Pastor of the Day 11/26/14

Special thanks to  Dr Mike Tignor for leading the invocation this week at Council.  I will be asking other local Pastors to come out and lead the invocation each  meeting.  I think its a good way to get to know our local clergy and let them know what we have going on in the City.

Recent news article by the MWC Beacon

The MWC Beacon recently ran an article about the City moving forward with crime task force recommendations.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

November Update: Inmates to work & Pastor of the Day

Well I just wanted to post a few updates.  This last Council meeting the Council approved an item, as well as implemented an item I have been working on.

The first item was to renew a Memorandum of Understanding with the OK County Shine program. This will allow us to send our offenders to the county for punishment.  They will do hard labor that includes cleaning roadsides, ditches, and removing debris and underbrush from dilapidated areas. This is beneficial for multiple reasons, among them adequately punishing offenders as well as making them improve the community they have damaged.  It's a win-win. This was an action item suggested by the Taskforce on Crime, Punishment, and Rehabilitation.


The second is the Pastor of the Day program.  I will be leading this effort and will invite local Pastors and Clergy to our meetings.  They will open our meetings in prayer.  It will also give us the opportunity to learn more about our local churches, as well as share information with them that they can take back to their Churches about municipal programs and opportunities for service.

Update - Oct 8

Happy Fall,

I have been really busy w the Crime, Punishment, and Rehabilitation Task force and haven't posted in a few weeks. Our task force has concluded, and I will be presenting the findings at the next Council meeting.  After that, I will begin bringing actual policy changes to the Council for their consideration.  The first two things I will be addressing will include drug testing policies as well as mandatory hard community service/labor for offenders.  I will keep introducing items off the task force list throughout the coming weeks and months.  If you would like a copy of the report, feel free to let me know.

Please call if you have questions and concerns.

Daniel McClure

405-919-5730

Crime and Punishment Taskforce Meeting

We had our second meeting of the Crime and Punishment Taskforce last night. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to have such a great group of people helping us out on this effort.  When people have their hearts in the right place good things happen, and that's this group! We had a large number of recommendations including topics such as changes to drug testing policies, rehabilitation/reintegration concepts, and "sweat community service" (working hard as service and punishment).

I thought it was our last meeting and had planned to submit our report. HOWEVER the group did not like that idea :)  They want to have one more meeting to wrap up their thoughts and submit final reports.  We will meet at the end of the month, and then it's time to get to work on their recommendations.

Return of the Trash Debate

Last night at the Council meeting we heard a proposal to raise the bulk rate trash pickup fees.  This was the same proposal we heard a few months ago.  At that time I asked for some specific numbers that outlined the expenses and revenue generated from the operation.  If a program has a cost I am more than supportive of the person who uses the service paying for it.  I simply wanted to adequately explore the figures and come to a balanced and fair conclusion.

I was provided data (see below), and the numbers were not entirely correct.  As a result I have asked for the numbers to be revised to accurately reflect the situation to help us make a better decision.  It appears from the data that the program was $26K in the red in 2011, and has improved the numbers significantly and last year was just over $9.9K in the red.

My concerns left to address on this issue are...
1. If we raise the cost for pickup will less people use it?
2. There is a benefit to a neighborhood when someone with a messy residence cleans up their place.
3. What is the dollar amount needed on the rate increase needed to cover the program cost adequately?


I will report back to you when I get the information. I would love your feedback on the issue.  This is one where both sides of the idea have valid concerns.

Daniel


*currently the charge is $35/ half hour.  Below are the numbers on that, as well as proposed changed to higher amounts.  This information was provided by city staff.

MWC Embedded DHS Caseworker Program

At this weeks Council meeting we approved an agenda item that will place a DHS Caseworker in our city full time. This DHS social worker will assist in the assessment of child abuse and neglect cases, and work hand in hand with our police department. The agreement will also provide twenty-four hour access to an OKDHS social worker, streamline the tedious process and enable our agency to place children who are in protective custody into familiar homes or with relatives versus state shelters. This allows the Midwest City Police Department and OKDHS to become stronger advocates for abused and neglected children through a collaborative effort.  This program will be provided at no cost to MWC residents, and will be fully funded by DHS.*

I am very optimistic about this program, and am thankful for everyone who helped put it together.  It should be a great resource for our community and individuals in times of need.





*Information provided from the MWC Council meeting agenda packet, please contact me if you have additional questions.

City Wide Garage Sale Proposal

I am really excited about the item I have on the City Council agenda tonight!  I have had several requests for MWC to have a City wide garage sale.  We have had a few conversations about it at Council meetings, and the City staff has prepared all of the Code changes to make this possible.

 I love the idea of events that give residents the opportunity to meet each other throughout our different neighborhoods, as well as the opportunity to bring people from other places to MWC. I will present it tonight.

Thanks everyone who gave me feedback on this concept.-Daniel

UPDATE:

The measure failed, 2-5.  I couldn't get the rest of the Council on Board.  Councilwoman Price Allen did support the idea, and I appreciated her comments on constant dedication to creativity and trying new things.  I will rework it and try it again.

Taskforce on Crime, Punishment, and Rehabilitation

Throughout my campaign many residents mentioned they would like to see us take steps towards lowering crime in MWC.  My first step towards this effort was creating the Taskforce on Crime, Punishment, and Rehabilitation.  This is a group of residents who have volunteered to gather information and generate ideas.

