Harrisburg council tweaks proposed police advisory committee, schedules final vote for next month

A screen grab from Harrisburg City Council’s legislative session

Harrisburg City Council has made several more changes to a proposed police advisory body and delayed a final vote on the bill until next month.

At a virtual legislative session on Tuesday, council voted unanimously to tweak several elements of proposed Bill 8, which would create a Citizen’s Law Enforcement Advisory Committee.

The changes include:

• Giving council the ability to appoint five board members, up from four, while reducing mayoral appointments from three to two, for the initial committee members.
• Mandating that the committee meet at least quarterly, as opposed to at least annually, each year.
• Staggering initial terms so that two of the original members serve four-year terms, two members serve three-year terms and three members serve two-year terms.

Council members Ausha Green and Danielle Bowers said that some of these changes were made in response to comments received from community members.

“Listening to the comments is really power to the people,” Bowers said.

Council is expected to take a final vote on Bill 8 at its Nov. 10 meeting.

At the beginning of Tuesday’s session, council read aloud comments from community members, some of whom continue to be disappointed with the limitations of the proposed committee.

Bill 8 already has been amended to give the committee administrative subpoena power and to change or remove several parts of the original bill.

However, some residents remain unsatisfied. They believe that the body should be able to exercise greater oversight over the police bureau and want to change the name of the body from an “advisory committee” to a “review board.”

According to city Solicitor Neil Grover, Harrisburg lacks the authority to create a review board, prompting some residents to advocate for a home rule charter, which may give the city greater flexibility in setting its own rules beyond what’s allowed currently in the state code.

“I do think the talk of home rule has been important and is something we should pursue,” said one resident during the legislative session.

In addition, several residents urged council to make their online meetings more accessible, including advertising meetings more broadly on social media platforms and allowing residents to make comments in real time during the virtual meeting’s live-stream.

“Over the last few months during COVID, residents have pleaded with the city to make the council meetings more accessible,” said Kimeka Campbell, co-founder of Harrisburg Young Professionals of Color, in a written comment. “Nevertheless, the city has kept comments off their YouTube videos, not allowed more than two opportunities for call-ins for public comment, only taken public comment via email and truncated public comments that seem too similar.”

At the end of the meeting, member Ben Allatt said that council should consider expanding ways of interacting with the public virtually. But he also urged residents to reach out beyond just virtual council meetings, such as emailing or calling individual council members or even arranging meetings with them.

“These (virtual) meetings aren’t held in a vacuum and aren’t the only ways to interact with us in City Council,” he said. “There is a willingness to be able to meet with the community in many different fashions.”

In other action on Tuesday, council:

• Approved an agreement to pay $725,000 to MEB Partners and Brenner Motors to settle outstanding rent, tax and repair issues arising from a three-year lease of the Public Works Department site on Paxton Street.
• Approved a land development plan for a 200-space parking lot at 1501 N. 7^th St. The property owner wants to turn an empty lot into a surface parking lot, primarily to serve the needs of the new federal courthouse due for completion in summer 2022.
• Approved a resolution appointing resident Kali Tennis to a seat on the Harrisburg Architectural Review Board (HARB).

Lastly, council President Wanda Williams said that the city’s “Grab and Go” trick-or-treat night has been rescheduled due to predicted inclement weather for Thursday. It now will take place on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the city’s three firehouses—Uptown at 1820 N. 6^th St., and the two on Allison Hill at 140 N. 16^th St. and 9 S. 13^th St.

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