Dear Honorable Council
The City of Menlo Park is completely out of control when it comes to employees and contractors, including the Police headcount.
The police force is already inflated. A few years ago the Police department increased its number of police using a 1.5 factor (police to residents calculations) with the justification that the increased Facebook employees require more police presence. That justification has already been debunked, as in how many Facebook employees frequent Menlo Park during the day. If the number of people during the day counts, how about all those who leave the City to work elsewhere?
Police are not the right choice for traffic enforcement. Second, traffic stops are best served by non-police personnel who don't carry guns. I am confident that you are all already aware of the national crisis with so many people, particularly BIPOC, being killed during traffic stops. If you look at the activities of the Police, they are mostly spent on routine walk/bike stops. If you need references I am happy to provide them.
Do we really need this many on the force to stop people to see if they “look suspicious?” A review of the attached “Officer Initiated Traffic Stops” validates that these are not “serious crimes” and do not require police intervention. The City can easily hire non-police force to carry out these routine tasks.
As to other city employee headcounts:
1) Are these "annual costs" inclusive of overtime and pension?
The City of Menlo Park is already not transparent on what it costs to employ its personnel. I have asked this before that the numbers on its website are just basic salary and don't include overtime and other perks as provided through Transparent California.
2) Has the City received a review of its employees/contracts versus other comparable cities by an "independent agency" that reports to the Council and not the city management? Such reports should be transparently available to the residents without asking.
3) What is not being done already that these new hires (e.g., coordinators or library personnel) will do? Furthermore, just because it was not done before does not mean that it shouldn't have been done before with existing personnel.
3) Is the City slated to become a key employer In the City of Menlo Park?
There appears to be no actual audit or checks and balances for the operation of the City itself. It asks, and it shall receive. Why, because nothing is easy to understand in the City.
Please stop this madness of hiring more people both in the City management and Police department.
Regards
A frustrated resident.
Soody Tronson
