Richardson City Council Meeting March 3rd, 2025

OPENING

All councilmembers are present as well as City Manager (CM) Don Magner and City Secretary Aimee Nemer.

Councilman Hutchenrider leads a Christian prayer and the pledges.

Minutes of the previous meeting are unanimously approved.

No speakers are present for the visitors forum.

Council then recognizes Mike Eastland’s retirement from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) nonprofit. CM Magner describes a history of Mr. Eastland’s service in city government. Former city managers Bill Keffler and Dan Johnson are also present to speak about Mr. Eastland’s service, as is former mayor Gary Slagel. After 23 minutes of comments from current and former city managers and mayors, Council has no additional comments.

2024 ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE FINANCE REPORT

The next item is a presentation on the 2023/24 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). The city utilizes Crowe LLP as the firm that conducts this annual audit. Partner Kevin Smith presents the results of the report. Mr. Smith reports that an unmodified opinion has been issued, and no “deficiencies worthy of written comment” have been noted. Mr. Smith describes this audit as the best Richardson has had in years. After this very brief presentation, Mr. Smith offers to answer any questions from Council.

Councilman Corcoran offers the first comments as the Audit Committee liaison. Councilman Corcoran echoes Mr. Smith’s description of the results and thanks city staff for their contributions to this audit process. Mayor Dubey thanks Mr. Smith and city staff. Council has no questions. This item only took roughly 6 minutes from start to finish.

BUDGET PREP – RICHARDSON ADULT LITERACY CENTER

Next is a discussion on the Richardson Adult Literary Center (RALC). RALC Executive Director Ann Banks presents. CM Magner explains that this presentation is being made to prepare for this summer’s budget planning process. Director Banks reviews programs that RALC has added since 2020. In 2020, RALC offered ESL classes online. Due to COVID, they had to suspend their foundational English classes. Since then, RALC has started an online book club and now offer citizenship classes and a six-week career bridge program. RALC has experienced funding issues since the loss or reduction of some grants. They now have an enrollment of over 800 students. Director Banks explains that they rely on donors to sustain their services. She presents a map that shows students ranging from as far away as Denton and Ferris.

Current programs include ESL, citizenship test prep, and conversation classes online and in-person, as well as career bridge workshops in person. They also go out to the community to offer resources and materials. Director Banks explains that their objective is to move away from grant dependency and towards financial sustainability. She describes changes that the organization has made towards this goal. She states that they still need improved data on community needs. They also need improved grant writing capabilities. They also seek increased support from local businesses. Director Banks shares that RALC has applied for a grant to assist with improving data collection. She concludes by reminding Council of the murder-mystery fundraising event on April 12^th. Councilman Barrios will be a featured character in this year’s show. This event will be held at the Richardson Senior Center. Tickets are $85.

Council thanks Director Banks for her improvements to the organizational structure at RALC.

RPD ANNUAL REVIEW

The final discussion item of the evening is a significant one. Chief Tittle presents the RPD Annual Review. Chief Tittle reports that they have moved a supervisor position from the municipal court over to patrol to implement a Power Shift. In exchange for the supervisor position being moved, he has also added a full-time police officer to the municipal court in addition to maintaining part-time bailiffs. Chief Tittle then reviews the current staffing levels. 911 dispatchers are currently 76% staffed. Deployable sworn officers are currently 86% staffed, with 20 more recruits in training. Detention officers are 88% staffed.

49% of sworn officers have 10 years or less in service. 23% of sworn officers have at least 20 years in service. Chief Tittle now explains the new Power Shift. Since the highest volume of calls for service is at 4 pm, he has created a shift with a sergeant and four officers to serve an 8-hour shift from 2 pm - 10 pm. The other two shifts are still 12-hour shifts with changeovers at 6:00. Chief Tittle reports that 24 on-the-job injuries occurred in 2024. This was a 29% decrease compared to 2023. Most injuries occurred in the process of routine duties and training.

