Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges council to enforce solicitation ordinance amid downtown safety concerns
Summary
A longtime downtown resident told council he has been repeatedly approached and followed in violation of the city’s solicitation ordinance and urged the city to explain enforcement counts and strategies for repeat offenders. He asked for public answers from the city administrator and chief of police.
At the Aug. 6 meeting Nathan Carrillo, who lives downtown, urged council to address what he called a decline in downtown safety and said the city had stopped enforcing Chapter 108 (solicitation). Carrillo said he has repeatedly been approached, followed and targeted "almost daily," and requested public figures for enforcement actions and strategies for dealing with repeat offenders.
Carrillo said specific provisions of Chapter 108—prohibiting approaches within two feet, following someone who walks away, and solicitation at outdoor restaurants—have been violated repeatedly against him with no citations. "I've been followed. I've been approached within inches of my face, and I've been targeted while sitting at an outdoor table," he said, and asked how many citations the city had issued under Chapter 108 in the past 12 months and whether the city would acknowledge non-enforcement on the record. Council took the comments under advisement and directed the city administrator and police to follow up.
