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Salas, Diana From:Houston, Nicole Sent:Wednesday, June 17, 2020 12:18 PM To:eComment_Forwarding Subject:FW: Budget 1st Reading From: Tim Johnson \[mailto:tjohnson@jlkrllp.com\] Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 9:38 AM Subject: Budget 1st Reading As you continue to consider the FY20/21 budget, I would like to provide a few comments especially after hearing the public last night as well as your very own comments. I understand that the public hearing is closed and as such this comment is not part of the official public record, but your reading this comment is honestly much more important than this comment being part of the public record. A few baseline comments:  Public safety is of the utmost importance for our city  The Police Department (PD) is an important component of public safety  Public safety is enhanced by not only focusing on the PD though  Youth programs, code enforcement, parks & rec, and public works are also important for improving public safety With that as a foundation, I would like to remind everyone that the PD’s last MOU expired well prior to passage of Measure X and there was a delay in executing the current MOU (not 25F) until after Measure X was passed. Then, PD was the first and loudest to the table requesting changes including raises and such once Measure X funds were made available. It is abundantly clear by looking at Measure X reports that this strategy worked. I do not blame POA for this strategy, it was smart for them to do for achieving the desired outcome. HOWEVER, as a city we need to make sure that all departments are taken care of. Again, public safety is of great importance for our city and public safety is enhanced by not only a well functioning PD but also other departments. However, in our existing FY 19/20 budget there were positions budgeted for and approved not only in the PD but also in Parks & Rec, Public Works, and Community Development. The PD positions were filled. An HR decision appears to have been made to focus hiring efforts on PD. PD positions thankfully were filled. While, other positions remained vacant and they were to be focused on after the PD hiring. This may have sounded fine at the time because it would have only been a matter of time before other departments hired their budgeted positions. Now with the C19 pandemic and the economic crisis our city is facing, a hiring freeze was implemented. I do not disagree with the hiring freeze however this shows that the early priority of hiring vacant PD positions prior to other departments now has consequences. Those consequences are that the vacant positions in other departments will remain vacant for the foreseeable future while the PD positions are filled. This timing of hiring and focus on PD over other departments was discussed briefly by city staff at a Measure X Citizen Oversight Committee meeting which I can provide references to you if desired. In essence, because the SAPOA was well organized (good for them) they were the first to the table to obtain Measure X funding. Then they were also the quickest to work with the city’s HR hiring department in hiring people. I am worried that this was done to the detriment of other departments and I am sure that if an analytical study were done (I do not suggest wasting money in doing so btw), the results would align. I personally do not feel that we should necessarily terminate filled PD positions right now without a major discussion item. However, we need look at the MOU (item 25F which was pulled) and see what other savings can be had and possibly not just deferral items. Additionally, I would recommend that as police officers retire or otherwise leave service 1