“I came here to address a matter in which has to deal with disabled people and sobriety,” explained Jesse Almodovar to city council March 22.

He said, “After high school, I started going out. And of course, when you see a disabled person walking around in a town, at bars, whatnot, you are going to get calls to your police department about some guy walking on the street not looking normal, I guess you would say.”

“That’s happened a lot, over and over, and constantly, I’ve had to explain I’m sober, just disabled.”

In addressing Police Chief Michelle Kott, Almodovar asked: “I just want to know if there’s maybe a way to implement some type of training to understand the difference in how to know the difference between a disabled person and a drunk person.”

He concluded, “I came here to just ask if there’s anything that you can do. Maybe help your police force understand that just because somebody doesn’t walk like somebody else outside on the street, it doesn’t mean that they are bad. It doesn’t always mean that they are breaking the law.

“Just take the time to talk to them. You don’t always have to stop us to ask for our IDs, or have four or five officers back you up. All we want to do is walk outside.”

After the meeting, Kott spoke to Almodovar privately.

Later, Eric Carr and Robert Lopez were honored for their years of service to the city.

Lopez worked for 36 years with Department of Public Works and thanked those who came to see him receive this honor. Carr was not present to receive his citation.

April 18 is the new date for the public hearing on a zoning ordinance for 119 Technology Drive.

At issue is a request for rezoning from Industrial Redevelopment to Central Business by Serfass Development.

If the zoning change is agreed to by city council, Serfass Development would build a six-story building with 240 apartments.