City Council Preview - July 21 (Police Committee)

We’ve been discussing the upcoming City Council agenda for July 21. We discussed the sale of beer and wine and today we’ll look at the Police contract and tomorrow we’ll talk about animal control.

The Police contract has already been discussed in length (Click Here). In brief, the costs of Police services have been rising, and this year the costs of the Police contract alone rose by nearly $900,000. Because there is only one bidder on the Police contract, the City has no alternative but to accept what the OC Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) puts before us. The question is not whether or not we will sign the contract – of course we will. The question is why we aren’t treating the Police contract as we do every other contract that the City has. This Council recently told staff that the Council wanted to have at least 3 bidders for every contract. We didn’t say “Do this for everyone except the Police!”

GETTING MORE BIDS

As a result, Councilman Nick and I proposed that we set up an ad hoc committee to explore alternatives to obtaining bids on the Police contract. That could be done by contacting other cities and asking if they want to bid on the contract, and/or working with other cities to see whether or not a more focused multi-city Police service would provide the same (or better) service at a lower cost.

• · Is it possible no other City will offer a bid?
• · Is it possible that despite the bids from other cities, the costs will be prohibitive?
• · Is it possible no other city wants to explore a multi-city Police service?

Yes, yes, and yes. But isn’t it our duty as stewards of the public purse to find out?

LOOKING AT WHAT WE’RE DOING

In the course of the discussion of the Police contract and the ad hoc committee, the additional question has been raised by several people – “Are we doing the best we can with what we have?” It never hurts to take a good look at what you’re doing. Laguna Hills commissioned a study of Police Services and that City is already reaping the benefit of that study. Could we learn from that study? Should we be commissioning our own study?

• · Our crime rate is nothing to brag about. Most of the cities around us have lower crime rates. Why?
• · We have a senior member of the Police department standing around like a mannequin at City Council meetings. Is that the best way to use his experience and training?
• · We have a Homeless Liaison Officer. Is this an issue that requires a highly trained Police officer, or an issue better managed by Social Services?
• · Why aren’t we more aggressive in recruiting for our STARS program in which senior citizens save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by performing routine clerical and administrative tasks?

Public safety is probably the #1 issue for a City, although some would argue that financial security is even more important. In any event, we should not hesitate to look for better ways to insure the public safety, nor should we be afraid to look closely at what we’re getting and see if we can’t get the same outcome (or better) at a lower price.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 3 pm to 5 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a mini town meeting every month. The next meeting will be on August 15 at 2 pm at the El Toro Public Library.

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