Optimizing Public Safety

We live in a safe community and quite appropriately many of us value the police, fire, and ambulance services the City of Owosso provides. We all have personal stories of how a public safety employee was of great, even life-saving, service to us or one of our family members. However, these benefits do not come cheaply. According to the 2009-10 budget, the City spends over $3.5 million annually on public safety. This represents 56% of the City's general fund expenditures.

In recent months, several citizens have raised appropriate questions about inefficiencies in our public safety programs. In particular, people have questioned the management structure of having a public safety director and a police chief and a fire chief. Do we need three managers of public safety? In response to a citizen petition, the previous city council put forward an ordinance amendment that would eliminate the public safety director position. It was not clear if this proposal would result in the elimination of an employee or any salary savings.

The discussion got me thinking about how to best organize the City of Owosso public safety programs. Future budget challenges (due to declining revenues from the state and from property taxes) further spurred me to ask questions about how to provide the highest level of police, fire, and ambulance service at the lowest cost. In other words, how do we optimize our public safety programs?

At last night's (11/16) City Council meeting I requested that the City Manager provide us with information on several options for reforming our public safety programs. I suggested eight areas for research:

1. Elimination of the Public Safety Director position and other administrative restructuring.

2. Creation of a true Public Safety Department where police, fire, and ambulance personnel are cross-trained and provide support for one another in their duties.

3. Regional cooperation with surrounding jurisdictions whereby we expand on current mutual aid agreements to see if it possible to provide necessary services with less manpower or equipment.

4. Contracting some city public safety services to surrounding jurisdictions; apparently in the past Owosso has provided ambulance services.

5. Contracting with private companies to provide services.

6. Use of volunteers; currently the City saves considerable money through the volunteer services of Community Radio Watch.

7. Cooperation with the County Sheriff and/or the State Police; recently the City has examined closely cooperation in drug enforcement through the State MAGNET program.

8. Use of grant funds; e.g. Neighborhood Watch programs

The City Manager promised to provide an analysis of these and other options by the December 21 Council meeting. Importantly, there will be a financial analysis of these options so that we can compare the costs, as well as any non-financial benefits or risks, of each of these options. In addition, the experience of City employees will be drawn on through a formal request to the relevant unions for their ideas and input.

I am no expert on public safety, and some of the suggestions outlined above may be impractical or not lead to any cost savings. There are undoubtedly other ways to optimize public safety programs; for example, someone in the public hearing raised the idea of better managing overtime schedules of police and fire personnel. What I believe is important at this time is to get on the table as many options as possible so that they can be compared with one another and the best opportunities identified for saving taxpayer funds.

What ideas do you have for optimizing the public safety services in Owosso? Do you have any reaction, information, or insight to any of the options outlined above? It is critical that the public weigh in with their opinions. Thank you.

New Council, New Mayor

Four new members of the Owosso City Council were sworn in tonight (from left to right): Mike Erfourth, Cindy Popovitch, Tom Cook, and Chris Eveleth. As well, Ben Frederick was selected as Mayor and Cindy Popovitch chosen to be Mayor Pro Tem. I am excited to be working with these people, and the other two city councilmembers, Joni Forester and Gary Martenis.

I was flattered to be nominated for the Mayor's spot, which followed a number of requests supporters had made of me to consider serving as Mayor. I declined this opportunity for two reasons: 1) I believe the Mayor's position should go to someone who has been on the Council because they have more experience to draw on; and 2) because I believe that sometimes one can be a more effective leader when one does not have the restrictions of an official leadership position. There is a lot to be done in Owosso, and I want to be an advocate for change.

I believe Ben Frederick will be a good mayor. For the last several months I have observed him at council meetings, and he seems committed to the mechanics of good decision-making. He wants a good process, as well as a good outcome. I have seen him work hard to ensure that good information is available to the Council, that a variety of opinions are heard, and that the public has access to the process. I have also had the opportunity to talk through several issues with him. It's clear we won't agree on everything, but I feel as if we will be able to communicate well and work toward compromise where needed. That should yield good policy. Several people told me he was ambitious and someday seeks higher office. To me, that is not a bad thing. Drive and commitment are how things get done; a lazy or disinterested Mayor would not serve our community well. Right now, Ben Frederick is our Mayor, and I hope that by working with him we can both accomplish a lot for Owosso.

Cindy Popovitch will be a good second in command. Her performance in the election proves she can connect well with the public, and that will be an important quality as the City moves forward. I am happy that she will get more visibility and recognition for all of her hard work on behalf of Owosso.

It's important to remember that the Mayor has very little power in the city manager form of government that Owosso has. The Mayor's primary function is to chair the meeting, and the Mayor Pro Tem's task is to fill in when the Mayor is absent. As well, the Mayor presides at official functions. Ben and Cindy will do these jobs well. The Mayor makes appointments, and this is an important task; I feel confident that Ben will seek the input of other council members when making appointments.

Again, I am excited about this team, and ready to get to work. We will be immediately busy at our next meeting when we hold a public hearing on an ordinance amendment to eliminate the public safety director position from the city government structure. I have had a few thoughts on this (see earlier posting of my letter to the editor), but I would welcome your thoughts on this topic.

What would be the best structure for the management and operation of Owosso's fire, police, and ambulance services? Please share with me your suggestions.

Thank you for your support.