Chief Tittle now presents the 2024 crime statistics. Total violent crime is down 4%. Total property crime is down 16%. Arrest statistics also appear to be moving in a positive direction compared to 2023. Chief Tittle explains that current crime trends include appliances being stolen from vacant homes, copper thefts from utilities, and vehicle thefts from apartment parking garages. GMC brand vehicles are currently a target for theft. 2024 had the lowest number of calls for service compared to the last five years. Citizen-initiated calls were down 15%, while officer-initiated calls were up 17% in 2024 compared to 2023. 59 vehicle pursuits took place in 2024. This is a 64% increase from the 36 vehicle pursuits in 2023. This is still lower than the 2021 and 2022 numbers of 68 and 70, respectively. Chief Tittle explains that the lower number in 2023 was due to a policy change. He also explains that the 2024 increase is partly due to automatic license plate readers discovering vehicles reported stolen.

Chief Tittle then highlights several areas of community outreach with events like Coffee with Cops, National Night Out, and the Public Safety Expo. He also highlights neighborhood and business crime watch efforts. He also reports that the Volunteers in Police Service program has 99 active volunteers. The Youth Citizen Police Academy is up to 40 enrolled participants. This is the highest number of participants for at least the past five years. RPD will now host two classes going forward due to higher enrollment. Chief Tittle is pleased to report that Richardson took home the first-place award for our category in the 2024 National Night Out program. RPD has also resumed Women’s Self Defense classes. They will plan to offer this class every few months due to high interest from the community.

The Crisis Intervention Team handled 424 calls for service in 2024. This team handles calls related to mental health crises. The Homeless Engagement Liaison Program had contact with 229 homeless individuals in 2024 and removed 13 encampments. Chief Tittle also highlights the Take Me Home program. This is a program that allows individuals with communication challenges due to cognitive disabilities to enroll their information with RPD in case they ever are in a situation where they need assistance returning to their caretakers. So far, 18 individuals have enrolled in the program, leading to a successful recovery effort. Chief Tittle announces that they will also be looking at acquiring a second police service dog this year.

Additionally, RPD is upgrading tasers to increase accuracy and effectiveness. Chief Tittle explains that the joint police training facility located in Plano is apparently not sufficient to meet the needs of the department. He explains that a new police academy facility will likely need to be constructed. It sounds like Plano will put a bond proposition on the May ballot for roughly $51M to construct a new facility. Once that ballot proposition is settled, Richardson will have a better idea of what will be needed from our city for the new facility.

Chief Tittle concludes by reviewing future department needs. One of those will be a real-time crime center that would review body cam footage and data in real time to support officers responding to calls. Another future need will be utilizing drones to automatically respond to certain calls to provide more information to officers to increase the safety of officers and citizens. The 2026 World Cup will also bring unique circumstances that RPD needs to prepare for. Finally, new vehicle barriers will be utilized in the future to provide protection during special events.

Councilman Hutchenrider suggests collaborating with the fire department on the drone deployment implementation to explore the ability for drones to supply first aid and defibrillators to scenes quicker than personnel can arrive. Councilman Hutchenrider also suggests exploring self-defense and computer safety classes for senior citizens. Chief Tittle likes the idea of defense classes for seniors. He explains that computer safety classes have been offered at the senior center by FBI partners.

Councilman Corcoran asks when we will know what Richardson’s contribution to a new joint training facility will be. Chief Tittle answers that we will have a better idea once the bond issue is settled in Plano. CM Magner clarifies that we won’t just wait to see what Plano voters decide to start preparing on our side. This summer’s budget development process will include this need, and the city is already planning for any contingency options. Councilman Corcoran also asks what RPD is doing to mitigate injuries on the job. Chief Tittle answers that their defensive tactics training will continue to implement the goal of not injuring other officers for the sake of winning a training exercise on the mat.

Mayor Pro Tem Shamsul asks how we can reduce burglaries even more. Chief Tittle answers that increased density and population typically lead to increases in crime. We will need to prepare for future population growth with staffing growth and increased efficiencies.

