City Hosts Second Meeting With Hispanic Advisory Group
The City of Dalton hosted a second meeting with leaders from the Hispanic business community this week in hopes of continuing momentum built at a first meeting with the group in February. City leaders hope the group will become a standing advisory group to the City Council similar to the other boards and commissions which help to guide the City.
At right: City administrator Andrew Parker welcomes participants at the second meeting of the Hispanic Advisory Group
City leaders hope that members of group will not only eventually form a formal city board but also will volunteer to serve on existing boards or commissions. For that reason, the kickoff meetings are being designed to give a lot of background information so participants can find areas they're interested or passionate about so they can get involved. Thursday morning's meeting featured presentations on the operation of the Dalton Police Department and Dalton Fire Department. Both agencies are overseen by the Public Safety Commission, a review and oversight board of five civilian citizen representatives.
Assistant Chief Chris Crossen gave a presentation on the police department. The agency is among the few to be both state certified and also accredited internationally by CALEA. Both of those distinctions require the agency to adhere to best practice standards and to be reviewed by independent auditors to prove that the agency is operating in compliance with those standards. Assistant Chief Crossen noted that police reforms being asked for around the country already happened in Dalton many years ago thanks in part to that process.
Dalton Fire Chief Todd Pangle gave an overview of his agency, with details about staffing and equipment as well as the cutting edge training his firefighters receive annually. The fire department is currently rated as an ISO 2 agency, the second highest rating given to fire departments by the Insurance Services Office. That means Dalton residents can enjoy lower property insurance rates thanks to the excellence of the local fire service. After an accreditation review the departmnet is currently taking part in, fire officials hope that rating will improve to ISO 1.
City Councilmember Annalee Harlan also spoke to the 25 to 30 meeting participants Thursday after being unable to attend the kickoff meeting. She echoed Mayor Pennington's comments from that first meeting, hoping to see the City's Hispanic residents get more involved with local government and for the entire community to come together as one Dalton.
Another meeting of the group is scheduled next month.
Below: Zab Mendez, Councilmember Harlan, Assistant Police Chief Chris Crossen, and Fire Chief Todd Pangle speak to the group
