(A) Establishment and meetings.
(1) The City Substance Abuse Task Force is hereby established to foster the health and well- being of the citizens of the city by coordinating efforts to establish and strengthen programs to reduce and prevent substance abuse in the community.
(2) The Task Force shall endeavor to meet regularly at least once per month to conduct business; convening a minimum of at least nine meetings per year. The date, time and place of the public meetings shall be determined by the Task Force. Special meetings may be held if necessary. The City Clerk shall give notice of all Task Force meetings as required for meetings of public bodies
(B) General provisions. The Chairperson shall utilize Robert’s Rules of Order to govern the conduct of the meetings insofar as practical. A majority of the voting members of the Task Force shall constitute a quorum. The affirmative vote of a majority of the voting members present at a meeting shall be required for passage of any matter before the Task Force. The minutes of the meetings shall reflect the ayes and nays cast on a particular measure and shall reflect the vote of each member present. A member may abstain from voting only upon a declaration of a conflict of interest, in which case the member shall not vote on the issue presented. The Substance Abuse Task Force shall comply with the open meeting and public records laws of the state.
(C) Membership and selection. The Substance Abuse Task Force shall consist of seven voting members, all of whom shall be appointed by Council. The term of office of each member shall be four years, except that the term of a person appointed to fill a vacancy shall be for the unexpired term. Three of the seven members shall be appointed to an initial term of two years in order to stagger the terms of the Task Force members. A Council member appointed by the Mayor may serve as Chair and Council Liaison with no voting privilege.
(D) Chairperson. The Substance Abuse Task Force shall elect from its members a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson to serve a term of one year. No person shall serve more than two consecutive one-year terms as Chairperson of a particular board or commission. Vacancies in any office shall be filled by election for the unexpired term.
(E) Member attendance at meetings, compensation and reimbursement. Unexcused failure of any member of the Substance Abuse Task Force to attend three consecutive meetings, or 75% of the meetings of the Task Force in one year, shall be considered cause for removal from the Task Force. Removal shall occur by majority action of the Council. The Substance Abuse Task Force Chairperson shall have authority to excuse absences; provided, however, that any Task Force member may request members to vote on the question of whether one or more absences should be excused. Substance Abuse Task Force members shall not receive compensation for their services but shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary traveling and incidental expenses, when the expenses have been authorized by the Task Force before they are incurred. Expenses shall be approved and audited by the Task Force and paid in the same manner as other expenses.
(F) Coordination with volunteers. The Substance Abuse Task Force shall coordinate with a variety of sources in the community such as businesses, community based health care providers, neighborhood associations, parents, schools, youth, civic and faith-based organizations and non-profit entities to create a pool of volunteers to assist the Task Force with the implementation of the Task Force’s stated purpose and agenda.
(G) Powers and duties. The Substance Abuse Task Force shall:
(1) Gather and evaluate information concerning existing and potential alcohol or drug issues in the community that affect the health and well-being of citizens;
(2) Gather information concerning existing programs designed to effectuate community alcohol and drug abuse prevention in the community and using this information, create prevention programs based on the needs of the community;
(3) Coordinate with other agencies, both public and private, in the assessment, development and implementation of programs for alcohol and drug abuse education or prevention;
(4) Utilize information gathered, set goals, perform tasks and disseminates information and make recommendations to the Mayor and City Council, the public and law enforcement agencies operating within the city;
(5) Submit a monthly report, which may be in the form of minutes of meetings or any other report the Task Force deems necessary, to the Mayor and City Council, of the activities, funding and other possible discussions or actions;
(6) Investigate sources of funding and submit grant proposals;
(7) Gather quarterly or yearly statistics from the police, fire, hospital emergency room, on the numbers of substance abuse arrests, transports to hospital, treatment and admits; and
(8) Comply with the city’s procurement policy. Funding of projects over $10,000 shall be approved by Council.
(H) Substance Abuse Fund.
(1) There is established a Substance Abuse Fund consisting of monies collected pursuant to division (I) below.
(2) The City Substance Abuse Task Force shall, as necessary, allocate monies received into the Fund to itself and local organizations for the purpose of education, creating prevention or treatment projects and programs, or enhancing existing projects and programs designed to prevent or treat substance abuse. The Task Force may adopt rules for said allocation.
(3) The process of allocating funds to itself each year shall include submitting a budget to the City Manager on a date determined by the City Manager for the following fiscal year. The Task Force budget will dictate how the substance abuse funds may be spent for the following fiscal year.
(I) Assessments; Fund deposits.
(1) In addition to any other penalty assessment provided by law, there shall be levied a penalty assessment in an amount of 10% on every fine, penalty and forfeiture imposed and collected by the Municipal Court for criminal offenses and any civil sanction imposed and collected for:
(a) A civil traffic violation and fine, penalty or forfeiture for a violation of A.R.S. Title 4, Alcoholic Beverage; A.R.S. Title 13, Chapter 34, Drug Offenses;
(b) A.R.S. Title 13, Chapter 34.1, Imitation Substance or Drug Offenses; and
(c) A.R.S. Title 28, Chapter 4, Article 1 et seq., Driving While Intoxicated (excluding reckless driving) and § 93.01. If multiple offenses are involved, the penalty assessment shall be based upon the total civil sanction, fine, bail or bond for all offenses.
(2) If a fine or civil sanction is suspended in whole or in part, the penalty assessment shall be reduced in proportion to the suspension.
(3) If any deposit of bail or bond or deposit for an alleged traffic violation is to be made for a violation, the Municipal Court shall require a sufficient amount to include the assessment prescribed in this section for forfeited bail or bond or deposit. If bail or bond or deposit is forfeited, the amount of such assessment shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the Court to the City Treasurer pursuant to division (E) above. If bail or bond or deposit is returned, the assessment made pursuant to the article shall also be returned.
(4) The Magistrate may waive all or any part of the penalty assessment the payment of which would work a hardship on the person convicted or adjudicated or on his or her immediate family.
(5) After a determination by the Court of the amount due, the Clerk of the Court shall transmit, on the last day of each month, the assessments collected pursuant to divisions (A) and (B) above and an itemized statement of the fines, civil sanctions and assessments collected pursuant to divisions (I)(1) and (I)(2) above to the City Treasurer.
(1976 Code, § 15-3-1) (Ord. 676-20, passed 9-9-2020)