Public commenters urge Racine council to act on noise enforcement, violence prevention and employee benefits
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Summary
Four residents used the Nov. 4 public comment period to press the council on noisy modified vehicles and enforcement, to urge continued funding for community violence prevention and libraries after weekend shootings, and to request meetings about an employee benefits proposal that speakers said could save the city money.
Four members of the public spoke during the council’s three-minute public-comment period on Nov. 4, raising neighborhood noise, violence-prevention funding and an employee-benefits proposal.
Avante Tome of Douglas Avenue said repeated vehicle noise — modified exhausts and loud speakers — rattles windows and can sound like gunfire; he said he has submitted videos and tips to the Racine Police Department but had not seen a remedy and suggested installing cameras with microphones and speed-capture capability paid for by fines. “I have sent videos. I have sent tips… It's not being remedied,” Tome said.
Sonali Kanotek urged the council to continue funding Racine’s community-based violence intervention and prevention initiative and the public library, arguing prevention investments save money compared with policing, prosecution and incarceration. “If we sincerely want to ‘put a stop to reckless spending,’ we should pay more attention to measures that actually reduce costs,” she said.
Mary McIlvane, speaking after a weekend in which she said two people were killed and others injured, thanked council cleanup efforts and asked that the city continue supporting both law enforcement and community-based prevention programs. “There should not be… people dead or injured from gunshots anywhere in our city,” McIlvane said.
Gwen Trussell and Jack Breeze (who said he manages Southeastern Wisconsin Aflac for 13 years) presented a benefits solution they said could provide preventive care, unlimited virtual care and low-cost prescriptions with no hit to employees’ take-home pay; Breeze estimated roughly $1,000,000 available to employees and about $500,000 in city savings, and asked for a follow-up meeting with city decision-makers.
The council heard these comments under its established public-comment rules; no immediate council action was taken during the public-comment period, but several alderpersons later addressed the weekend shootings during announcements.