Though I was absent from the last meeting due to being out of town on spring break, I did have a chance to watch the video and read through the materials. The council took action on two significant items as follows:
Authorized the Police Department to apply for a grant from the CA Dept of Justice to participate in the Tobacco Grant Program. This program reimburses the city for funds spent for certain purposes and is funded by Prop 56 in 2016 which increased taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. The purpose of the grant is to support local enforcement efforts to reduce the illegal sale of tobacco products to minors. If this grant is awarded, Clayton will use the funds to hire and maintain a full time police officer that would be responsible for:
- Acting as a school liaison and provide education to students, teachers and school administrators about tobacco laws at the two schools in the City of Clayton (Diablo View Middle School and Mount Diablo Elementary School);
- Providing education to city tobacco retailers to ensure that they understand and comply with state and local tobacco laws;
- Conducting tobacco related enforcement operations targeting locations where minors are likely to be present such as playgrounds, youth sports events, parks, local festivals etc.;
- Conducting minor decoy and shoulder tap operations directed at tobacco retailers, including electronic cigarettes and vaping products;
- Conducting tobacco retailer license inspections;
- Investigation of tobacco related violations;
- Providing community wide education classes through the use of various platforms;
- Using social media platforms to enhance messaging.
