RS2025-1659 - Downtown Public Safety Grant

This discussion topic was requested by Council Member Jacob Kupin regarding Resolution No. RS2025-1659, relative to a proposed Downtown Public Safety Grant and MOU.

From CM Kupin:

Colleagues,

First, I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving holiday. I wanted to start this thread as I imagine there will be questions about the Downtown Partnership MOU.

I first learned of this legislation in the administration packet on Friday. As I had no prior knowledge of the legislation, I did not sign on. I’m a proponent for public safety, especially in our Downtown core. And I appreciate grant money from the state for these efforts.

However, I have concerns that multiple stakeholders in public safety downtown were not aware of these conversations or able to request money for these grants.

I asked the administration for clarification on a few items including

When was this first discussed and who have been involved in these conversations?
Is this the application for the grant or the acceptance of funds?
Will the spending of funds allocated to Metro be subject to council approval?
What if any oversight does the council have over the money granted to the BID (and NDP)?
Without this MOU, will NDP still get these funds? Or is the MOU a requirement of the state grant?

I welcome my colleagues to ask additional questions. Again, I am committed to public safety but want to ensure we implement measures in a transparent and community engaged approach.

Thank you for your consideration.