Racine council awards community violence-prevention grants, rejects mayoral appointment change and spares a cul-de-sac from repaving

The City of Racine Common Council on May 20 approved a slate of community violence-prevention grants, rejected a charter change that would have removed the mayoral appointment requirement for the city’s purchasing agent, and agreed to remove Jonathan Drive from a planned street assessment after last-minute resident petitioning.

The council awarded grants from the city’s community violence prevention funding process to local nonprofits and providers. Safe Haven of Racine and Focus on Community were among the organizations approved; amounts listed in the council record include $43,269 for Safe Haven and $50,000 for Focus on Community. The council also approved funding for Fight to End Exploitation ($45,200), Racine Vocational Ministries ($44,605), the Women’s Resource Center ($41,403.50), 1000 Generations/ Safe Families for Children–Wisconsin ($30,000) and Awesome Young Authors ($30,000). For a small number of awards the meeting record did not list an amount and those are reported as not specified in the minutes.

The funding decisions followed public comment from agency leaders and community partners who urged the council to approve the recommended slate. Jason Meekman, executive director of Focus on Community, described the program his organization proposed as…