Several Gilroy City Council members said they are open to
learning about ways that the city can team up with Morgan Hill on
law enforcement services after Morgan Hill’s City Council expressed
interest in contracting out its police department.
Several Gilroy City Council members said they are open to learning about ways that the city can team up with Morgan Hill on law enforcement services after Morgan Hill’s City Council expressed interest in contracting out its police department.
However, most council members have no interest in running Morgan Hill’s police department for them, saying that the city has enough financial challenges on its own.
“It’s probably more of an efficient deal for us to contract out with the sheriff,” Councilman Bob Dillon said.
Morgan Hill’s City Council voted unanimously Wednesday for city staff to study the costs of consolidating its law enforcement services with outside agencies, including San Jose and GIlroy police departments and the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department. Morgan Hill City Manager Ed Tewes notified Gilroy City Administrator Tom Haglund of the matter in a letter Thursday, saying that the City of Gilroy may want to consider making a proposal if Morgan Hill and its Police Officers Association can reach an agreement.
“I realize that you would have policy choices and costs involved in preparing a formal proposal for our review, and may want to begin thinking about these issues now,” Tewes wrote.
A few Gilroy City Council members appeared interested Monday in examining the benefits and drawbacks of working more closely with Morgan Hill, although most opposed the idea of Gilroy overseeing Morgan Hill’s police department.
Councilman Craig Gartman said he would be interested in taking a look at the idea, but added, “I’m not sure if we want to take on the financial burden associated with it.”
If the Gilroy Police Department were to assume control of Morgan Hill’s department, the City of Gilroy would then assume the costs of those officers’ retirement plans, council members said.
Gilroy currently spends more of its budget on policing than any other city in the county, according to statistics from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department.
In fiscal year 2010, Gilroy spent 47.72 percent of its budget on law enforcement – a total of $314.49 per resident – according to the sheriff’s department. That compared to 40.24 percent in Los Gatos, 33.56 percent in Morgan Hill and 19.82 percent in the city of Cupertino, which contracts out with the sheriff’s department.
Still, Gartman stressed that different cities offer different types of law enforcement services.
“You’d have to really dig deep into it to really understand all the issues,” Gartman said.
Indeed, a comparison of police services in Morgan Hill to those offered by the county in the city limits of Cupertino shows that Morgan Hill city would not save as much money by contracting with the sheriff’s office as unions think, Morgan Hill city officials said at Wednesday’s council meeting.
The Morgan Hill Police Officers Association estimates contracting with the county for law enforcement could save Morgan Hill up to $3 million per year.
But city staff said Wednesday that is unlikely, as Morgan Hill officers provide 20,000 more hours of service per year than Cupertino, and Morgan Hill has more violent crime and more incidents of crime per officer than Cupertino.
Similarly, Councilman Dion Bracco said Gilroy has more gang problems than contract cities up north and does not share any borders with other cities in the county.
“They don’t share our problems,” Bracco said of the sheriff’s department’s contract cities.
The council’s decision comes after the Morgan Hill Police Officers’ Association requested April 16 that the city explore consolidating city law enforcement functions into the sheriff’s department to avoid potential layoffs. Morgan Hill must cut at least $1.8 million to balance its budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 because of declining sales tax and development impact fees.
A study to investigate different law enforcement contracting options could take Morgan Hill as long as 240 days and will include hiring an outside consultant to prepare a request for proposal at a cost of up to $50,000, city officials said.
Morgan Hill city officials said they must amend the current contract between the city and the Police Officers Association before it can look elsewhere for services.
However, the Morgan Hill POA says the contract does not have to be amended simply to allow the city to ask the county for a proposal. The POA has not decided whether or not it will negotiate with the city for such an amendment.
Regardless of what happens in Morgan Hill, Gilroy council members said they will continue to seek opportunities to partner with other neighboring cities.
For instance, Gilroy already has teamed up with Morgan Hill for the South County Regional Wastewater Authority project and for SWAT services, Mayor Al Pinheiro said. In addition, the council has discussed consolidating regional fire services.
Council members agreed to look at further partnerships and outsourcing opportunities last month, saying they want a future study session devoted to the idea at an undetermined later time.
Gartman, who requested that a study session take place in the near future, said he believed it would be better to look at those possibilities sooner rather than later.
“As far as outsourcing, I think we’re going to fall behind the eight ball here because the council has said it wants to talk about it, but that we shouldn’t talk about it for awhile,” he said. “I think it’s the perfect time to talk about it as the city budget is coming up.”
