City councilwoman urges Topeka to slow recommendations in wake of man's fatal shooting by police

Topeka City Council members disagreed late Tuesday about whether they were moving too fast by planning next week to consider approving recommendations made by a city council special committee that met 22 times to discuss the future of policing in Topeka.

The city needs to decelerate that process due to that committee's apparently not having received sufficient community input, and amid concerns over Topeka police having fatally shot Christopher Kelley on June 24, said Councilwoman Christina Valdivia-Alcala.

She questioned why a crisis intervention team wasn't called to the scene during the confrontation that ended with the death of Kelley, a 38-year-old Black man whom authorities said cut himself several times with a knife before charging at officers with it.

Councilman Brett Kell joined other council members in saying he opposed slowing down the process.

"If we hold off too long, we're not moving forward," he said.

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Internal police auditor now splits time between communities

No action regarding recommendations from the special police and community committee were taken at Tuesday's meeting, which lasted three hours and eight minutes.

Councilwomen Sylvia Ortiz and Karen Hiller and Mayor Mike Padilla served on that committee, which was formed in October 2020 amid the tense atmosphere that existed after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd five months earlier.

The committee last month made eight recommendations, which the mayor and council are scheduled to consider July 12.

One was to keep in place the city's existing practice of banning "no knock warrants." The others involved taking specific steps in areas that included training, use of force and civilian input.

Valdivia-Alcala raised questions Tuesday about the status of Edward Collazo, who was hired in 2019 at an annual salary of $78,000 a year as the city's internal police auditor.

Collazo now splits his time between Topeka and an unspecified community in another state, she was told.

Collazo is working for the city on a contractual basis until the city fills the auditor's  job permanently, said interim city manager Bill Cochran, adding that he didn't know how much Collazo was being paid.

Collazo is currently "in the office" in Topeka for two to three days every three weeks, Cochran said.

'Doing the right thing even when you know it's going to cost you'

Valdivia-Alcala also raised questions about the death of Kelley, saying it was her understanding that he had a teenage son and was a Marine Corps veteran who served two terms of duty.

The city still needs "crucial input" about Kelley's death before it considers approving the police and community committee's recommendations, she said, adding, "He was cutting himself with a knife, which to me screams of a mental health cry for help."

Councilman Mike Lesser suggested Padilla, Hiller and Ortiz deserve high praise for having had the courage to serve on the police and community committee.

"The definition of integrity is 'doing the right thing even when you know it's going to cost you,'" and those on the committee certainly had to know that "they weren't going to make everybody happy," he said.

Councilman and Deputy Mayor Spencer Duncan said that after "two years of good work and many good recommendations," it was time for the mayor and council to consider the committee's proposal.

Duncan said he was OK with the council's discussing whatever potential recommendations weren't made but said he didn't want those to overshadow the "good recommendations" that were put forth.

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'We've got to do something' about parking in downtown Topeka

The mayor and council also heard a presentation Tuesday from Hannah Uhlrig, deputy director of public works, and Jason Tryon, that department's budget analytics director, on scenarios the city could follow regarding the future of parking in downtown Topeka.

Uhlrig and Tryton discussed various potential options.

Those included selling some or all of the city's parking garages, or maintaining ownership of those garages and borrowing money to finance needed repairs.

"We've got to do something," said Councilman Neil Dobler. "We've neglected parking garages for 20 years, and we've got to figure it out."

Dobler and Padilla asked Cochran to compile and provide the mayor and council information about private companies that have expressed an interest in taking over part or all of the city's parking operations.

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Proposed city budget would bring 1-mill decrease in property tax levy

Council members spoke near the end of Tuesday's meeting about how the city's administrative and financial services department that day had made public the document the mayor and council will use as a starting point for crafting the city's 2023 budget.

That document in its current form would lower the city's property tax levy by 1 mill.

"What a great start," said Dobler.

"We are confident that the budget will allow the city to offer high-quality services at an appropriate cost to taxpayers," said Stephen Wade, the city's administrative and financial services director, on Tuesday morning. "We continue to work to align city resources with the needs and values of our community, and this budget puts us in a great place to do that."

The city on its website published that proposed budget, as well as a citizen's guide to it and a Spanish-language version of that guide.

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Most Topeka property owners would still see their property tax rise if the city tax levy fell by 1 mill, as the city this year saw an 8.5% increase in assessed property value.

The city earlier this year held six community workshops as part of a process aimed at opening a direct line of dialogue between the city and those who live in it. City staff members worked to incorporate ideas put forth at those sessions into the budget made public Tuesday.

The proposed budget totals $340.1 million, an increase of 0.33% from this year's budget. It includes a general fund budget of $104.1 million, which is a 6.2% increase from this year's budget.

"The larger increase this year is a direct result of inflationary costs which are as high as 8.6%," the city said in a news release Tuesday. "The city recognizes the impact this has on taxpayers and has raised costs carefully and with intention."

The introduction of a proposed budget that would lower the mill level ends a trend through which the city staff each year since the summer of 2013 has proposed budgets that would arrange for the levy to stay the same. In each of those years, the mayor and council then approved spending limits aimed at maintaining the same levy.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Mayor, council discuss suggestions regarding future of policing here