Calendar:
   (See Below)

Information Items:
   - "One Time" Count Analysis of the Homeless Population in Charlotte
   - Criminal Activity at Area Hotels and Motels
   - Medical Control Board Meeting
   - SBE Utilization Report - Second Quarter FY 05
   - New Charlotte arena Safety Record

Attachments:
   - March and April Calendars
   - Homeless Count  2005
   - Hotel Motel Work Group
   - SBE Report Oct - Dec 2004
   - Council Follow Up Report Mar 4, 2005

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Calendar:
Monday, March 7 
     5:00 pm - Council Manager Dinner Briefing, Room 267
     7:30 pm - Citizen's Forum, Room 267

Wednesdy, March 9
     4:00 p.m. - Tour of Homeless Service Providers
     7:00 pm - As time permits, the tour will include a number of facilities which provide services to the homeless, including dinner at the Villages of Hope Haven. Please RSVP to Susan Elkins, 704-336-3403 or selkins@ci.charlotte.nc.us by Monday, March 7, so transportation and dinner arrangements can be finalized.

Friday, March 11 - Tuesday, March 15
NLC Congressional City Conference, Washington, DC

"One-Time" Count Analysis of the Homeless Population in Charlotte
Staff Resource: Stanley Watkins, 704-336-3796

In preparation for your tour of homeless service providers on March 9th Chris Wolf (A Way Home) has provided information on the homeless population based on a "one-time" head count. The attached count analysis was taken on January 26, 2005 and includes a profile of the homeless - 1,661single persons and 361 families for a total of 2,995 individuals. The count represents the number of people that were in the primary homeless shelter facilities, or visibly present on the streets or homeless camps on that date.

Details of the tour will be provided to you next week.

Criminal Activity at Area Hotels and Motels
Staff Resource: Darrel Stephens, 704-336-2360

Recently several Council members have received inquiries regarding criminal activity at area hotels and motels. Over the past few months a workgroup, consisting of representatives from the hospitality industry and CMPD personnel, has been looking at this issue and has developed six specific action steps to address the problem. Officers in the North Division have worked with hotels/motels in the University area, using many of the components of a proposed Crime Free Hotel/Motel Program. Their work with managers of 17 University area hotels/motels resulted in a 53.11 decrease in larcenies from vehicle in 2004.

The number of reported criminal incidents at area hotels/motels in each of the 12 patrol divisions for the last two years is as follows:

Division	2003	2004	2004 vs. 2003
Steele Creek	594	773	+30.1%
Westover	99	150	+51.5%
Freedom	367	448	+22.1%
Providence	87	92	+5.7%
South	60	62	+3.3%
Independence*	8	7	-12.5%
North	348	329	-5.5%
Eastway	18	14	-22.5%
Hickory Grove	59	43	-27.1%
Central	316	306	-3.2%
Metro	60	74	+23.3%
North Tryon	108	153	+41.7%
*Note: Figures for the Independence Division include only larceny from vehicles

Overall, there was a 15.5% increase in reported offenses at hotels/ motels in 2004 over the previous year. A number of the patrol divisions have included hotels/motels with significant crime problems in their area hotspots and are implementing strategies to reduce offenses, especially vehicle theft and larceny from vehicle, at those properties.

Officers from each of the twelve patrol divisions are conducting security surveys of the hotels/motels in their area of responsibility. Crime prevention leaflets with an explanation of CMPD's use of telephone and on-line reporting for larceny from vehicles are being distributed to hotel/motel guests upon check in. Many hotel/motel properties are erecting CMPD signs that remind guests not to leave their belongings in their vehicles.

By April or May, officers will have completed security evaluations of hotel/motel properties and made recommendations on making those properties less susceptible to crime. CMPD officers are working with hotels/motels in their assigned areas to gain voluntary compliance with the Crime Free Hotel/Motel Program. The department is also considering recommending a City ordinance to make participation in the program mandatory.

Attached is a copy of a memo that provides additional detail on the recommendations made by the Hotel/Motel Work Group.

Medical Control Board Meeting
Staff Resource: Luther Fincher, 704-336-2791

On January 24, Council directed the City Manager to discuss with the County Manager the appropriate next steps regarding Chief Fincher's proposal to increase first responder services provided by CFD. The City Manager and County Manager met and agreed to have relevant City and County staff present information to Medical Control Board (MBC) and Council's Community Safety Committee.

