April 17, 2002
This Week’s Bulletin Was Written By Steve Waterman.
THIS WEEK”S MEETING
President Melissa opened the meeting. Carolyn Morrow started us on the pledge of allegiance. LeeAnn Owens gave the invocation, a personalized poem. Linda Jalving led the morning song, Zip a Dee Doo Dah.
Announcements
Ø Members are reminded that next Wednesday is Vocational Services Day which replaces the regular meeting. Bill Poirier can be contacted to reserve a slot for Pierson Ford, San Diego Police, U.S.S. Constellation or the San Diego Convention Center.
Ø President Melissa asked members interested in the Senior Community Center Foundation luncheon on April 26 to contact Carol Jensen or Susan Davis.
Ø The Children of Chernobyl Foundation is looking for families to sponsor a child for month in July.
Ø A German Rotarian is asking Rotarians to give leads on housing in August for his son who will be doing a one month student internship.
Ø With the attendance of our District Governor, Bill Sturgeon, Melissa pitched the piggy banks and the Rotary Foundation.
Ø Jennifer Cusick announced that International Services will be supporting Thousand Smiles with $2,000 to help build a facility in Ensenada and that the club is buying a table for the fund raiser on May 7 with humorist/cartoonist Steve Kelley.
Ø Mexico homebuilding will be this weekend.
Ø Gary Green and contingent, Michael Clarkson, Gordon Bishop, Rick Logan, Keith French, attended District Assembly on April 6. Rotary will seek to raise $80 million for the last phase of polio eradication. The World Bank and the Gates Foundation will match 4:1. All were impressed with the good works of Rotary worldwide.
Ø A guest from the Uptown Sunrise Rotary passed out flyers for fundraiser, Rotary in the Park for MoPa after dark on May 4.
FINES
Jim Dunn fined himself for arriving too late to introduce his guest before Frank DeFrancesco reached the podium. Frank promptly fined the accountants in the Club, Dan Cleaves, Don Lang and Mike Sisson, for having survived tax season. Hugh Largey fined himself to plug a crisis pregnancy funding raising event. Pete McGuire bragged that his daughter is finishing her first year of college and her boyfriend has no piercings. Also, he was burgled for the second time. I think Frank auctioned off two tickets he had left at home to Guys and Dolls in the Civic Theater. Leah Swearingen raved about Godspell at the Lambs Players Theater, “all Y’all go see it.”
This
Week’s Speaker
Tana Cleaves introduced Susan Pennell, Director of the Criminal Justice Research Division for SANDAG. Susan has a masters degree in sociology from San Diego State University and has published articles on drug use and drug control strategies.
Susan first explained that SANDAG stands for the San Diego Association of Governments, a regional agency that does planning for transportation, housing, environmental protection, etc. headed by the mayors of 18 cities, a member of the County Board of Supervisors, and directors of San Diego Transit and Caltrans. Garry Gallegos is the Executive Director.
SANDAG is the only regional coalition of government that has a criminal justice research unit. The unit was started up at the suggested of local politician and judge Larry Stirling. Its first crime report came out in 1979. The Research Division does analysis of criminal statistics including geographic and types of crime trends. She also performs independent evaluations of pilot programs to reduce crime incidence. Projects have included a study of the impact of illegal immigration on crime, arrestee drug abuse monitoring, and surveys of Superior Court users and communities regarding satisfaction with law enforcement. Recent projects include working with the Probation Department to track juvenile delinquency recidivism, monitoring of sex offenders, and evaluation of the soon to be started clean needle exchange program in San Diego.
San Diego has a relatively low crime rate which had been decreasing for a decade as part of a national trend. But crime is up in 2001, particularly in the area of auto theft and burglary. Much of the crime is drug related. She emphasized what we have been doing well to stop crime, community policing, and prevention programs which she says are underemphasized and underfunded. Susan predicts that the next crime wave will be related to the large numbers of persons returning from prison in California as they complete their sentences. Little is being done in the way of rehabilitation and job skills during incarceration. She also pointed out that California’s diverse subpopulations with different languages and cultures tend to be wary of law enforcement. Lou Scanlon said the San Diego Police Department makes frequent use of the Susan’s SANDAG research and explained what SDPD is doing to address increased car thefts. Locking your car is critical and devices such as LoJack and Club are effective deterrents.
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