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| 0 | 1. | Budget | Communication from the Mayor relating to the proposed 2017 budget.
Minutes note: Eric Pearson - Budget Office provided an overview.
Judge Derek Mosley and Presiding Judge Philip Chavez
Sheldyn Himle - Municipal Court
The court offers walk-in hours and is one of the few municipal courts in the country to do so.
You can pay $20 on any warrant amount and they will remove the warrant and put the person on a payment plan (but this does not include building and zoning cases). They also have started initiatives to help the homeless and the mentally ill and it's called "Housing First" aimed at ending chronic homelessness in Milwaukee County. The court lifts its warrants so the homeless can be eligible for housing. If they stay in the housing with no problems for 30-60 days, they'll eliminate those tickets. Judge Chavez brings the court to homeless veterans four times a year and Municipal Court also works with the homeless section of the Police Department. They have also taken court to specific public schools and are working through some issues to do it more often.
Last year MPS was funded for universal driver's education through Municipal Court; 262 students were served and 92% were students of color and 80% qualified for free/reduced lunch and there was a 99% pass rate on the test. This year there's a fee-based program which MPS wants to serve 1,400 students, then 2,400, then 3,600 students in succeeding years. There is $50,000 in the current budget for this program.
Ald. Murphy said the main issue he's hearing from citizens is reckless driving. He'd like the court to research how to deal with reckless driving as people are losing faith in the police and the courts.
In about 4 weeks, one branch of the court will dedicate one full day to working with people who have warrants (Warrant Withdraw Wednesday) - they'll be extending the court hours and work with people who can't make an immediate payment to lift a warrant.
They are trying to go after landlords financially, but they can easily creates LLCs online to purchase properties cheaply.
Ald. Nik Kovac - questioned about how many and under what circumstances drivers' licenses were taken away. Ald. Kovac also suggested a citizen advocate or a customer-friendly/trained debt collector.
| HELD TO CALL OF THE CHAIR | Pass | 5:0 |
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