Councilman Barrios suggests future presentations on operating costs for a new joint training facility. He asks why the 911 dispatch team has experienced recent staff turnover and vacancies. Chief Tittle answers that some find that the job isn’t for them and transfer to other areas such as detention. And some are simply not a good fit for the job. Councilman Barrios asks if the arrest statistics seen from 2024 are in line with other communities. Chief Tittle answers that these statistics are in line with national standards. Councilman Barrios also asks what the department is doing to reduce speeding drivers. Chief Tittle answers that they continue to work with the transportation department to monitor speeding as well as conducting outreach and education in neighborhoods to encourage safe driving.

Councilwoman Justice asks why 2024 received fewer citizen-initiated calls than 2023. Chief Tittle answers that they are still trying to understand why there were fewer calls last year. This is an area they will continue to monitor. She also asks what future staffing needs will be, considering the continuing population growth. Chief Tittle answers that it would be wise to incrementally increase the authorized staffing levels each year.

Mayor Dubey has an idea. His idea relates to the process of hiring new applicants. He looks at the number of applicants who passed background checks in 2024. He states that every step of the hiring process costs money. He suggests that they shouldn’t wait until step 5 to background check individuals. Chief Tittle explains that these background checks are intensive, so they want to make sure individuals would make the cut before conducting a background check. Mayor Dubey still thinks it would save money to background check the 700 applicants before testing, even after Chief Tittle’s explanation. (I think Chief Tittle would know best. I would hope that a mayor trusts the professional staff’s experience more than his own understanding with no experience in law enforcement.)

Chief Tittle emphasizes once again that the background check is not just a computer check. A detective gets assigned to investigate an individual’s background. This can take 40-60 hours of work. (For the 25 applicants that made it to background testing, that’s over 1,000 hours of background investigation. If the mayor’s idea was implemented, that would require over 28,000 hours of background investigation.) CM Magner puts it into even simpler terms for the mayor. It is simply more costly to conduct a background check than any other step in this hiring process. Mayor Dubey finally accepts this answer.

(The hiring process includes at least six steps: applying, qualifying for testing, passing the testing, passing an oral board interview, passing a background check, and finally, being hired. Out of 700 applicants, only 195 qualified for testing. Of those 195, only 117 passed the test. Of those who passed the testing, only 25 passed an oral board interview. Of those 25, 23 passed background checks, and 20 were hired. The suggestion to background test the 700 applicants without knowing who will pass the various levels of stringent testing is especially concerning coming from the mayor, who has seen this presentation eight times. I would hope the mayor would know that background testing isn’t just running a name through a website. They interview friends and family in addition to numerous other areas of investigation. Doing this for 700 applicants would be a huge overload for our budget and staff. Background checks only eliminated 8% of applicants that passed the oral board interview. That’s two applicants. In the Army, we would call this a visit from the “Good Idea Fairy”.)

CONSENT AGENDA & CLOSING

Next up is the consent agenda. Mayor Dubey asks CM Magner to explain some items included in this consent agenda. CM Magner explains that the first consent agenda item relates to Falck seeking to provide EMS transport services in Richardson. The state requires a letter of approval from cities before they issue providers a license. This item authorizes a letter stating that this will not adversely affect the provision of EMS services in the city, will remedy an existing provider shortage, and will not cause an oversupply of licensed EMS services in the city. CM Magner clarifies that Falck will only provide transport service from facilities to other facilities. They will not be responding to 911 calls.

CM Magner also clarifies the third item in the consent agenda. This item abandons excess right-of-way at the corner of Greenville Ave. and Plano Rd. Though this area of land is currently owned by the city, the city formed an agreement with the adjacent office development to construct a parking lot in 1998. This item would allow the office development owner to acquire this piece of land, which would then add to taxable property values in the city. This land does not include any public sidewalks or roadways.

The consent agenda is approved unanimously. In addition to the items described above, it also includes a change order to the City Hall demolition contract awarded to Custard Construction Services. An additional $258K is necessary since asbestos removal was required.

Council discusses a Richardson Symphony performance, a Richardson Symphony benefit event, a Plano ISD Supt. roundtable meeting, the upcoming annual RPD Awards banquet, the start of Ramadan, and Ash Wednesday. Council then convenes into executive session to deliberate regarding appointments to the CPC and Zoning Board.