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Regular City Council Meeting <br />Monday, October 10, 2016 <br />Page 40 <br />While considering herself cheap and believing in accountability, Ms. Bakeman <br />opined that the Roseville Police Department was well worth the money spent for <br />it. <br />City Council Position Statements <br />Councilmember Willmus <br />Councilmember Willmus noted several years ago when running for election, at a <br />League of Women Voter's Forum, when specifically asked about going out to bid <br />for police services, his response had been "no," and continued to be so now. <br />While City Manager Trudgeon had already touched on several of his reasons for <br />that response, Councilmember Willmus opined that ultimately it would become <br />difficult for the City of Roseville to contain costs. With the seven cities currently <br />contracting for Ramsey County Sheriff services, Councilmember Willmus noted <br />they were each seeing a 6°/o increase in this budget cycle. <br />In reviewing the comparison figures used in Councilmember McGehee's proposal <br />versus current Roseville Police Department staffing levels, Councilmember <br />Willmus opined that there were significant discrepancies, as also noted in Mr. Ko- <br />land's public comments when reconciling those numbers with the Ramsey County <br />proposal, especially from a FTE basis, opining that those discrepancies were stag- <br />gering. When factoring in space and other intrinsic items, including information <br />technology services, Councilmember Willmus opined that the city still came in <br />with over $10,000 in FTE savings annually. When reconciling numbers for exist- <br />ing levels of service and applying an apples to apples comparison, Councilmem- <br />ber Willmus opined that the City of Roseville of Roseville was getting a pretty <br />good deal. <br />By not contracting out services, Councilmember Willmus noted there would be no <br />loss of policing services; and furthermore noted the number of civilian employees <br />beyond sworn officers in the department that factored into that level of service, <br />but not taken into consideration, but all real jobs and real issues. <br />Councilmember Willmus noted that many residents were troubled by this, and <br />while perhaps not being as troubled by the proposal, he found that his concerns <br />are caused because it didn't make fiscal sense nor provide any fiscal savings as <br />presented and therefore, he didn't find the proposal supportable. <br />Councilmember Willmus stated that the City Council was elected as a body to <br />make judgments, one of most important being with the annual budget and tax <br />levy, which he took seriously. Councilmember Willmus stated if the concern is <br />with rising costs, he'd reach out to Councilmember McGehee suggesting she <br />wark with her City Council colleagues to find realistic ways to reduce those costs. <br />Councilmember Willmus noted that, over the last several budget cycles with those <br />concerns in mind, they had been reflected in his vote to not support the budget. <br />