Commissioners to consider creating new public safety advisory group

Posted on March 29, 2024 by Jenn Rowell

City Commissioners will be asked to adopt a resolution during their April 5 meeting establishing a public safety advisory committee.

Commissioners discussed the committee during their March 19 work session and reviewed a draft resolution that included the

The draft resolution names members as: Sandra Guynn, Mike Parcel, Wendy McKamey, Jeni Dodd, George Nikolakakos, Aaron Weissman, Tony Rosales, Thad Reiste, Joe McKenney and Shannon Wilson.

Following the failed public safety levy and bond last fall, commissioners have been considering options for funding public safety and “recognized that when voters soundly rejected the levy and bond proposal, they needed citizen input to assess future action,” according to the staff report.

Commissioners have requested that the committee’s work be completed by Sept. 2.

The committee’s role would be to provide recommendations to the commission and the primary focus areas, according to the staff report, include:

determine broad priorities for public safety;
determine priorities for police, fire, court and legal;
recommend strategies for funding public safety priorities;
if so considered, consider timing of a future levy; and
strategies to engage a broad spectrum of community members and businesses

Committee meetings would have to be publicly noticed and open to the public.

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Commissioner Joe McKenney had taken the lead on establishing the most recent public safety think group.

The concept was mentioned during the commission’s special meeting on Feb. 12 about public safety in light of the levy failure.

The concept is similar to the crime task force the commission established in 2021 that spent months learning about local public safety challenges and needs for public safety. In late 2021, that task force provided eight pages of recommendations to the City Commission.

Commissioners and city staff spent months discussing those recommendations, which morphed into the public safety levy and bond that failed on the November 2023 ballot.

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The vote on the levy was 5,620 in favor and 9,095 opposed.

The vote on the bond was 6,726 in favor and 7,925 opposed.

“It failed, it went down in flames, it wasn’t even close,” McKenney said the of the levy during their March 19 work session.

McKenney said they took what they learned from the crime task force to craft the levy and had some public comment during that process that “was relatively weak.”

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He said it was a top down decision.

The crime task force in 2021 initially included:

Mary Lynne Billy – Indian Family Health Clinic
Shawna Jarvey – transition consultant, Benefis Health
Nicole Crosby – Victim Witness Program
Sandra Guynn – chair of Neighborhood Council of Councils and president of Crime Stoppers
Sara Sexe – city attorney
Jeff Newton – Great Falls Police Department chief
Jesse Slaughter – Cascade County sheriff
John Parker – District Court judge
Shane Etzwiler – Chamber of Commerce

The task force meetings were public and they presented their recommendations to commissioners during public meetings.

Commissioners spent months discussing those recommendations with city staff during public meetings and crafted their levy language during public meetings. They made their decisions on whether to send the levy and bond, as well as ballot language, during public meetings.

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He said that some quit after failure and some learn from mistakes.

“The problem doesn’t go away,” McKenney said.

In this iteration of a public safety advisory committee, McKenney said they needed to go from the bottom up and ask them for advice.

“Let’s think hard and put some folks on that council who bring different thoughts,” he said.

City officials discuss public safety after levy, bond failure [2023]

McKenney said the suggested committee includes two neighborhood council members; four community activists, two appearing for it and two appearing against it; two city commissioners and two state legislators as “they rule our lives.”

McKenney said an advisory council can be too specific and by the time the commission gets the report it could be outdated.

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He said he wants to council to be conceptual rather than specific on an actual public safety ask, but it would be okay to say a new fire station or more police officers are needed.

“We’re looking for conceptual advice. Do we need more funding? Are we going to make more cuts? If we do need more funding, how are we going to do it,” McKenney said during the March 19 meeting. “Is it the non-public safety part of our budget that gets cut or do we ask for a levy?”

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The non-public safety portions of the general fund include Park and Recreation, the Mansfield and Civic Center events, the City Commission, administration, animal shelter, legal, Municipal Court and the city contribution to the City-County Health Department.

Commissioner Susan Wolff told her fellow commissioners during the March 19 meeting to consider that if the city were to go for another public safety levy next year, it will also be a legislative session and an reappraisal year from the Montana Department of Revenue, much like 2023 was.

For more background on the public safety levy, see our previous coverage:

City discussing creation of public safety advisory committee

City considering poll on public safety needs, levy

Great Falls Public Library expands hours with levy funds; discusses management agreement

Tryon asks to review library management; library board to discuss at Feb. 27 meeting

Ballots due Nov. 7 for city races, public safety levy and bond

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