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City Council Meeting Minutes May 18, 2021 <br />be allowed to analyze it. <br />Karen Munoz, spoke on the Cite and Release Ordinance. She suggested this <br />item should be discussed beginning with the Criminal Justice Reform (CJR) <br />committee. She believes the ordinance has not been in place long enough to see <br />the impact. Ms. Munoz urges Council to continue with these positive steps to <br />reduce the contacts with incarceration and lessen the impacts to families. <br />Kate McCarty, spoke in support of the San Marcos' Cite & Release Ordinance. <br />Ms. McCarty stated Cite and Release is a way to reduce incarceration for <br />non-violent crimes, as well as the family, school and work disruption these <br />arrests cause. The ordinance hasn't had a long enough trial in San Marcos and <br />there are things that can be fine tuned, but the number of arrests have <br />diminished, and it appears to have achieved a greater degree of racial equity. <br />Ms. McCarty stated San Marcos took a bold step forward with the enactment <br />of Cite and Release, and encourages Council to continue moving toward <br />meaningful criminal justice reform. <br />Isabella Briseno, spoke on behalf of Texas Rising, regarding the Cite and <br />Release Ordinance. Ms. Briseno stated families shouldn't be impacted by low <br />level offenses and the ordinance helps the community. She would like Council <br />to protect the ordinance by not amending. <br />Justin Martinez, spoke on behalf of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition <br />(TCJC). He would like City Council to continue its commitment to bettering <br />the lives of all its residents by continuing to support the Cite and Release <br />Ordinance. Mr. Martinez stated TCJC has spent 20 years conducting research <br />to advance solutions to safely end mass incarceration and foster safer Texas <br />communities. He would like City Council to have text reminders for citation <br />due dates. Text reminders have been a proven means to ensure that people <br />show up for their court dates. <br />Shirley Olgetree, spoke in support of the Cite and Release Ordinance and <br />would like Council to support this ordinance that helps reduce jail <br />populations, reduce disparities due to ethnicity and income, and keep families <br />together. <br />Kama Davis, spoke in support of the Cite and Release ordinance. Ms. Davis <br />stated if the "cite and release" term was really clear, she believes more people <br />would actually support it. She would like for Council to leave the ordinance as <br />is; not make any amendments or changes to it; and allow a third party to <br />City of San Marcos Page 2 <br />