Public commenters urge El Campo council to revisit decision on Safe Haven baby box

Shannon Crabtree and Judy Peter used the public-comment period of the El Campo City Council meeting to press elected officials to reconsider a recent decision not to install a Safe Haven baby box at the city’s safety building.

Judy Peter, who identified herself as from El Campo, said the council’s previous conclusion that a baby box is not needed locally was wrong and asked how the council reached that finding. She said two newborns had been left in bushes in the area "at least we know about those," argued that the devices impose little or no cost on the city as previously stated, and asserted that "70 babies have been saved" by Safe Haven boxes nationwide. Peter also said the governor of Texas supports Safe Haven boxes and urged council members to join other Texas communities that host them.

Another commenter who identified herself as James Smith addressed city staff and council about liability and logistics, including insurance coverage, physical dimensions and placement options at the safety building, and operational safeguards. She said she visited a Safe Haven box, proposed specific window sizes that would accommodate an installation without breaking brick, recommended a backup generator and a camera inside the box, and explained that city dispatchers receive an automatic 911 notification when an infant is placed in a monitored box.

City staff and several council members listened but made no new motion or vote on the baby-box question during the meeting. The item remained in public comment; council members did not announce a plan to reopen the prior decision that had led to the commenters’ appeals.

Speakers quoted in this article spoke during the public-comment portion of the meeting. The council’s prior action on the baby-box proposal was described by commenters but was not rescinded or amended at this meeting.