Guest View-John Musolf: "Shuffling Deck Chairs"

The following is from the: Know Your Police Department" Document Prepared By Chief Sharp

Q. Why did the Police Department’s approved FY 2011/2012 budget increase by 4.6%?

Chief Sharp’s Answer: “The Fleet and IT programs, along with their budgets, returned to the Police Department as it was in FY 2008/2009. These transfers provide operational efficiencies and offset unintended overtime expenses.”

Improved efficiencies and less overtime? I don’t think so, Chief.

My take: The transfers back to the Police Budget happened because the Chief knows that the Police Department’s Budget is “untouchable” now that the “gang of five” is in control.
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Seems that budget masters did some slight of hand: "Shuffling the deck chairs.” Some costs that were in other budgets have been shuffled over to the police budget.

One full time IT (information technology) position will now be paid from the Police Budget and not from the Information Technology Department Budget. The information technologist does not have to be a police officer, just as developing accounting software reporting requirements does not require a finance expert. This is why the police officer technology position was originally consolidated into the Information Technology Department in 2009/2010. Moving this position from the IT Budget back to the Police Budget protects the position even though there is no one qualified in the Police Department to supervise and manage this IT person. The only reasonable conclusion for this transfer is that the Chief wants to tuck this position in a safe place: There's no safer place than the Police Department Budget!

Then there’s the fleet program. Transferring the police car maintenance back to the Police Department Budget might reduce overtime spent by the current fleet maintenance group, as the Chief alleges. However, let’s have full disclosure.

The volunteer police originally performed a significant amount of police car maintenance on a non-cost basis to Oro Valley. That is why there was originally little or zero overtime in the police department maintenance.

When all fleet maintenance (trucks, heavy equipment, and police cars as well as other departmental cars) was consolidated into a new group the overtime soared. It seems (for some strange and mysterious reason) that all the volunteer police decided not to help out on police car maintenance anymore!

There will be operation efficiencies and reduced overtime only if there is an immediate and overwhelming desire by the volunteer police to resume non-cost maintenance of police cars. Otherwise, one has to ponder how the police department will be able to reduce overtime where the fleet maintenance group could not?

The problem with "shuffling deck chairs" when it comes to budgets is that it merely shifts costs from one place to another. There are no real savings.

John Musolf

Schlock Town USA: Meeting Update

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This, from John Musolf:

I attended the public meeting on changing the town code for outdoor displays. Six Oro Valley residents showed up. We were outnumbered by business owners and town officials (Lou Waters, Joe Hornat, Steve Solomon, Satish Hiremath and town employees). It was a setup. There were 3 tables. The assumption was that we would discuss things at the first table about whether we favored no outdoor displays to extensive outdoors displays. The second table showed us a sample store front that recommended 50% of the outdoor space be allocated to the outdoor displays. The third table was to consider alternatives if the change didn't pass. The businesses suggested that as an alternative: the sign code be looser and the fee for an outdoor displays be lessened. The residents basically got what we will deserve regardless of the outcome.

The Town has 41,000 residents and only six of us showed up. Welcome to Schlock USA.

The fact that only six residents attended the meeting speaks volumes, doesn't it?


Here's the link to the KVOA article reporting on this meeting.

Here's the link to the Explorer's report on the meeting.
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