"City Management has offered a wide variety of options to help balance the budget." But notably the City Management has omitted the biggest cost saver of all - contracting with the Sheriff for police services. Why does the Council limit its discussion to the proposals "offered" by City Management? We elected the Council to make these decisions - not the City Management. Interesting San Mateo County Grand Jury Report: STRAPPED CITIES THAT HIRED THE SHERIFF…IS IT WORKING? FINDINGS F1. The SO is providing the police services for which the cities of Half Moon Bay, Millbrae, and San Carlos contracted within the cost perimeters of the contracts. F2. Public response to the transition from individual police departments to the SO is positive. F3. No increase in the number of police involved incidences has been reported by the cities due to the transition of policing services to the SO and one city, Millbrae, reports a decrease of 17 per cent in crime. F4. The transition from individual police departments to the SO was incident free with former city personnel generally pleased with the change. F5. The police service contracts between the SO and each of the cities of Half Moon Bay, Millbrae, and San Carlos serve as good models to other cities in the County which operate their own police departments and which are facing budgetary restraints. F6. The trust funds for each city comprised of unallocated funds should be disclosed in financial reports and described in the policing service contracts." The reason why contracting with the Sheriff's Office (SO) saves so much money is economies of scale - each city no longer needs a chief, or police admin, or police training and most of the square footage used by a city owned police department can be eliminated. From the Grand Jury report: "SO Contracts The contracts utilized by all three cities are basically the same. They have a common theme of saving each city thousands of dollars by having the SO perform virtually all policing duties. These savings are gained by having the SO assume responsibility for office expenses, including accounting and personnel, along with pension and medical obligations. The contracts provide for police services at staffing levels determined by the individual city councils, which are commensurate with the cities previous staffing levels. Additional services not set forth in the base contract can be added by the cities to fit their needs by amending the contract. There is a right of termination by either party. Contract costs are adjusted with an anticipated three percent maximum annual increase. The cities retain revenues generated through violations of city ordinances, license fees, inspections, vehicle impounding, and the sale of accident and crime reports. The cities are responsible for the fee collection process. All local ordinances are adhered to. The cities provide office space for the SO at the cities’ cost. The contracts allow for the cities to obtain additional services from the SO for special programs, depending on their individual needs and budget. For example, San Carlos wanted to reduce the number of traffic accidents around schools. A $100,000 contingency fund was created to enable the placement of officers on duty during morning school hours for two weeks. Parents who failed to follow the driving laws were cited thereby establishing a standard for driving near schools in San Carlos. The additional personnel hours were accounted for at the end of the fiscal year. The SO provides support services such as property and evidence management, training, technical services (including 911), records retention, fiscal services such as payroll, and human resource services. The SO sets the standards for performance and conduct and determines where specific personnel will be deployed. An effort is made, however, to assign patrol personnel to areas familiar to them." ********* From a population and demographic standpoint San Carlos (2017 population of 30,499) is very comparable to Menlo Park ( 2017 population 34,357) Per the Grand Jury report here is how much San Carlos spends and saves annually by contracting for police services with the Sheriff: "San Carlos Annual contract = Approx. $7 million Annual savings = Approx. $2 million 1 Captain 5 Sergeants 14 Deputies 4 CSOs 12 Patrol Officers" That is $7 million for 36 FTEs ****** Here is how much Menlo Park currently spends to have its own police force: $22 million for 76 FTE's ********************** Do the residents of Menlo Park need more than twice as many police FTE's at 3X the cost as do the residents of San Carlos? Do the residents of Menlo Park actually get better police services than do the residents of San Carlos? Three times as good? See full report here - and send it to your Menlo Park City Council: Web Link http://www.sanmateocourt.org/documents/grand_jury/2012/policing_services.pdf > Report Objectionable Content Email Town Square Moderator https://www.almanacnews.com/about/contact/mailto.php?e=ts_moderator > Don't miss out on the discussion! Sign up to be notified of new comments on this topic. Email: Post a comment You are currently logged in to Town Square. Please be respectful and truthful in your postings so Town Square will continue to be a thoughtful gathering place for sharing community information and opinion. All postings are subject to our TERMS OF USE https://www.almanacnews.com/about/terms_of_use >, and may be deleted if deemed inappropriate by our staff. Name: * Select your neighborhood or school community: * Not sure? https://www.paloaltoonline.com/neighborhoods/index.php#ath > Neighborhoods - Atherton: Lindenwood - Atherton: Lloyden Park - Atherton: other - Atherton: West Atherton - Atherton: West of Alameda - Menlo Park: Allied Arts/Stanford Park - Menlo Park: Belle Haven - Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park - Menlo Park: Downtown - Menlo Park: Fair Oaks - Menlo Park: Felton Gables - Menlo Park: Linfield Oaks - Menlo Park: Menlo Oaks - Menlo Park: other - Menlo Park: Park Forest - Menlo Park: Sharon Heights - Menlo Park: South of Seminary/Vintage Oaks - Menlo Park: Stanford Hills - Menlo Park: Stanford Weekend Acres - Menlo Park: Suburban Park/Lorelei Manor/Flood Park Triangle - Menlo Park: The Willows - Menlo Park: University Heights - Portola Valley: Brookside Park - Portola Valley: Central Portola Valley - Portola Valley: Ladera - Portola Valley: Los Trancos Woods/Vista Verde - Portola Valley: other - Portola Valley: Portola Valley Ranch - Portola Valley: Westridge - Portola Valley: Woodside Highlands - Woodside: Emerald Hills - Woodside: Family Farm/Hidden Valley - Woodside: Kings Mountain/Skyline - Woodside: Mountain Home Road - Woodside: other - Woodside: Skywood/Skylonda - Woodside: Woodside Glens - Woodside: Woodside Heights - Woodside: Woodside Hills Schools - Belle Haven Elementary - Corte Madera School - Encinal School - Hillview Middle School - James Flood Magnet School - La Entrada School - Las Lomitas School - Laurel School - Menlo-Atherton High School - Oak Knoll School - Ormondale School - Willow Oaks Elementary - Woodside High School - Woodside School Other - another community Comment: * TOP BLOGS https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs > Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan are giving $100,000 to each of their eight favorite restaurants https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2020/05/11/mark-zuckerberg-and-priscilla-chan-are-giving-100000-to-eight-of-their-favorite-restaurants > By Elena Kadvany | 79 comments https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2020/05/11/mark-zuckerberg-and-priscilla-chan-are-giving-100000-to-eight-of-their-favorite-restaurants#comments > | 38,391 views Can Menlo Park Save Its Downtown? Reinvent It? – Part 1 https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2020/05/11/can-menlo-park-save-its-downtown-reinvent-it--part-1 > By Dana Hendrickson | 21 comments https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2020/05/11/can-menlo-park-save-its-downtown-reinvent-it--part-1#comments > | 3,081 views Should you read the comments? https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2020/05/10/should-you-read-the-comments > By Sherry Listgarten | 42 comments https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2020/05/10/should-you-read-the-comments#comments > | 2,728 views Premarital and Couples: The Resiliency of Bridges https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2020/05/08/premarital-and-couples-the-resiliency-of-bridges > By Chandrama Anderson | 0 comments https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2020/05/08/premarital-and-couples-the-resiliency-of-bridges#comments > | 2,229 views Help Our Local Restaurants Help Needy Residents https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2020/05/08/help-our-local-restaurants-help-needy-residents > By Steve Levy | 1 comment https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2020/05/08/help-our-local-restaurants-help-needy-residents#comments > | 1,713 views View all local blogs https://www.almanacnews.com/blogs > Received on Thu May 14 2020 - 10:53:10 PDT
