Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming has released statistics
showing the vast majority of police calls are generated within the
city’s redevelopment agency project area
– where more than $250 million has been invested since 1981 to
erode
”
blighted
”
conditions.
Morgan Hill – Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming has released statistics showing the vast majority of police calls are generated within the city’s redevelopment agency project area – where more than $250 million has been invested since 1981 to erode “blighted” conditions.
Most calls for help come from crowded shopping areas and areas with high-density, low-income housing, such as Cochrane Plaza, Monterey Road between Dunne and Tennant avenues, Barnell Avenue and the downtown corridor.
Reacting to those numbers, city officials are now beginning to explore ways to use RDA funds on law-enforcement strategies. Cumming said he would meet with Business Assistance and Housing Services Director Garrett Toy to discuss the matter.
In addition, city officials are once again raising the idea of asking voters to pass a utility tax to hire more patrol officers.
Out of the top 20 places requesting police service, 18 – or 90 percent – are located within the Morgan Hill Redevelopment Agency’s project area.
Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate said this might be the first time the city has analyzed where crime is concentrated in the RDA project area. He said it could also be the first time the RDA has looked at spending money on law-enforcement projects.
Created in 1981, the RDA provides financial means to redevelop blighted areas. A map of those areas was created and each year property taxes that normally go to the county are redirected toward the agency. The agency has funded numerous projects such as the widening of Dunne Avenue, the construction of Butterfield Boulevard and the addition of public facilities such as the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, the Aquatics Center and the Centennial Recreation Center. The city council acts as the agency’s board of directors.
Cumming called the police department’s attention to the RDA project area “eye-opening,” but he said he wasn’t surprised by the high number of calls for service.
Enhancing police services is a big issue for the Morgan Hill City Council this year. The city has 35 officers, roughly the same number as 16 years ago. Budget cuts 15 years ago reduced the agency to 19 officers, and the city has made incremental improvements to its police force since then. Meanwhile, the city’s population has grown from about 25,000 to 37,000 since 1991.
The Public Safety and Community Services Committee, consisting of Tate and Morgan Hill City Councilman Larry Carr, is working to finish a report to the city council on how to enhance the department. According the goals the council adopted in February for 2007, the committee’s report is due May 2.
The bottom line of the report, Carr said, is likely to be: to make significant improvements to police services the city needs to identify a significant funding source.
Carr and Tate haven’t decided yet if they will recommend a tax measure – such as a 1 percent utility tax – but they are discussing the option.
None of the city’s top administrators feels the city is in any danger of being overrun by criminals today. Morgan Hill is relatively safe for its size, despite having fewer officers per capita than most suburbs, said City Manager Ed Tewes.
“My concern is, you don’t want to set this up as ‘you need to vote for this in order to get us out of danger,’ ” Tewes said at the Public Safety and Community Service Committee meeting Friday.
But a tax might be justified, Tewes suggested, on the premise of keeping the city safe as it grows bigger and more complex. Morgan Hill is projected to grow to 48,000 from 37,000 by 2020.
While not wanting to scare voters, Tate feels there could be an urgent need to ask for voters’ help at the polls to keep the city safe.
“If we put it out there that we’re doing fine, there’s no danger, we’re making improvements incrementally, then we’ll never get the support at the polls fro what we need to do,” Tate said.
