In their presentation, Michelle and Jeff will elaborate on their advocacy and on the work of the Lancaster Bail Fund.
Earlier this year, the ACLU-PA filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Lancaster County, alleging unconstitutional bail practices. Advocates for bail reform, Michelle Batt and Jeff Hawkes, while welcoming the ACLU’s action, regret that it’s necessary. For the past year they, and others, have been urging county officials to adopt practices to assure that no one sits in jail simply because they can’t afford their bail.
Last year, 69% of the people incarcerated in Lancaster County Prison were being detained pretrial. That is about 500 people on any given day, many of whom were jailed because they lacked access to cash. County taxpayers paid over $20 million to incarcerate legally innocent people last year. And this says nothing about the human and societal costs.
Research shows that “pretrial detention can have adverse effects on public safety ... that there is a correlation between the imposition of [cash bail] and … individuals suffering from housing insecurity, unemployment, loss of child custody, and an increased risk of future criminal behavior."
The adoption of more just and humane pretrial incarceration policies would have benefits for taxpayers. At a time when the county is designing a new jail, significant savings can be achieved by planning for a smaller jail population.
Michelle Batt is a local attorney with a decade of experience in criminal law. Last year, she left her position as Senior Assistant Public Defender with the Lancaster County office and helped found the Lancaster Bail Fund. She's currently employed as a staff attorney with Church World Service. She serves as the president of the Lancaster Bail Fund.
Jeff Hawkes retired last year after a 42-year career as a reporter and columnist with LNP. In retirement, he continues to engage with the community as an advocate for racial justice and criminal justice reform.
As was shared at the meeting last week, Kathy has resigned her position as Executive Director. In evaluating the role, the Board leadership has decided to return this to a part time position with the title of Executive Assistant. Please share the job description below with anyone you think may have interest. It will soon be posted publicly through Indeed. Resumes can be sent to RotaryClubBT23@gmail.com.
Wanted: Executive Assistant at the Rotary Club of Lancaster
The Rotary Club of Lancaster is seeking a detail oriented, self-motivated individual with strong communication skills and a heart for service to be the Executive Assistant for this 165 member organization. Most work will be home based but successful candidate must be available every Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. to support Club meetings and one evening a month to assist with Board meetings. Additional administrative responsibilities include invoicing, record keeping, banking and ongoing communication with Club members. This is a part time hourly position requiring approximately 20 hours/week ($20/hour). Hours are flexible other than the days and times noted above.
New Venue Ideas Wanted
President Russ has asked club members to speak up with ideas for our club venue. We need more members attending live to make using the kitchen at Farm & Home practical since Hess leases the kitchen. Hess needs a minimum of 60 people and of our over 160 members, we don't get 60 attending live. President Russ would like ideas on other venues. Right now, our meal cost is being subsidized by the club. That is not what we want. In any case it looks like we will need to increase the meal cost.
Restructuring Club Committees
The Board of Directors has been working hard to restructure the Club Committees. The new plan will be introduced at the August 24 meeting. We encourage all to attend.
The Dues Invoices have been emailed. They include an increase to $101 quarterly, $202 semi-annually or $404 annually. They may be paid by credit card at meetings. Or they can be made payable and mailed to: Rotary Club of Lancaster; P.O. Box 1387, Lancaster, PA 17608. There are also options to pre-pay for lunch fees. They are for 13 weeks, 26 weeks, or 52 weeks at $16 per week. Any meeting paid and not attended will be donated to the Club. There will be no refunds for this service.
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Rotary Rendezvous meeting August 24
Please join us for Rotary Rendezvous on Wednesday, August 24th, between 5-5:30pm for drinks with dinner to follow. We hope to see you there!
Location- TBA
Thanks, see you there!
- Tom Baum, Kaitlyn Blosser and the Rendezvous Committee
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Power Packs Needs Volunteers
Power Packs is a great program in many local school district that provides a recipe with ingredients for a meal, as well as some staples like cereal, fruits and milk to help support students over weekends. Years ago our club helped financially to get this program up and running. Since then we have been providing volunteers, special request items like crock pots and occasionally funding gifts.
This school year, weekly on Wednesdays we will serve as we pick up prepackaged boxes (the packs) for over 60 families and deliver them to Washington Elementary and Reynolds Middle School. We are looking for volunteers for this school year. It takes about an hour on Wednesdays, but does not overlap our Rotary meeting. Large vehicles like trucks, vans and SUVs are great, but we spit some loads so smaller cars can help as well. We ask for availability and provide a schedule. You do not need to be available every or even most weeks to be an important part of this service. If you would like to learn more, please let the coordinating volunteers, Clint Krushinsky or Amy Lewis, know.
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Refugee Center Needs Career Mentors
Volunteer Career Pathway Mentoring Project
Josh McManness announced the Refugee Center's new Volunteer Career Pathway Mentoring Project. They are looking for volunteers to meet one-on-one with a participant that needs to improve their skills so they can fit into the workplace in a field related to their profession. This includes language skills, licensing, and an orientation to career positions and training available in their profession. They key to this program is to relate to the needs of the participant.
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Lancaster Rotary Regatta
Gil Lyons announced that the Lancaster Rotary Regatta is coming back September 23 to 25. Several sail boats have been lined up. Motor boats are invited to visit. Details will become available. For more information contact Gil.
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Program Ideas
Tom Gemmill is always looking for ideas to add to the list of potential programs. Thanks to those that have come up with ideas. He currently has a list of over twenty five ideas to work on. If you have any ideas, please contact Tom at tomgemmill.tg@gmail.com.
The programs the Lancaster Rotary Club has are truly phenomenal. Kudos to Tom for such great programs and for all of the effort he puts into tracking down and scheduling these speakers and getting their programs summaries, bios and introducers. Great job Tom! We appreciate it.
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Amazon Smile Contributes to Rotary Club of Lancaster
Remember when shopping on line that Amazon donates to Rotary Club of Lancaster Foundation. Shop for great deals at http://smile.amazon.com/ch/23-3053966. There is no additional cost to you. You Shop! Amazon Gives!
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Joys & Concerns
Joy: Christine Sable is glad that the political ads are over.
All Rotarians – especially committee chairs – are encouraged to help keep our new Club Calendar full and updated with the great things that our Club is doing in the community. Please submit any items you would like added to RotaryClubofLancaster@gmail.com. Examples include the schedule of McCaskey Mentoring Sessions, Committee Meetings, Power Packs or Salvation Army Bell Ringing. If it’s happening, let’s get it on the Calendar for all to see! Your help will keep us all updated with what’s going on within the Club AND will showcase our very active Club to the Lancaster Community and to prospective members. The Club Calendar is available atwww.LancasterRotary.org
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