- Every police service option considered has a hefty political price
Morgan Hill’s elected officials are in a bit of a pickle. They want to increase police services, but history tells them that passing taxes – which they say is necessary to pay for those services – is a risky proposition. Not only is it notoriously difficult to get voters to approve tax increases, in years past Morgan Hill voters have recalled council members who increased taxes themselves.
Two ideas that could save enough to money to partly or completely pay for increased services – contracting for dispatch services, as is done in other counties, or contracting with the Santa Clara County Sheriff for all city police services, as is done in other nearby communities – have been taken off the table by City Council. Police unions, charged with protecting police officer interests, don’t like this plan one whit.Â
What’s left? Either leave services at current levels, which many say are substandard, or cut other programs to pay for increased services.
- Overtime sharpens focus
This issue recently arose because of overtime being paid to Morgan Hill police officers. Staff writer Slav Kandyba reported that MHPD officers earned $538,277 in overtime in 2006, and $519,704 in 2007.
Up to a point, overtime is cheaper than hiring new officers, because officers who are paid overtime don’t incur additional – and hefty – benefit costs for things like health, life, and disability insurance, retirement programs, holidays, and so on that new hires incur.
But at some point, it becomes better from both a financial and operational perspective to hire new officers. There are rational boundaries for how many overtime hours a police officer can be expected to work at full capacity. There is a point where financial savings on overtime diminish.
It’s up to our city leaders to find those boundaries and make sure we don’t surpass them.
- All options thoroughly studied
In the meantime, we urge that the city put all options back on the table. Studying these important issues thoroughly is their duty. It is not a matter of impacting police morale – most private-sector employees work productively despite constant threats of reorganizations and layoffs – but of evaluating what’s best for the residents and taxpayers of Morgan Hill.
Morgan Hill residents already employ many city staff members – there’s no reason that they can’t use some of their work time to study the various options completely, without any pre-concieved agenda of a desired outcome. It’s the only way that elected officials and residents can reach a consensus on the best plan for Morgan Hill.
As we move forward, let’s drop the idea of a perfect solution – if one existed, we’d have found it already. Instead, let’s decide if we really need more police on the streets of Morgan Hill, and if so, the best way to go about getting them.
Any solution will have political consequences, and elected officials must be willing to bear them to enact the best solution for our city.
ACT NOW
Tell the Morgan Hill City Council what you think about the best way to handle police services. Write the council at 17555 Peak Ave., Morgan Hill, CA 95037 or contact them by e-mail or phone at:
- Mayor Steve Tate, st********@***********ca.gov,
(408) 779-7259.
- Councilman Mark Grzan, ma********@***********ca.gov,
(408) 779-7259.
- Councilwoman Marby Lee, ma*******@***********ca.gov,
(408) 7797259.
- Councilman Greg Sellers, gr**********@***********ca.gov,
(408) 7797259.
- Councilman Larry Carr, la********@***********ca.gov,
(408) 7797259.
