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Home My WebLink AboutCriminal Justice Jun 4 2024Whatcom County Council1 I 1 Public 1 COUNTY COURTHOUSE 311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105 Bellingham, WA 98225-4038 (360) 778-5010 Committee Minutes - Final Tuesday, June 4, 2024 9:15 AM Hybrid Meeting HYBRID MEETING - ADJOURNS BY 10:05 AM (PARTICIPATE IN -PERSON, SEE REMOTE JOIN INSTRUCTIONS AT www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil, OR CALL 360.778.5010) COUNCILMEMBERS Barry Buchanan Tyler Byrd Jon Scanlon CLERIC OF THE COUNCIL Dana Brown -Davis, C.M.C. Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final June 49 2024 Safety Committee Call To Order Roll Call Committee Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 9:16 a.m. in a hybrid meeting. Present: 3 - Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, and Jon Scanlon Also Present: Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas, Kaylee Galloway, and Mark Stremler Announcements Special Presentations 1. A.B2024-362 Report from the Emergency Medical Service Department Mike Hilley, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Manager, read from a presentation (on file) about an overview of 2023 and 2024 projects and accomplishments, public education, internal training, the Medical Program Director's Office and succession planning for that office, two new Emergency Department physicians, upgrades to data analysis software, and collaboration with the State and other entities. He answered whether the fund balance is at or above what the levy plan was asking for and stated they are little bit low. He referred to the "EMS Levy Fund Projections May 31, 2024" (page 15) in the presentation and stated they are below their target fund balance for 2023 going into 2024 by about $1.2 million and most of that is because the revenues from the Ground AA rp. Ir i,iiie,ge,it,y TOediia', I, - nsport k G E 1) gap payment uas not conic tutougth the fire departments. it is about $2.2 million that they expected, but so far in 2024 they have gotten $229,000. They expect to receive the reimbursements in June or July. He answered what a year's operating costs are and stated they are about $15 million. Donovan stated they got a letter about a change in the interlocal agreement for distribution of funds for basic life support (BLS) and asked whether the recommended BLS cost allocation in the Levy Plan, providing a minimum of $1.5 million per year, has changed. Hilley stated it is not being changed. They are having a conversation with the Fire Chiefs Association about a small piece of language in the agreement, but the amount has not changed. Kayla Schott-Bresler, Executive's Office, stated the County's proposal for the contract language will reflect what is in the Levy Plan (which is $1.5 million). The tricky part is that the County does not pass contracts where "atcom County Page I Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final June 4, 2024 Safety Committee something is a guarantee and in which there is no termination language, so the intention here is to allow future councils to make budget adjustments or alter the contract if the levy were to tank, and for the language in the contract to mirror what we do for all other County agreements. Donovan stated he wanted to clarify that the previous language to provide a minimum of $1.5 million a year is changing so it does not say it is a minimum anymore, and Hilley stated they did not want to lock the County into a minimum in a contract because it is not a fee for service contract but rather an allocation. Hilley answered where they are with the contract as of today and stated they got a letter from the fire chief s attorney last week indicating their disagreement with that language. He then met with the attorneys on Friday and he thinks they have some language that may satisfy both parties and it has gone back to the fire chiefs. He answered what they are seeing as far as incidents of kids getting a hold of opioids, whether they are tracking data on transfers to medically assisted treatment for opioids, and whether it shows if those services are available in our community. Galloway spoke about expanding the Community Paramedic program and asked if Hilley could speak about the efforts to expand or whether he anticipates that they might need to take some banked capacity at the end of this year to fund those priorities. He stated at the moment, both the community paramedics are focused on the downtown work and there is one community paramedic out of Fire District 7 that has been taking care of the rest of the county. He would love to increase capacity for that, but they are a little bit tight on the levy right now. He spoke about possible ways to increase that budget. He answered whether it is good news that the call volume has been pretty flat and almost slightly declining according to the presentation, and stated it is good but there are a lot of factors that play into that. This agenda item was REPORTED. 2. A 2024-363 Report from the Public Defender's Office Stark Follis, Public Defender, reported on the history of the office, the growth in the number of employees over the years and the reasons for that (growth in the county, growth in the filing of cases by the Prosecutor's Office, and caseload standards by the Supreme Court which were implemented in 2012), the new Defender Data case management software Whatcom County Page 2 Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final June 4, 2024 Safety Committee and how it has helped them, space issues in their current office building because of growth, and the fact that they are fully staffed at present and how that has made a difference. He stated they plan to make requests for one FTE for a behavioral specialist aid, an increase in their professional services budget, and a reclassification of their longest -standing behavioral health specialist to a management position. They are also trying to move toward the development of some increased middle management in the office. He stated the office is doing pretty well right now but the elephant in the room is what is going to happen with caseload standards. He described the process for the development of those standards and stated the standards as proposed would blow up the office. It is inappropriate, however, to approach the upcoming budget as if those standards are going to be adopted. He answered whether the court could order the legislature to come up with the money and stated it is possible, but the problem is that the statute says the State shall provide for indigent defense if there are funds available, and the State's fallback is always that there are no funds available. He answered whether they will be losing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. George Roche, Prosecuting Attorney's Office, stated Grays Harbor County had a lawsuit with the State in 2018 or 2019 and it was effectively determined that this is a local county -based funding obligation so the funding would most likely fall to us. Follis answered a question about when the new standards might take effect and where we stand with people in jail not being able to access defense. He stated there are two problems with the standards; one is money and the other is finding people. Kayla Schott-Bresler, Executive's Office, answered whether the Public Defender's Office is part of the discussions as the County is talking about expanded space, and stated the more immediate discussion is a potential remodel to allow for more enclosed office space. Follis stated there is actually a plan for a remodel that Facilities has done for their office and there are some funds left over from a remodel of their upstairs a couple years ago that are supposedly earmarked for that. He spoke about input that his office has given for the jail project. This agenda item was REPORTED. Whatcom County Page 3 Council Criminal Justice and Public Committee Minutes - Final June 4, 2024 Safety Committee Items Added by Revision Other Business Adjournment There were no agenda items added by revision. There was no other business. The meeting adjourned at 10:15 a.m. ATTEST: al%3E�CdlP;. WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL ® dd Z®®�� WHATCOM COUNTY, WA W ®" Barry Buchanan -via email 6/17/2024 a Dana Brown!-D rk; ; ` � Barry Buchanan, Committee Chair e nq Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Transcription Whatcom County Page 4