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Council liaisons report on crime‑reduction task force, Portsmouth United and an honorary street‑naming question
Summary
Councilman Hugo summarized work on a forming crime and gun‑violence reduction task force that is seeking volunteers and intends to reissue an RFP for a consultant; he also reported that the planning commission raised questions about criteria for the city's new honorary street‑naming process after its first church-led application.
Councilman Hugo reported to the full council that the city’s crime and gun‑violence reduction task force is still in a forming stage and is working to staff several working committees, including a community engagement committee intended to gather ideas from residents.
Hugo said he and Councilman Tillich serve as council liaisons to the task force and invited residents interested in serving on working committees to contact those liaisons. He said Portsmouth United’s executive director, Ms. Matthews, is serving as working secretary to the task force and that Portsmouth United has begun meeting weekly on Thursday evenings at 6 p.m. at 206 High Street.
Hugo reported the task force issued a request for proposals to hire a consultant to help assemble a crime‑reduction plan but that the city received only one respondent before Christmas; the City Manager directed staff to reissue the RFP, with the goal of re‑advertising by the end of the week or early next week. Hugo also noted a quarterly forum hosted by Police Chief Jenkins next Wednesday at 6 p.m. at 206 High Street.
Separately, Hugo said he attended the planning commission last week and reported the commission considered the first application under a recently discussed honorary street‑naming policy. The application, from a church seeking to honor its pastor by renaming the adjacent street in an honorary fashion, prompted planning commissioners to ask whether the city had set appropriate thresholds to avoid a flood of similar requests; Hugo said the commission recommended a closer review of the criteria.
No council action was taken in the liaison reports; Hugo’s remarks were informational and encouraged resident participation in task‑force committees.