On February 25, Chief Fincher made a presentation to the MBC. Following the Chief's presentation, the MBC appointed a subcommittee to evaluate the Chief's recommendations with a deadline to report back on May 13.

Medical Director Tom Blackwell and/or MEDIC Executive Director Joe Penner will be invited to attend the March 23 Community Safety Committee.

SBE Utilization Report - Second Quarter FY 05
Staff Resource: Tiffany Capers, 704-336-3862

Attached is the SBE Utilization Report for the second quarter of FY2005. The report will also be distributed to SBE and M/WBE firms as well as posted to the Economic Development/Small Business Development Program website.

Highlights from the report:
     - The City's FY05 SBE Utilization Goal for informal purchases is 7%; the City achieved 7.74% SBE utilization for informal purchases.
     - Through the first two quarters of FY05, the City has spent $3.7 million with SBEs on informal procurements. 
     -  Of the 24 reporting KBUs and divisions,17 met their SBE Utilization Goal for informal purchases; 10 KBUs/divisions met their goals for first quarter FY05. 
     - Through December 2004, projected SBE participation on the Arena totals $19.98 million (14.7%). 
     - The City spent $11.37 million with M/WBE firms for informal and formal purchases during the second quarter, 50% of which was spent with non-minority female-owned firms (WBE). 
     - Analysis of subcontractor utilization for the second quarter indicates that there was disparity for Asian American firms. More strategic outreach to Asian American firms is under development. Staff is working with the Mayor's International Cabinet and the Asian Chamber of Commerce. 
     - Through the first two quarters of FY05, spending with African American owned firms, Non-Minority Women owned firms and Hispanic-American owned firms exceeded the highest amounts spent with these business owners for all of 2000.

Registered Vendor Purchases Increasing
The first quarter report indicated that 77% of informal purchases (and 65% of all purchases) were made with unregistered vendors. Through the collaborative efforts of a cross-KBU team and the efforts of Procurement Services and SBDP staff, the City significantly increased the number of registered vendors. As a result, the second quarter report shows that 34% of informal purchases (and 24% of all purchases) were made with unregistered vendors. Small Business Development Compliance Specialists will be working with KBUs to register remaining vendors.

New Charlotte Arena Safety Record
Staff Resource: Jim Schumacher, 704-336-3656

On Tuesday, March 1 and Wednesday, March 2, WBTV news ran two stories which alluded that the Arena construction site is unsafe for workers. Tuesday's story coincided with an unannounced visit from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). While the report on that visit has not been issued by OSHA, staff wants to make sure that Council understands that the Arena site has an excellent safety record.

Engineering and Property Management and Hunt Construction Group have numerous safety policies and inspection practices in place. Here are examples of these and their results:
     -  The City has purchased a job specific insurance policy through Marsh and AIG. A safety inspection is performed each month by AIG. From that inspection, a report is generated. This report includes an overall safety score, a list of incidents for the previous month, and recommendations to make the job safer. AIG has consistently scored our project at 90% or higher from July 2003 to January 2005.
     -  Hunt Construction has a full-time safety coordinator on-site. This person walks the site every day to ensure that workers are performing their tasks safely.
     -  Each week, Hunt Construction and one representative from each of their subcontractors meet to discuss upcoming work and how that work will be performed safely.
     -  Through the end of February 2005, Hunt Construction had tracked over 1,000,000 man-hours on the project and only 7 lost-time accidents. Currently, there are over 700 workers on site.
     -  Each quarter, representatives of Marsh, Hunt Construction, Insurance & Risk Management, and Engineering & Property Management meet to discuss the safety record of the project, review the number of accidents to date, and to project the dollar amount Marsh expects to pay in insurance claims. Through January 2005, we have paid

$16,000,000 in direct labor costs. Of this, Marsh projects we have the potential to pay about $69,000 in claims. Marsh representatives consider this to be an exceptionally low claim rate.

Staff believes that the safety record for the Arena site is exceptional. The City, Hunt, and their subcontractors all take jobsite safety very seriously and the results can be shown in the statistics above.