President Frank Perez opened the virtual meeting of the Centerville Rotary Club and welcomed everyone on Zoom. Frank Perez led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and PDG Harvey Smith led us in prayer today.

 

President Frank noted the Covid news this week is positive, and we all hope it keeps going that way.

John Callander memorial update - Information is on the Baker-Hazel & Snider website. The memorial service is on hold until travel from the UK opens up, so his son can come to the states. Contributions can be made to the Wright “B” Flyer or Centerville Rotary. Here is a link to the obituary:  https://www.bakerhazelsnider.com/memorials/john-callander/4545384/

 

Carol Kennard updated on the 50th Anniversary committee work. They have been reviewing the submitted ideas for a project to sponsor. The committee will present their recommendation to the Rotary Board in March and then share details with the club after getting the Board’s support.

 

Frank Perez reported on the Golf Outing - we need golfers! Lots of good sponsors coming in already but really need to get golfers to sign up. Carol sent the golf flyer and the sponsorship flyer to the club to share with others.

 

Sofie Ameloot asked for clarification about Golf Outing on Facebook. Rebecca said to share FB posts. If it’s an ad that shows up on your feed, don’t click on that and share, as it costs us every time someone shares the ad. She will be clear with posts that are to be shared.

 

Rebecca Quiñones thanked everyone who contributed to the Interact National Women’s Day project coordinated by her daughter, Sofia. They collected $200 and will kick off the project next Monday.

 

 

 

Pat Beckel gave $40 announcing he is happy to have Rebecca Quiñones working at his office now,  handling the commercial business portion; also announced a new downtown Centerville business called Beckel Humidor - pipes, high end cigars, drinks, deck outside, food delivered to deck and upstairs private club with 24-7 access, deck overlooking uptown, business center, conference room, full kitchen, poker, dart boards, TV; and his son just did a modeling shoot with Eli Lily and auditioned for new Adam Sandler movie.

Rebecca Quiñones gave $10 for this beautiful day and was excited to share that her daughter Sofia and Sofie Ameloot’s daughter, Delphine made the varsity lacrosse team.

Carol Kennard gave $10 as she is happy to be getting her first COVID shot tomorrow.

Chuck King gave $20 as he got his second shot last week, and only felt like he had a bad hangover the next day

Ron Hollenbeck gave $20 noting he had the opportunity to ride in the Wright “B” Flyer once with John Callander. Also, Ron’s wife got shower caps in the mail and offered to share the flowered one with him.

 

Elda Gotos-Gay gave $20 as she was happy for Pat Beckel and Rebecca Quiñones.

Sofie Ameloot gave $10 for the girls making the lacrosse team, glad to see Jim  Stuart at meeting again, and IMO John Callander.

Frank Perez gave $10 and an apology to Brian Hayes for overlooking him in selecting someone to give the prayer today, plus $10 for seeing Jim Stuart and Don Gerhardt at the meeting.

 

 

 

Sheriff Streck started by explaining they also provide police services to Washington Township. It is a great working relationship, providing all trustees, administrator and residents control of what they want in their police department. Sheriff Streck said he previously worked in Washington Township and loved it here. Every February deputies bid for watch and areas to work and Washington Township is always a popular area.

 

The Sheriff mentioned we are still struggling with the mental health crisis, and covid didn’t help. There was a 42% increase in calls for mental health related service last year, which is the same as other police departments in the area. When family and friends have done all they can, they call the police who take them to the hospital - can involuntary admit for up to 72 hours. Hospitals don’t like keeping someone against their will. Often times the doctor releases them quickly. The next step is the county jail - where most mental health crisis folks end up.

 

Montgomery County formed an Alcohol Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS), where the Sheriff’s Office partners for mental health services. Deputies are trained on crisis intervention and a trained counselor who has access to services responds to calls with the deputy.  https://www.mcadamhs.org/index.php

 

Sheriff Streck told the story of one individual who was booked into jail 85 times between 2017-19. In 2020 he moved to an area where this service is in place, and hasn’t been in jail since.

 

In Washington Township from July 1, 2020 to January 1, 2021, there were 98 calls for service, yet only 4 had to be charged with a crime and incarcerated.

 

Sheriff Streck then gave an update on body cameras in the county. He was involved on a police reform committee who recommended all police departments have them. Montgomery County was able to purchase for all deputies, including Washington Township deputies. This is a project that both deputies and the public support. It is an expensive project, but all 270 deputies will have their own camera.

 

Regarding community outreach, Sheriff Streck said Covid has restricted community events, but they are hoping to get back out in the community when possible. Police/community relationships are best face to face.

 

Unemployment fraud is outrageous right now. His wife received an unemployment card (she doesn’t work outside the home), and luckily they recognized the fraud. He said thousands are occurring every day. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is the only agency able to respond to this issue and they are overwhelmed. If you have concerns about identity breech, freeze your credit and check credit. Probably all of us have been involved in a business breech somewhere so his tips are:

Don’t share personal info for anything you didn’t expect

Don’t carry your birth certificate or Social Security card on you

Don’t do personal business on public wifi — only on a secure network you can trust.

 

Most times, there is nothing they can do to recover your stolen money. Most are occurring from other countries where they have no authority and tracking the IP addresses is impossible.

 

Mental health got us in the opiate crisis. Overdose deaths in 2017 were 566; 259 deaths in 2015; 322 deaths in 2020. We are still fighting addictions and drug cartels mixing and distributing drugs.

 

A jail needs study is underway in Montgomery County - they are not looking to increase taxes but finding other ways to modernize the jail. The issues come from overcrowding and people who believe we shouldn’t incarcerate anyone. In 2008, there were 1350 per day and now only 750 per day, but the jail is still not big enough to handle the current needs.

 

Sheriff Streck answered that they are able to get services to repeat callers as much as possible. The new program was proactive initially, trying to get services to those known people first. He said we could really use a crisis-intervention center in Montgomery County - a place to take someone who’s having a substance abuse or mental health crisis instead of to jail. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the works currently.

 

 

President Frank thanked Sheriff Streck and led the group in reciting the Rotary 4-Way Test. Next week’s speaker will be Brian O. Martin, with the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission.