Message from the Police Chief
For those of you who don't read the Police Chief's blog, I wanted to share his very eloquent and heartfelt entry from Saturday:
By now I am sure you have all heard that the MPOA has rejected the latest offer from the City Manager. To say the least, I am disappointed, and a bit confused. It was no small task for me to convince the City Manager to agree to this offer. It was based on everything the Association's elected officers said was important; no old money, no additional payment toward your PERS, protections for the future contract, and a end to the all-or-nothing position. Members of your board said in a open Council meeting that if the City could show that paying additional PERS would cost the members about $100 a month they would present it to the members for a vote. The City provided a payroll actuarial for every member of the Association but they were not provided to the members. Members of the board and of the Association said to the newspaper and in the blogs that it was not about the COLAs and that they would willingly give those up to get back their partners. I brought this offer to members of your board over three weeks ago so that your Association lawyer could draft the language that best protected your members, but that was never done so, at my request, the Personnel Director drafted language as a starting point so you would have something to discuss. Instead, the action of the Association was to decide not to discuss it, let alone take a vote on it. I respect that this is your right. It was just disheartening to discover that apparently I was the only one still working to get our partners back to work.
Having said that, the decision has been made and from here we move on. I am confident that all of our brothers who have been laid off will find other jobs. I have been working with the Sheriff's Department, Lodi, and San Mateo Police Department's to find them positions. I am sure they will all land on their feet.
The financial problems that are impacting Manteca are not restricted to just us. At the County Chief's meeting this week we discussed the impacts on the other agencies in the county. Here are some of those reports:San Joaquin County DA's office will be laying off 8 prosecutors. Four will be rehired and assigned exclusively to environmental crimes. This will eliminate almost all misdemeanor prosecution other than DUI and domestic violence in the Stockton office. Outlying courts like Manteca will have more ability to address lower level crimes.
Stockton Police Department has reduced its total staff from 799 employees to 558 including the elimination of 80 vacant sworn positions. They will be eliminating most bicycle and park patrol, community policing teams, and reducing the size of the narcotics and street crimes units. Probation Department will be closing down the Crossroads Center and all prevention and intervention programs.
Tracy PD, despite the fact the City has over $20 million in reserves, will be eliminating 20 positions from the Police Department. This includes the elimination of the Deputy Chief and Captain ranks and the demotion of two Sergeants. Ripon's general fund budget is $1.5 million underfunded. Their City Manger has proposed the layoff of 5 sworn officers and 5 from parks and rec. We are in uncharted territory when it comes to providing and paying for government services for the public.
Manteca has taken steps to try to minimize future impacts to our ability to do so. At this point we all need to pull together to provide the best service we can for the people we have all worn to protect and serve.
By now I am sure you have all heard that the MPOA has rejected the latest offer from the City Manager. To say the least, I am disappointed, and a bit confused. It was no small task for me to convince the City Manager to agree to this offer. It was based on everything the Association's elected officers said was important; no old money, no additional payment toward your PERS, protections for the future contract, and a end to the all-or-nothing position. Members of your board said in a open Council meeting that if the City could show that paying additional PERS would cost the members about $100 a month they would present it to the members for a vote. The City provided a payroll actuarial for every member of the Association but they were not provided to the members. Members of the board and of the Association said to the newspaper and in the blogs that it was not about the COLAs and that they would willingly give those up to get back their partners. I brought this offer to members of your board over three weeks ago so that your Association lawyer could draft the language that best protected your members, but that was never done so, at my request, the Personnel Director drafted language as a starting point so you would have something to discuss. Instead, the action of the Association was to decide not to discuss it, let alone take a vote on it. I respect that this is your right. It was just disheartening to discover that apparently I was the only one still working to get our partners back to work.
Having said that, the decision has been made and from here we move on. I am confident that all of our brothers who have been laid off will find other jobs. I have been working with the Sheriff's Department, Lodi, and San Mateo Police Department's to find them positions. I am sure they will all land on their feet.
The financial problems that are impacting Manteca are not restricted to just us. At the County Chief's meeting this week we discussed the impacts on the other agencies in the county. Here are some of those reports:San Joaquin County DA's office will be laying off 8 prosecutors. Four will be rehired and assigned exclusively to environmental crimes. This will eliminate almost all misdemeanor prosecution other than DUI and domestic violence in the Stockton office. Outlying courts like Manteca will have more ability to address lower level crimes.
Stockton Police Department has reduced its total staff from 799 employees to 558 including the elimination of 80 vacant sworn positions. They will be eliminating most bicycle and park patrol, community policing teams, and reducing the size of the narcotics and street crimes units. Probation Department will be closing down the Crossroads Center and all prevention and intervention programs.
Tracy PD, despite the fact the City has over $20 million in reserves, will be eliminating 20 positions from the Police Department. This includes the elimination of the Deputy Chief and Captain ranks and the demotion of two Sergeants. Ripon's general fund budget is $1.5 million underfunded. Their City Manger has proposed the layoff of 5 sworn officers and 5 from parks and rec. We are in uncharted territory when it comes to providing and paying for government services for the public.
Manteca has taken steps to try to minimize future impacts to our ability to do so. At this point we all need to pull together to provide the best service we can for the people we have all worn to protect and serve.
Labels: Labor
posted by City Manager @ 7:51 AM
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