Eight cops to get the ax: Four other police positions could be cut

Folsom Telegraph

May 26, 2010

By Eric Laughlin

Eight of Folsom’s sworn police officers and four others in there department were handed pink slips last week, following recommendations that their positions be eliminated as of June 30.

The proposed cuts are part of City Manager Kerry Miller’s recommended operating budget for the coming fiscal year, which is based on recent drops in revenue and increased costs.

Miller, whose job requires him to present a balanced budget proposal, has expressed frustration with recommending the cuts, but said they are necessary to help the city move forward.

“It grieves me as a city manager, especially when it affects live bodies,” he said. “But we simply cannot achieve a balanced budget without cutting law enforcement.”

Miller said the proposed position eliminations are reasonable, since Folsom has more officers and spends more money on police services than other California cities with similar demographics.

He said he selected a handful of such cities that included Encinitas in San Diego County, Yorba Linda in Orange County and Napa, and compared statistics.

Of all the cities on the list, the average officer-per-citizen ratio was 1.003 per 1,000. And when it came to resident-per-capita spending on police services, the average was $239. Folsom’s numbers came out higher than the average at 1.14 per 1,000 and $268.

Miller said it would not be outlandish or tip Folsom into “law enforcement purgatory” if its numbers approached average.

Mayor Jeff Starsky agreed with Miller that the proposed police cuts are reasonable and said they wouldn’t make him sleep less.

Police Chief Sam Spiegel disagrees. He has expressed frustration over the proposed eliminations, especially since his department eliminated almost the same number of positions in the last budget year, though only one position was filled and resulted in a layoff.

“Folsom is the safest city in the region and we need to keep it that way,” he said. “We got staffing up to where it needed to be after many years of neglect and these cuts will take us back to the staffing levels of 2003.”

When asked about Miller’s statistics from other cities, Spiegel said he hadn’t been given data for the other cities, but said officer-per-citizen and economic per-capita ratios are not the current means of evaluating law enforcement departments.

“It’s not indicative of a good or bad police, it’s just a number,” he said. “And every community has different expectations. We go for just about anything that people call for.”

Some residents are upset that more police officers are on the chopping block.

“I’m shocked about it. First of all, I haven’t heard anything about it. Second, due to all the construction in the Historic District and the light rail coming in, I think police officers are needed for safety reasons. As a business manager, I want people feeling safe as they come into Folsom,” said Armando Enriquez, manager at Bicycles Plus in the Folsom Historic District.

On the issue of pensions and benefits, Spiegel agreed that they should be part of the discussion to prevent layoffs. He added that the Folsom police officers union has been quick to step up to the plate in the past, making concessions in medical benefits.

During a budget hearing earlier this month, Starsky said he’s hopeful that a fresh solution can save the jobs, such as reforming the employee pension system, but he also said he’s not sure there’s enough time for that and suggested the proposed budget move forward.

Others on the council shared Starsky’s assertion that employee reform is crucial to avoiding future layoffs.

“Everybody needs to come together to reduce the number of people laid off,” said council woman Kerri Howell. “We need a creative solution that looks at salaries, benefit packages and retirements.”

She then addressed the employees in the council chamber and said, “You may be saving the job of the person sitting next to you. And, you may be saving your own job a year from now.”

Spiegel said he’s hopeful the jobs in his department can be saved with an agreement by the city and the officers’ union. He also said three officers have expressed interest in early retirement.

If some kind of an agreement is not reached, the officers would be pushed out June 30, the day before the new fiscal year begins.