Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 3-23-18

Local
State Attorney’s Office To Participate In National Research Project
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office was re- cently chosen as one of four prosecutor’s offices to partici- pate in a national research project. The purpose of the grant-funded $1.7 million project is to study and develop more effective prosecutorial practices.
The grant will fund a two- year project conducted by re- searchers at Florida International University and Loyola University to examine data and policies to increase effectiveness and fairness in four districts nationwide: Hillsborough, Chicago, Jack- sonville, and Milwaukee. In addition to participating in this initiative, the Hillsbor- ough County State Attorney’s Office will receive $100,000 to improve its data collection capabilities.
State Attorney Andrew Warren said, “From day one, we have embraced data-dri- ven and evidence-based poli- cies to build a safer community and promote jus- tice and fairness. This part- nership will help put
Hillsborough County at the forefront of innovation in our criminal justice system.”
State Attorney Warren visited Miami on Tuesday to meet with the research team and participants to discuss project details and plan.
Known as the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Jus- tice Challenge, the project’s goal is to study and reduce over-incarceration and dis- parities within the criminal justice system by focusing on how prosecutors can analyze data to improve outcomes and better respond to community needs.
ATTORNEY ANDREW WARREN
Community Invited To Attend Charter Review Public Workshop
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Wednesday, March 28th, members of the City of Tampa Charter Review Com- mission will host a public workshop. The workshop will take place from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., and will be held in the City Hall Council Chambers, 315 E. Kennedy Blvd., 3rd Floor.
During the meeting mem- bers of the community will have an opportunity to voice their opinions about changes to the Charter.
Councilman Frank Red- dick said, “The Charter Re- view Commission is in the process of narrowing down its list of recommendations to be presented to the City Council. It is imperative for the public to participate and provide their much needed input. The last time the Charter was reviewed was back in the 1970s.
“It is important for the Charter to be studied and have the public give direction to the appointed Charter Re- view Commission.”
FRANK REDDICK City Councilman
City Attorney Martin Shelby said, “This is an op- portunity for the Charter to be updated in keeping with current state law to ensure it is up to date.”
If changes are made to the Charter, the recommen- dations will be passed on to City Council in May. At that point, if the recommenda- tions are adopted, the issue will be placed on the Novem- ber ballot for voters to ap- prove.
Attorney Shelby said
the changes will not affect the current Mayor or City Council. It will affect the in- coming Mayor and Council members.
Attorney Shelby fur- ther said, this is an opportu- nity for members of the community to participate in the discussion of the Charter and voice their opinions about its structure.
The City of Tampa Char- ter Review Commission cur- rently consists of 9 members and 1 alternate. The role of the Commission is to exam- ine the City’s Charter to de- termine if there are any changes or deletions made to improve the City’s structure and functions.
The Charter Revision Commission meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month at 5:30p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Pub- lic comments are held at the beginning of each meeting.
Anyone wishing to send a written comment, opinion, or suggestion can contact Karencia Ciagala at Karencia.Ciagala@tam- pagov.net.
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