 |
|
Home | Bulletin Who's Who Calendar | Projects Area Meetings | District 5130 Rotary International |
|
|
Home | Bulletin Who's Who Calendar | Projects Area Meetings | District 5130 Rotary International |
Bulletin OPENING NOTES
President Patsy opened our meeting a little early at 12:15 p.m. today. Paul Schwartz led the Pledge in absentia. The Rotary Moment was delivered by our new "red badger" Tom Laengle from KFTY, an Oldie but Goodie from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Rick Rybicki introduced our visiting Rotarians.
ANNOUNCEMENTS Senor Valinoti orchestrated the announcements with his normal verve and aplomb. (de Bomb)!!
Secretary Bob Harris awarded Richard Standard with the Past President's Award...a very lovely plaque to grace his office.
SRWRC is sponsoring GSE team member, Karen Lynn Murad, to India. Jim followed up with an announcement that DG Mike Merrill at the Presidents/Secretary meeting named the new DG nominee, Franz Wartenweiler from the Napa Sunrise Club. Currently, Franz is DG Mike's Eastern Zone Representative. Bill Gittins with great fervor and imagination held the club spellbound in announcing the President Elect for 2001-2002...BRIAN HERNDON.
Bob Zeni's Sunshine report was a sad one with the passing of Past President Tom Collins' wife, Jean. She died on Sunday. Rick Rybicki reported that the Fishing in the City program was well attended that the city would like to do this a few more times during the year. Over 50 children participated. Special thanks to Fred Zmarzly, Bill Gittins, Teri Evans, and especially Rick's wife, Barbara, for a great BBQ. Also participating were Terry Price, Jim Valinoti, Gian Valinoti, John Gittins (Bill Gittin's son), and Phil Talamantes. They all braved the 50 kids AND the rain! Pete Lamonica announced that all but 15 tickets are sold for the Crab Feed. BUT...only 20 ticket stubs have been filled out and returned. PLEASE...fill out your ticket stubs for all your guests and turn them in to Pete Lamonica, Louie Capuano, Ron Street, Jeff Ray, or Duncan Holt. If you do this now, your guests will have less wait in line and have a more enjoyable time. According to Louie Capuano, we have 95% of our Crab Feed live auction items...but we need more silent auction items. Please volunteer to get something or donate something yourself, so that no one has to call. Your help is appreciated and will make this our most successful Crab Feed ever!!
John Withers had planes in the brain. You had to be there. According to John, a doctor from Cali, Colombia (drug capital of South America) reported that if an individual sold his/her home in Columbia, i.e. for $250,200, that person would be kidnapped the following day and held for ransom to the tune of $250,200. WOW, talk about capital gains. RECOGNITIONS Phil Talamantes is our finemeister thru December and is looking for "Squealers."
Jim Hinton was spotted dressed in RED, with a symbolic rose that he gave to President Patsy. Something about a 5th consecutive Stanford "Big Game" win over Cal and something about a soup bowl, I think. Jim has a dual personality. It seems graduating from Stanford was not "good enough" so he had to go to Berkeley for his law degree. Sigh...such is life. Who to root for???
Ray Schofield was entrapped by Phil to tell us what toys would not be available for Christmas. Can't find Pokemon Cards (duh), Beanie Babies (duh), Furbies (duh), only the hottest promotions around. It only cost Toys West (Ray's store) $20.00. Should have been more!! PLAN RAY...PLAN. Ken Dansie (with some assistance from his friends?) announced that Scott Bartley knew the web address where you can go to watch a Furby get dissected. (Are we having fun, yet?) Bryan Jamar won 3 nights in Gualala from the Foundation Celebration raffle, while Dale Sipe won a 1/2 hour massage in Cotati. Dale also paid $10.00 for a "look" at a picture of Phil's father in 1974. Oh, by the way, Dale was in the picture, too.
Teri Evans was recognized for her trip to the Redwood Peterbuilt dealership in Eureka. Phil paid her $5.00. Don Ling is having a "signature" birthday this Thursday. Does this make him a turkey?? John Withers jumped up and slapped Phil with a $20.00 fine for some power tools that his wife, Faye, bid on at the Foundation Celebration auction for Phil. RAFFLE Richard Standard missed the "Elusive Marble" and Tom Laengle donated his 2nd ticket winnings to the Community Fund. PROGRAM Arnie Carston introduced our speaker, the Chief of Police of Santa Rosa, Mike Dunbaugh.
The chief was quick to point out that Rotary's participation in community activities makes a meaningful and lasting contribution to the citizens of Sonoma County. He was also quick to recognize a large number of our membership who participate in other public organizations that support and participate in education, civic, charitable, and other worthy activities. What's going on in Santa Rosa? Serious crime is down 20% from last year. Thirty-five percent less auto thefts than last year. Expect to see an upswing in crime in the next several years due to growth in the age groups of 17-25. This age group commits 85% of crimes committed. Twenty recognized gang groups are in Santa Rosa with over 1,700 members. What are the police doing? First, they focused on schools, by providing one school resource officer for 4 of the 5 high schools, and one county schools resource officer for the continuation high schools. The concept is to work with school government, social services and advocates for youth and ethnic programs. The goal is to meld these services together and establish leadership roles from within the police department. This program is being developed in concert with the City of Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa City Schools, and the Sonoma County Office of Education. Partnerships with the Citizens Police Academy is a volunteer program with approximately 50 participants. Ninety percent of crime prevention programs are staffed with these same volunteers.Second, the Multi Cultural Center was established by a grant from the Southland Corporation (7/11) at W. Steele Lane and Apple Valley. The center provides a strong police presence and guidance to work together with the community in events and to help break down barriers to communication due to a very large and diverse ethnic population in a small area. Third, an advisory board has been formed with citizens at large to assist the police department with monthly meetings to share ideas. Recently, the board worked out a way to best implement and develop a mounted police unit. A proposal for 3 uniformed officers on horses at different community events would assist in crowd control and provide greater visibility. The input came from surveys from the community at large. Finally, another program with growing support is "Beat the Heat". A teenager gets to drag race against a police officer in his "cruiser".
What about the red signs that say $275 for running a red light? Basically, they enhance safety by making drivers more aware. Santa Rosa has the same number of traffic officers as a decade ago, but with a 20% growth in the population. Do the signs work? No traffic fatalities at the two intersections that have photo enforcement. Guerneville Road and Cleveland Avenue are the next intersections to be photo installed. There are 167 police officers, with 7 of those on motorcycles. There are a total of 300 employees and volunteers to staff the City of Santa Rosa. Starting salaries are $40,000 per year with overtime and seniority raising that to over $100,000 a year. Only 1 in 100 candidates are selected. What about the school bus rules??? Even our Chief didn't know for sure. He said to ask the Chief of Police for the City of Rohnert Park. He was cited for a school bus violation. "It's not easy McGee," written by Ron Street. All complaints should be mailed to Empire Waste...care of the disposal unit. * * * * * * * * * Editing and web publishing by Caroline Fox. Photography by Anne Abrams.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
