An immodest proposal

Considering that the pitch was made during a budget session in which the city’s financial hardship was analyzed from all angles, one would think an aggressive plan to fully staff the police department in four years—at a cost of $3.6 million—would be a tough sell.

But public-safety advocate Jovanni Tricerri successfully argued for just that during Chico City Council’s budget session on Tuesday (June 17), as the panel voted unanimously to adopt a plan—albeit a nonbinding one—outlined by Clean and Safe Chico, an outreach campaign involving multiple local organizations, including the Chico Police Department.

There are currently 64 police officers on staff, well short of the 83 officers Police Chief Kirk Trostle maintains are necessary to adequately protect and serve the city. And as crime and transience issues remain at the forefront of public consciousness—public safety is the council’s No. 1 priority—pressure has been mounting for the city to follow Trostle’s recommendation. Tricerri, executive director of the Chico Stewardship Network, has long championed the cause, first appearing before the council on behalf of Clean and Safe in March 2013.

The proposal would allow police to revive the traffic-enforcement unit, the TARGET team (the department’s gang unit that was eliminated last February due to budget cuts) and the currently defunct Street Crimes Unit, which focused on street-level drug sales and took a proactive approach by keeping up with individuals on probation or parole.

The issue, of course, is funding. Tricerri suggested exploring grants as well as a public-safety tax. “That’s what we’re asking of the city to continue to do—take proactive steps to present new revenue ideas,” he said.

While the entire council shared Tricerri’s concern for public safety, several council members balked at committing to such a plan with no clear funding sources. “I am reticent of spending money before we have it,” said Councilwoman Ann Schwab.

Administrative Services Director Chris Constantin also offered reason for pause. In the four-year period between fiscal years 2009-10 and 2013-14, he said, the city’s general fund revenue grew by a total of $3.4 million, and the Clean and Safe proposal would direct more than $3.6 million to police staffing alone. “I’m a little concerned,” he said. “If you say you want it done in four years, you’re talking about a half-cent sales tax in the community. That may not be something that many people want to see.”

However, Tricerri argued that the Clean and Safe Chico proposal will serve as a roadmap rather than a binding agreement for restaffing the police department. Getting wheels turning in that direction is most important, he said, and the community will identify sources of revenue in the future.

Many citizens spoke in favor of the proposal once the floor was opened for public comment. “We’ve been talking about this for a really, really long time,” said Peggy Mead. “Can we sit down and make something happen? We have to do this—we have to find the money.”

After the council’s 7-0 vote, the panel agreed to revisit the issue in six months.

As the council’s marathon budget session began around 11 a.m., Interim City Manager Mark Orme acknowledged that “it’s a surprise I’m the one kicking things off.”

Indeed, since former City Manager Brian Nakamura’s announcement on May 26 that he was leaving Chico in favor of Rancho Cordova, Orme has been tasked with moving the city forward in the aftermath of the reorganization overseen by Nakamura, which included reducing 11 departments to five and laying off dozens of employees. Though the process was painful for the individuals involved, several city officials have credited Nakamura with revealing the true extent of the city’s $15 million debt.

Orme clearly wanted to turn the page on his predecessor’s tumultuous tenure, outlining a future in which Chico overcomes its financial deficit, replenishes reserves and establishes “checks and balances to make it impossible to fall into that same situation again,” he said. “Let’s move forward, put the past behind, and let our past failures strengthen our resolve.”

While Orme painted a rosy picture, any such future is distant, according to Constantin. Beginning with an $800,000 debt payment in 2015-16, the city plans to increase payments by $100,000 every year until they reach $1.5 million, continuing until reserves reach $13.4 million in 2030. “I know it’s a long time, but since we’re ramping up slowly, I think we can do that and balance an increase in operations without breaking the bank,” he said.

The $120.6 million budget for 2014-15, approved in a unanimous vote by the council, is mostly devoid of significant reductions, as Constantin said the upcoming year would be one of tweaks and adjustments as opposed to the “wholesale changes of entire departments” made last year. City employees will increase from 342 to 349 full-timers, while this year’s $42.6 million general fund—its operating budget—is comparable to last year’s total of $43.4 million.

However, as department heads reported to the council, each described varying degrees of hardship over the past year. Mark Wolfe, director of Planning Services, made his case for hiring one full-time community development technician, explaining how his staff of 20 employees has been doing the work of 36 people, scrambling to meet an ever-increasing demand for services. “It’s been pretty tough,” he said. “We don’t have any slack. When we have someone out or sick, the wheels fall off.”

Even Interim Fire Chief Shane Lauderdale, whose department received a substantial grant in February that allowed the addition of 14 new firefighters, said financial constraints have forced his department to creatively address inefficiencies. For example, it is launching a pilot program in which a “mini fire engine” on a pickup-truck frame will respond to medical emergencies in the downtown area, rather than sending out a full-sized fire engine. “I think it’s fairly obvious that a giant fire truck designed for putting out fires is the wrong piece of apparatus to send to a medical emergency,” he said.

In addition to the challenges confronting each department, Constantin noted several overarching problems the city must address in coming years, including lack of funding for street and building maintenance and an unsustainable work force. He pointed to the future cost of mandatory raises, CalPERS and other employee benefits and asked a troubling question: “How do we sustain ourselves when the cost of benefits increases faster than revenues?”