Council hears public safety update as automated‑enforcement vendor changes; citation totals questioned

Public safety briefed the council on April 6 about the city’s automated‑enforcement program transition and other enforcement work, and members pressed staff to reconcile different citation totals cited in oral remarks and the written report.

The department’s presenter said the automated‑enforcement transition was executed in about three months — half the usual timeline — and that the system is live in many areas while testing continues. “Our system is fully live, and all of our officers have been trained,” the presenter said. Staff added that the previous vendor will continue to collect on legacy citations while all new citations are issued by the new vendor.

Council members raised a numerical discrepancy: during the oral report one member heard a figure of about 11,000 automated citations, while the written report lists a higher total (13,739). A staff member referred the council to the report for the official figures and said the numbers in the document are correct in the report.

Staff also described targeted enforcement in problem commercial parking lots, including multiple meetings with property owners, issuance of fines, and the potential use of an ordinance provision that allows the city to remediate or lien properties in extreme emergencies. Staff said they have not invoked that emergency authority yet and prefer owner cooperation and business‑roundtable engagement to secure compliance.

No final policy action was taken on the enforcement program at the meeting; council members requested that staff provide or confirm the official citation totals and any revenue projections tied to the new fee structure for upcoming budget discussions.

The council also asked public safety to meet with affected business owners after recent legislation (first reading) and to brief the council’s public safety committee about implementation steps.