’s far more complicated.
The council rejected the grant’s acceptance on an 6-8-1 vote Tuesday before one member used a procedural move to set it up to be voted on again in January.
Joint Statement of Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs and Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic By Ald. Milele Coggs - Dec 16th, 2020 03:32 pm
Yesterday, after months of community conversation the majority of the Milwaukee Common Council voted to break with the institutional tradition of expanding the police department budget with federal funding from the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Grant. While this topic is ongoing, it represents a change in the conversation our city needs.
After pursuit of changes to improve public safety for all with requests of major policing reform in the police department were met with resistance, the Council chose to continue its work to address the current police structure in Milwaukee. With a new Executive Director of the Fire and Police Commission receiving unanimous support and a new Police Chief set to begin work in 2021, now is the time to collectively, along with the community, reimagine what policing and public safety
If there is a best practice for the handling of shootings of civilians by law enforcement, the investigation into the death of Casey C. Goodson Jr. is not it.
For more than a week now, four separate law enforcement agencies have batted around responsibility for the investigation like children swatting shuttlecocks around a grade-school gymnasium.
Where to begin?
We have had the city of Columbus, which was not involved in the shooting but tasked with investigating it, ask for the assistance of the state. For a brief period it seems they were told, yes, until Attorney General Dave Yost stepped in and said no.