Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Centerville City Council <br />Meeting Minutes <br />February 26, 2003 . <br /> <br />along with types of calIs. The second thing he asked Council to consider was a citizen <br />advisory commlttee to provide residents with an opportunity to comment regarding police <br />officers. <br /> <br />Council Member Broussard Vickers asked whether the public was invited to the <br />informational meeting. Ms. Moore-Sykes indicated the meeting is open to the public but <br />said public comment would not be taken at this meeting. She then indicated that public <br />input on the proposal would be taken at the March 26, 2003 Council meeting. <br /> <br />Ms. Wirth indicated the open meeting laws require notification of the meeting. Mayor <br />Sweeney indicated the meeting had already been posted. <br /> <br />Council Member Capra indicated she would like to see the number of patrolling officers <br />at five rather than four as proposed. Ms. Moore-Sykes indicated that could be discussed <br />at the meeting. <br /> <br />Mr. Robert Wright, a police commission member, addressed Council and asked that the <br />funding formula be kept open ended without locking the City into a funding formula <br />today that will not work in the future. He also expressed concern with the fact that the <br />proposal indicates there is no job guarantee and he is afraid that there could be large <br />numbers of officers looking for employment elsewhere which would cause a major issue <br />with funding unpaid benefits. . <br /> <br />Mayor Sweeney indicated he is aware of funding concerns. <br /> <br />Mr. John Grahek, a police commission member, addressed Council and indicated he is <br />encouraged by the proposal presented. He then said that he is concerned because he has <br />heard that there are five officers actively seeking employment with other departments and <br />the reason is because the proposal does not guarantee jobs. He also cautioned that the <br />timeline says all of this will be done by January 1,2004 and he feels that is a very short <br />amount of time to accomplish all that needs to be done to close out two departments and <br />create one new department. <br /> <br />Mr. Grahek expressed concern that four officers may not be enough because two <br />incidents tie up all of the officers and some cities require more coverage than Centerville <br />so he thinks the coverage will not be the same in Centerville based on the formula <br />presented. <br /> <br />Mr. Grahek indicated the proposal lists 30 officers and right now there are 39 so that <br />equates to. 9 lost jobs. Mayor Sweeney indicated the proposal has $200,000 in it for <br />service officers and, if a Chiefwere to be hired, that person along with the Administrators <br />would set the budget. He further clarified that this is an early proposal and all of the <br />numbers are subject to change. <br /> <br />Mr. Grahek indicated that it is a major undertaking to add officers once the formula has <br />been set so he asked that the cities proceed cautiously. <br /> <br />Page 9 of20 <br />