Police Outsourcing Subject of City Council Closed Session Tonight

The Pacifica City Council will meet with police labor groups tonight with a proposal in hand from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office on how much the city could save if it shuttered the and contracted law enforcement services with the Sheriff, City Manager Steve Rhodes said. 

The potential savings of the move, which the city has over the last several months as it crafts a new budget and attempts to fill a deficit, are allegedly greater than what the city had expected. 

The closed session meeting tonight at 6p.m. is with all of the city's labor groups, including police, fire and city staff, as the groups begin negotiating new employee contracts for next year.

The proposal from the Sheriff, although more detailed than anything the city has had before, is far from finalized, Rhodes said. 

"the Council does have a closed session tomorrow on the Sheriff’s proposal but I’m not sure you can characterize it as a firm proposal," he said. "We are still in the process of negotiating with the Sheriff and likely will need more time before we have a proposal that the City is ready to move forward."

Previously, the city had been basing around possible savings of $1.5 million if law enforcement services were contracted through the Sheriff's office, but informed individuals say the proposal the city has now would save much more than that, perhaps over $2 million annually. 

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