The City Council has authorized the acquisition of more Tasers as a non-lethal method to bring suspected lawbreakers under control when they won’t cooperate with police.
That was a decision reached during the Thursday, July 23, council session that also saw the approval of an official bank for the city based not in Taylor but Hutto and adding more residents to a development advisory committee.
Police to get more Tasers
The council Thursday approved an expenditure with Axon Taser of nearly $44,000 to add more of the devices to the force.
Tasers fire darts that deliver an electrical charge to incapacitate a non-compliant person, rather than using a more lethal firearm to stop someone.
The city originally approved the current Axon Taser contract in September 2022, at a cost of $12,973 year.
The amended contract will upgrade Taylor’s Taser units to the latest technology, which proponents said are more accurate and have greater effectiveness.
The Taylor Police Department has enough Tasers for officers on routine patrol, but during special events many officers have empty Taser holsters, according to Support Services Commander Joseph Branson.
Branson requested an increase from 12 to 31 Tasers.
“This is the primary less-lethal weapon for your Police Department. It provides officers with an alternative to other weapons that can cause more serious injury,” Branson said.
Not everyone was happy.
Community advocate Carrie D’Anna said she was concerned adding more Tasers would also increase their usage, becoming an officer’s go-to non-lethal response instead of other methods of de-escalation.
She was particularly apprehensive about officers resorting to Tasers when dealing with mental-health situations.
“Less lethal is not non-lethal,” D’Anna said.
Branson said officers do not use their Tasers often, but he did not have statistics readily available.
City approves a new bank
The Regions Bank-Hutto branch, 500 U.S. 79 West, was selected by the city as its official financial institution, beating four Taylor branches to win a five-year contract.
Citizens National Bank, Frontier Bank, Huntington Bank, PNC Bank and Regions Bank all scored at least 90 out of 100 points on the city’s evaluation criteria, with Regions outpacing the Taylor banks by three points.
“All five banks were very aggressive in their proposals, and I mean that in a very good way in terms of the pricing and the effort they put forward in their proposals. No one bank was the front runner in every category, that’s how competitive it was,” Chief Financial Officer Robert Powers told the council.
Shelli Cobb was the sole council member voting against approval of the contract with Regions Bank.
She said that as a former teacher and coach, she never saw out-of-town banks supporting local sports and youth events.
“A local bank invests in the community in those ways, so to go outside of the Taylor institution concerns me a little bit,” she said. “(The) city of Taylor should probably have a local bank.”
State law requires cities to rebid their bank depository services every five years. PNC Bank, formerly BBVA Bank, won the last contract in 2021.
In March, the council gave Powers approval to extend the search for a new bank outside city limits, to include banks within 10 miles of City Hall.
Norman Witcher, Regions Bank commercial banking relationship manager, said the bank will work to become part of Taylor’s community and be involved with local non-profit agencies.
Regions, which is based in Alabama and has eight branches in Central Texas, is in “expansion mode,” Witcher said.
Members added to advisory committee
Some community members expressed the sentiment “more is not enough” after the council added two members from both District 1 and District 2 to the Comprehensive Plan and Development Code Advisory Committee.
The committee is intended to represent diverse community perspectives during the planning process for new development measures; the latest appointments arose out of complaints representation did not reflect the city’s demographics.
“The committee’s work will support the development of a long-range vision and policy framework for land use, transportation, housing, economic development, parks, utilities and community character,” according to an official description.
Community advocates noted at a previous council meeting there was no representation on the nine-member panel from either districts 1 or 2, while there are at least four members from District 3.
“The deck is stacked for District 3. Even though you’re making a step in the right direction, you’ve got to go further,” resident Scott Gibbs told council after they voted to add two members from each of the omitted districts.
Cobb, who represents District 2, and Greg Redden representing District 1, both nominated committee members based on other criteria than district residence.
Thursday’s council vote added Brian Heeke and Joseph Salazar from District 1 and Christopher Gonzales and Gerry Sutton from District 2.
Original appointees include former Mayor Dwayne Ariola, Ben Fuentes, Julie Downs, Chuck Farr, Karen Saverse, Mike Aplin, David Downs, Keith Hagler, Buddy Michna and Tyler Turner.
Community members voiced concerns that adding only two each from the previously unrepresented districts was just a token gesture.
“If your vote is easily outweighed by everyone else there, what’s the point?” asked Sarah Winters.
Councilwoman Heather Long prompted an outcry from the audience when she related the public’s interest in equity among districts to “The Hunger Games,” a post-apocalyptic book series and movie in which combatants from different regions are pitted against one another in a brutal contest for survival.
“It is a horrible analogy, but I'm not going to apologize for it, I said it. But you're wanting us to choose committee members based upon their district, which is divisive in nature,” Long told the audience.
