Lack of public safety funding support during Hiremath years
Last week, Chief Daniel Sharp of the Oro Valley Police Department said that he felt that the town needed 4 additional police positions in fiscal 2020 (Begins July 1) and four more for fiscal 2021. The 2020 recommended budget submitted by Town Manager Mary Jacobs does not include these four positions.
Sharp states that there has been police understaffing for years
Speaking at last week's Town Council Study Session, Sharp said: "We knew there was going to be a point at which we were not going to be able to continue [being short positions]; and we’ve deferred [adding positions] every year. As I signaled last year, we aren’t going to be able to defer [adding positions] any more unless there is going to be a cut in service…. We’ve been band-aiding. This is the year [we need more police]. I tried to defer as long as I could. We’ve started slipping faster in the last few months that I even anticipated....we didn’t have enough officers to dispatch..” (Town Council Study Session of May 8, 2019: 1:16-1:17 minute mark)
Astounding but true
LOVE researched police department staffing over time. The chart that follows confirms that police positions have not been added during the past six years (2013-2019). The budget for these years was determined by former Mayor Hiremath and his council majority.
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| Double Click On This Chart To Expand To Full View |
Hiremath started his tenure by reducing police staffing from 135 to 125 in his first two years as Mayor. These are years in which current Council Member Solomon served. In 2011, the council doubled the Utility Tax from 2% to 4% to pay for police. This provided about $1.4 million in added funding. According to then Council Member Joe Hornat: "...1 percentage point...is worth $720,000 to the town." (source).
The added utility tax funds did boost police staffing. By 2013, police staffing had increased to about 132 positions. Since then, however, police staffing has been relatively flat. It was even reduced in 2016, the first full year of town ownership of the El Conquistador Country Club.
The result: Six years, from 2013 to 2019, of approximately the same level of police staffing.
It's up to Council, not the Town Manager, to properly assess and fund our public safety needs
In 2010, the Hiremath Council voted to have the police department report to council and not to the Town Manager. Town Manager Jacobs plays an advisory oversight role when it comes to the budget for the police department. The police department budget that she submitted this April is her budget. It is not the budget of any member of this council.
It's the responsibility of the Council to listen to the Chief, as they did last week, to truly understand the needs of the public safety. Council should meet again with him, meet without the hoopla of political rhetoric demonstrated at last week's budget study session. Indeed, it may be time to catch up on years of public safety neglect on the part of Hiremath Council.
Guns or Butter? Golf or Cops?
Where should the funds come from to support new public safety positions? The decision is easy. The funds should come from the Community Center/Restaurant/Golf Course budget. That endeavor is a complete luxury. Public Safety is not a luxury.
There is no other place we can see it coming from.
The town must start to property fund its pension lability to ensure that we keep our promise of retirement for our employees. The town should not jeopardize our excellent roads by taking funding from the highway department. The town should not take this money from needed parks for our children. They are, after all, our future. We can't take it from a necessity like our water department, a department that will likely be successful tomorrow in raising rates to cover its costs.
The council can and should fund the public safety needs of 43,000 residents over the needs of 200 users of the town owned country club.
It's time to get real. The town cannot do everything on everyone's wish list.
Now is when the "rubber meets the road."
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