We held our first meeting last week, and had wonderful presentations by City Staff.  We had the City Prosecutor, Police Chief, Jail Ministries, Juvenile Services, and Neighborhood Services represented to name a few. Out of those conversations came a number of follow up questions by the Taskforce Members, and answers to their questions are being assembled by City Staff.    The next meeting will be where the members share their ideas.  I look forward to receiving their feedback.

Thanks again for everyone who is participating in this effort!

Daniel

Update - Big Trash Rate Increase

With it being election night, we had an unusually strange Council Meeting.  We had 4 members present (instead of 7), and had to agree on the policy changes.  We all agreed we needed to push through the CPI changes, but were split 2-2 on the big trash rate increase.  I wanted to take a broader look at our big trash procedures, and have all the data available to make an informed decision. 

I have requested that data be prepared and presented before the next meeting, and after some disagreement my motion was approved and we will wait on the rate decision for 2 weeks to adequately look at the data. I appreciate all the messages I got on this issue, I received some great feedback and ideas and I will share them with the Council.

Daniel

MWC Big Trash Pickup- Proposed Rate Changes

I’m currently looking at tonight’s Council Agenda.  It has changes proposed to the Fee for excessive amounts of garbage, trash, yard waste and brush, and large household items.  The proposed change for residential big trash pickup would be from $35 to $55 per half hour, and proposed changes to the Neighborhood Association clean ups would go from $50 to $80 per hour.  (note this is not the numbers for regular cart trash pickup, only big trash pickup).  The increased fee, in my understanding, is to cover the cost of actually picking up and disposing the trash.

My concerns: 1. I am not a fan of increasing fees on municipal residents. 2. I have a concern that if we raise the fee, more people might shy away from using the big trash pickup, and as a result, might have messier city lots.

If you are a resident I would love your input.

New Water Meters

At this last Council Meeting the Council was briefed on changes to the water meters throughout the City. Changes in Federal policy are requiring any water meter replacements to be lead free.  The City has a lot of older meters so this policy will be bringing changes to the way we install meters.  The City opened up bids, and this last week selected a vendor to complete the new meter installations throughout the City.  I asked at the meeting if this was going to increase consumer water bills on residents.  The general consensus from staff was that for the majority of citizens there would be no signification increase.  I am curious about the differences since there will be a more accurate measurement of water usage.  I will continue to explore the issue.


Here is the bio from the RFP for the Company Selected for the transition.

UTS

FIRM BACKGROUND / EXPERIENCE
Utility Technology Service, UTS, was incorporated in 2008, in Oklahoma to represent
Sensus Metering in Oklahoma and Louisiana. Our parent company ETNA supply is a full
line water works distribution company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ETNA supply
has 6 divisions: Underground, Fire Protection, City Services, Plumbing, ICE Trucking and
Municipal. Municipal division represents all cities and rural districts, providing Sensus
Metering Systems, 35 years total experience in water products, water meters, AMR, AMI
systems.

Taskforce Update - 5/14/14

Yesterday at the Council meeting the Taskforce for Alternative Strategies on Crime, Punishment, and Rehabilitation was approved. Admittedly it's a long name, but I wanted to get a title that matched the mission of the group.  My fellow Council members approved the framework, and next month I will be bringing back the plan, schedule, and the members of the Taskforce.  I will be getting to work on the specifics and have them ready soon.  If you know of anyone who would like to participate in the group just let me know.

My statement on the Taskforce:

I am exceptionally optimistic about the opportunity to lead a Taskforce with the intentions of finding alternative strategies for success regarding crime and punishment.  This is an area I feel has opportunity for making a difference in the lives of people throughout our community, as well as municipal offenders.  Studies show that many offenders start out committing lower level municipal crimes, and advance to more advanced offences later on.  Crime has an echoing effect throughout our community and impacts everyone.  The ripples tear through families, schools, and neighborhoods leaving those involved as well as innocent citizens left to face the consequences of the results.

As a community I would like us to come together to address this area by exploring new strategies to adequately punish offenders, as well as steer them towards being productive members of the community.  I hope to explore a wide array of topics including community service, fines, jail time, and mentoring programs in an effort to find best practices to reach our goals.

Daniel
daniel@danielmcclure.org
405-919-5730


Links to MWC Information
http://www.visitmidwestcity.com/
http://midwestcityok.org/
http://eastwordnews.com/
http://www.mustangpaper.com/78311/1586/midwest-city-beacon

Stay up to date on whats going on in MWC.

Greetings!  I have put this blog together in an effort to share information on whats going on in Ward 1 and Midwest City.  Throughout the campaign leading up to my election I was told by many residents that they wanted to be kept in the loop on whats going on.... well this is one of the tools for just that!

Update 1:

One item that was of particular importance to me has been crime and punishment.  I want to look at ways to punish our offenders, but to also get them on track so they wont commit crimes in the future.  My first step towards this goal is to establish a task force of community members, criminal professionals, and officials to explore alternatives to our current processes.  This has been placed on the City Council Agenda for this coming week, and I will report back with additional details.

Update 2:

At one of the neighborhood meetings recently I was asked about the possibility of having a City wide garage sale.  I have discussed this item and the City Manager and his staff are putting together all of the details for that proposal.  I plan on pitching it to the Council this month.  I think it will be a great way for people to meet their neighbors, as well as bring people outside MWC into our City.

Be sure to sign up or send me your email to have these updates sent to you automatically.  My cell is 405 919 5730 should you have any questions or concerns.

Daniel