An editorial by Elaine Larsen, Editor and Publisher of the Pacifica Tribune.
Pacifica Tribune/Elaine Larsen 2/28/12, "Keep Pacifica Police Department intact"
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I know the kinds of calls these folks in blue get daily. And they respond to every single call, whether it's about a barking dog, an RV sticking out too far, or an abandoned car junking up the neighborhood. Most of it is not serious crime -- not by a long shot -- but they are issues that folks in the community feel are important, issues that need resolution. This makes them feel they are part of a community with a police department that cares about their problems, both large and small.
I can tell you this: I've been
doing this job long enough to know, without doubt, that Pacifica Police
officers live up to their end of the bargain in providing the
department's long tradition of community service. I'm not saying
the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department or the Daly City Police
Department, or whomever we outsource to, would not do their best. But I
believe it would not be the same as having our own local police force. As several former City Council members used to tell me, police and fire departments are the heart of any municipality. So if you start dismantling those departments, you basically dismantle the city. 
I've reminded you all recently that the Pacifica Tribune's late publisher emeritus Bill Drake, one of those who single-handedly helped build this community when he took over ownership of the Tribune in the late 1950s, would have wanted me to step up and speak out. He was strongly in favor of incorporation in 1959, just two years after he bought the Tribune, knowing that this collection of separate districts needed to pull together as a real town in defense of outside municipalities that would do what they wanted with us otherwise.
I know I speak for Bill when I say to the City Council, Financing City Services Task Force, and community members who think this is a quick fix: Don't outsource your community to other cities for short-term financial relief. Think of the long term. Once you give up local control and authority, you give up your future. I stand by the Bill Drake Tribune tradition. Let's keep our Pacifica Police Department intact.
Editor's Note: John Maybury copyedited this op-ed and he agrees with it."
Posted by Kathy Meeh
10 comments:
Very good article Elaine. I'm still up in the air about this. I'd like to see some real numbers on it before I make up my mind.
Really nice editorial Elaine and this longtime resident is glad you're speaking up on important issues. No denying that emergency services are a big part of what makes us a city but today cities have to evolve to fit their reduced circumstances. Do we accept a different provider of emergency services at possibly a much lower cost or do we cut programs and safety nets for the poor, the elderly, kids? Something's got to give. Nostalgia and denial won't pay the bills and the public is just about tapped out.
we can't afford it - get rid of them, our services will remain the same. there will of course be an adjustment period, but in time, the sheriff will learn where to sit around and wait for people to make illegal left turns and speed as our current officers do at night - because they have so much to do here! WE DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY - I'd rather keep the other services intact, and some officers will be hired by the county (most likely).
All I hear are catch phrases like "Save our police". We're missing the bigger picture here. We don't have any contractual information from the sheriff. Are we afraid of losing our police or are we afraid of losing our blue uniforms? Millbrae, HMB, and San Carlos street cops we're all offered positions on their own streets with the sheriff as I understand. We go from blue uni's to brown. Oh, and we get to continue taking care of our own, meaning, library, resource center, PBR. We need to have some contractual language to compare. Remember, fine citizens, it has never, NEVER, been stated that if we pass a tax the cops stay. Chair of the financing city services committee, Bruce Banco, has emphatically stated that even with a tax there is no guarantee that the police are not contracted to sheriff anyway. We can't make anything near an intelligent decision without good numbers from the sheriff. Come on council, quit stalling. We should have had those numbers before any of this debate took place. Anyone who pays any attention saw this coming last year. Get to work!
Council sure dropped the ball on this thing. If the savings are as hefty as those found by other cities, the outsourcing idea could have sold itself. Either Council has simply been incompetent or they were working a different agenda...you know, the one where we get to pay more taxes. Either way, a really dumb move.
So now, we get to fight about it and waste even more money waiting for a proposal that could have been drawn up 6 months ago. The handwriting on the wall back then said the same thing it does now...
Pacifica, you are broke and you will have to make some sacrifices. What'll it be, community programs and safety nets or the same cops in different uniforms?
Watcher you are so right. There's never been a big picute that Pacifica couldn't miss. Particularly when distracted by cheer-leading cops in uniform and their families and friends cartwheeling through the streets with petitions and Big Bad Sheriff stories. Since the patrol officers will do just fine in a transition to the county I guess we must thank the senior PD for their exemplary and selfless public service in driving the misinformation and fear-mongering in this matter.
Council had the numbers from the Sheriff Dept. since the 14th of February. You decide what's going on.
Anon 3:40pm
Councilman, Why are you not going after the Administrative Staff of our City that has not made any concessions like our Labor force has. It should work as a two way street??
Lot's of talk, no action.
Anon 10:32 Did some union honcho coach you to use the word Labor in every post in this traditionally blue-collar town? That figures. Trying to turn this town's fight for survival into a Labor vs. Mgmt issue is loathsome. Keep it up and you'll have more people hoping none of you keep your jobs. Have a good day, officer.
ANON OFFICER@1032 You must be talking about Rhodes and Ritzma since they are not represented by a
union. I think both have made concessions in cafeteria cash and other perks--just like the union members. Have they taken an actual real current salary cut? I don't know. Have you?
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