 Gallatin County DUI Task Force
Minutes
March 23rd 2005
2nd Floor Conference Room, Al Stiff Professional Building
5:30 to 7:10 PM
Members:
Bob Larson, Chairman
Susan Wordal, City Attorney’s Office
Jami Rebsom, County Attorney’s Office
Katie Donath, Citizen Member
Stephen Scott, Citizen Member
Price Klass, Youth Member
Members Absent:
Excused Absence:
Absent: law enforcement members
Guest:
Dale Richeson from Wanderlust
Minutes:
The February 16, 2005 minutes were approved as presented.
New Business:
Lifesaver Conference:
Jenna presented information on her trip to the National Lifesavers Conference in Charlotte, NC. The web page has notes/outlines on-line from presentations. The program was very inspiring and they had a great range of materials and discussions.
There are things NHTSA is doing that Task Forces aren’t hearing about. Attending the quarterly state Safe Kids/Safe Communities meetings might help in staying current with Impaired Driving initiatives.
Drug Recognition Experts – this is a huge commitment and requires state buy-in to work.
Restorative Justice component, brought back information for Teresa Flanigan.
Affirmation for the “Swimming Upstream” awards in terms of the importance of individual recognition for law enforcement officers with high DUI citation records.
One piece Jenna feels we aren’t able to use is the checkpoint stops. Finds this frustrating and she is not sure how to take advantage of the program. Discussion centered around MT problems with such stops. – Right to Privacy, etc.
SBI (Screening and Brief Interventions) might be a test project here in conjunction with GRIP. Jenna would like to present on this at next year’s conference.
Legislative update: there were a couple surprises – Keg registration and BAC refusal were facing tough opposition. One speculation on keg registration was the liquor lobby. Jenna will continue to monitor and report developments.
Board Organization: Letters of acknowledgement were handed out.
By-laws: Susan moved to approve the revised Bylaws as proposed. Mark seconded. Passed without discussion. Jenna is to forward these through channels for presentation to the County Commission for final adoption.
Officers: Treasurer is Sherri Murphy, but she has been sidelined due to an accident and will be out for some time. Katie Donath volunteered to fill this position until the end of the term or until Sherri returns. Susan moved to accept and Paris seconded. Motion passed. Thanks Katie!
Annual Report: this is due to the State. Jenna is working on it and has all the parts except completed 2004 DUI citaiton stats and a conviction percentage.
Report on Activities: Alcohol Awareness Month.
Swimming Upstream Awards: Last year’s awards ceremony for “Swimming Upstream” was a very nice event. Judges were there, but law enforcement was not a presence. It was hoped that more would attend this year. Some members want to present officers within departments with awards for contributions. Other members questioned doing this because of the perception that some think there are quotas for stops and this could be used for rewarding “quotas”. Determined that we will ask the departments to suggest 1-3 individuals, depending on department size, for an award for hard work and dedication. Bob will visit each department and obtain input. Task Force is one of three organizations sponsoring the awards. Our
contribution is $250.00. The cost of frames for awards for our recipients might run extra. Mark moved and Katie seconded the contribution. Passed.
April Fool’s Dance: this is not going to happen. The club never got of the ground despite all the hard work to improve the building.
Jenna obtained permission to use the bulletin boards at the Courthouse and Community Clinic for postings. She also ghosted a rebuttal article to the Chronicle’s editorial on the alcohol tax. Other articles are in the works.
MIP Impact Panel: Jenna attended the first MIP impact panel. Comments from the panel were available for review.
Finance:
Currently we have $30,000 and we expect a check for @$12,000. Will need to fund projects. Suggestions were a 2nd Intoxilyzer for the Detention Center since the new DUI Center will require the one there to be moved, making it less accessible for people who can’t be processed out there for whatever reason. Jenna will talk to Brian Gootkin. Suggested we all think about where the money goes and be prepared to offer suggestions.
Grant forms are working well. BHS money for after prom party is now going to Senior Sober. Jenna also reported on results from funded patrols. Jenna will make a minor modification to the form so that it is clear that we will fund based on the request submitted. Once approved, the recipient may not request a supplement to the grant to cover expenditures not contemplated in the original request. [in other words: once the money is approved, if the requestor didn’t ask for enough to cover the individuals who actually bid for the overtime shifts, then the requestor will have to cover that difference.]
Discussed keychains and other promotional items. Slogan: “Prevent Roadkill” Don’t get in a car with a drinking driver. Susan moved we authorize Jenna to order postits. Jamie seconded. Passed.
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