10.15.19 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes October 15, 2019 offenses before the court has even made a determination of guilt. This city has a lot of power and a lot of responsibility and y'all on this dais have this power as our elected officials. But when we talk about power, the power to tax pales in comparison to the power to set policies that can deprive people of their liberty, to take a resident out of the community, from their home, from their family & loved ones, is a very important decision. I personally believe the decision to deprive someone of their liberty and freedom is something that should always be made with great concern. Someone is ineligible for cite & release if they are a danger to themselves or others, have an outstanding warrant, or are not a resident of the county where the alleged offense occurred. By definition, everyone who is eligible for cite & release is not a danger to society or themselves, so they should be released. When an officer instead chooses to arrest somebody, who is eligible for cite & release they are taking punishment & judgement into their own hands. This is something that should be determined by the courts & not law enforcement. I ask that you please guide officer's discretion and show support for an ordinance that does." Sue Diegelman, came to speak in the favor of the San Marcos Police Department. She stated that the cite and release issue is very much in the forefront and that there are different feelings about it. She feels that the San Marcos Police Department is very capable of making decisions when it should be enforced. We need to give them the opportunity to make that decision when it needs to be made. Cathy Dillon, originally came to San Marcos for her love of canoeing. She spoke about her admiration for Tom Goynes and about a recent canoeing run they made by Cape's Camp and the dam. She provided that Tom feels this is a historic dam that is mostly rocks but has a tremendous history to it. If the entire river was diverted to the right side then someone will get hurt by the bottom of the Thompson Island Bridge. Cape's Dam needs to the stay and the park being proposed needs to come to fruition. Jordan Buckley, wanted to invite everyone to the Lost Rivers Film Festival this weekend. He provided a number of items on the schedule including Underground Cinema, which is a film at Wonder World Park. He stated that the cite and release and LEAD topics were discussed last week. There was an argument that stated it takes a lot of time to write a ticket, but less time to make an arrest. He stated that cite and release will only be for Hays County residents. He would like the Police to define residency by living, working or going to school in Hays County. If you leave discretion to the officers he stated that white people primarily benefit from cite and release as indicated in City of San Marcos Page 5