The Columbia City Council on Monday tabled a plan to pay consultants to conduct a community discussion about the city's police after hours of testimony, most of it opposing the plan.

Council members were considering a $60,320 consulting contract with the Heart of Missouri United Way and New Chapter Consulting for a one- or two-day forum on policing. The contract was proposed after the council passed a resolution earlier this year calling for the city to develop a community engagement process on the Columbia Police Department’s staffing levels, officer safety and morale and community-oriented policing.

Another $10,000 had been proposed to cover event costs, such as speaker fees, but Fourth Ward Councilman Ian Thomas said sponsorship could help cover those costs.

After more than two hours of discussion and public testimony, the council voted 4-2 to table the proposal. Mayor Brian Treece and Fifth Ward Councilman Matt Pitzer voted against tabling the contract, and First Ward Councilman Clyde Ruffin abstained from the vote. The proposal will come back before the council next month.

Judy Hubbard, a community engagement specialist for the city, said citizens most affected by policing and families who have lost loved ones to shootings, stabbings or imprisonment should be brought into the conversation and are not currently listed in the contract.

Hubbard said she and Glenn Cobbins, another community outreach specialist, will bring citizens who could be underrepresented into the process, such as representatives of families and youth. She also advised the council to make the public engagement process longer than a one- or two-day event.

“This problem just didn’t arrive in one day and it’s certainly isn’t going away in one day,” Hubbard said.

The council had not voted on the contract by press time. However, council members in their comments before voting were split on their opinions about the proposal.

Thomas, who wants to see a public discussion about policing, said he was unsure how he would vote Monday after hearing criticism of the contract proposal, but still wants to see a community conversation happen.

"I don't want to leave this unresolved," Thomas said. "We have to catch this momentum."

Mayor Brian Treece said opposition to the contract should be a signal to the council that the contract needs work. He also criticized the process after the contract was not put out to bid.

During public testimony, Mary Ratliff, president of the Columbia chapter of the NAACP, said she doesn’t support putting money toward a public engagement process on the issues listed in the resolution without first addressing racial profiling among police. She said doesn’t believe the United Way has the expertise in racial profiling to address that issue in the proposed process.

The Rev. Molly Housch Gordon with Faith Voices of Columbia said her group is against the proposed contract as presented to the council Monday. Like others who testified, she said the proposal does not adequately represent underserved citizens in the community.

“We firmly believe the city needs to involved in a community conversation of this kind, but we don’t believe the proposal is sufficient” as a one-time event, she said.

A representative with Meinfeld and Associates, a consulting firm that New Chapter will subcontract, said the process will be conducted over months with various interested groups and won’t only culminate to a one- or two-day event.

Dale Roberts, executive director of the Columbia Police Officers’ Association, also spoke against the contract. He said he’s worried that it’s a failed proposal and a “one-size-fits-all solution” to a multitude of issues brought up Monday.

Roberts also objected to $33,000 coming out of the city’s strategic plan budget for consulting costs.

Columbia resident Chip Cooper said he supported the contract. He said while he shared similar feelings with others who testified Monday, he didn’t see anything wrong with starting a community engagement process.

City officials have talked about the need to hire more police officers, with some discussion of using a property tax increase to pay for them. If a thorough public process does not precede a tax ballot question, Cooper said, he will vote against it despite being in favor of adding more officers to Columbia’s force.

“If there’s not a public process as obviously decided, I will be a ‘no’ voter on the ballot issue,” Cooper said. “This is an opportunity to do something very meaningful for our community for years to come. I think this is one of the most important things we’ve ever considered.”

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