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By CLARK MASON
The PRESS DEMOCRAT
With both the police chief and fire chief retiring in July in Healdsburg, City Council members were faced with several choices:
In the end, the council chose “C.”
After several closed sessions, council members decided earlier this week that the most sensible thing to do in tight budgetary times was promote from within.
“Ultimately, the council decided they wanted to achieve greater savings by using existing staff,” said City Manager Marjie Pettus.
The city projects a $800,000 deficit in fiscal year 2010-2011. By delaying replacements for Police Chief Susan Jones and Fire Chief Randy Collins, the city will save approximately $390,000, Pettus said.
“It helps us cut it in half,” she said. “We never would have considered doing this if we didn’t feel we had good, qualified people that could step into the roles on an interim basis.”
The council also wanted to retain as many patrol officers and firefighters as possible, said Mayor Jim Wood.
“If we felt it was damaging our ability to provide public safety for people, we wouldn’t have gone in this direction,” he said.
“Is this the ideal situation? We’ll see how well we can make this work,” said Councilman Gary Plass, a retired Healdsburg police sergeant. “By cutting at the top we hopefully won’t have to cut as deeply at the bottom.”
Three police sergeants are qualified to compete for the newly created lieutenant’s position, which will serve as acting chief.
“We can make a promotion as soon as possible, and that person can be my shadow until June 30,” said Jones, 53.
Collins, 51, also feels sure there are candidates able to serve as interim fire chief.
“I have a very high degree of confidence in my staff to continue to run this organization in my absence,” he said. “One of the reasons I’m retiring is, obviously the chief is the highest paid. By me leaving, there is a greater likelihood we can keep other personnel here.”
Collins’ salary is $139,000 a year, while Jones makes $149,600. But with benefits, including pension, medical and longevity pay, each chief costs the city about $272,000 a year, Pettus said.
Both departments have been decimated by budgets cuts as Healdsburg, like other cities, responds to reduced property, sales and hotel tax revenues.
Two years ago, the police department had 18 sworn officers and a $5.1 million budget. Next year’s budget tentatively calls for 14 sworn officers and a $3.9 million budget, Jones said.
The fire department’s budget has gone from $2.95 million last year to $2.7 million this year, with 10 full-time employees, a part time administrative assistant and 29 volunteer firefighters.
While the interim chiefs will handle operations, Pettus plans to be involved with budgets and other administrative responsibilities.
“That’s where my oversight will be,” she said.
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What you need to do is get hired by a police department in California at age 20. You must be psychologically and physically sound with no history of drug use and no criminal record.
Then, work for 30 years as a police officer. In this time you will have written an encyclopedia’s worth of paperwork, completed about 8 to 10 years of college education, passed exams for Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, and review boards to be promoted to chief of police overcoming all competition along the way because your leadership skills exceed everyone else in your department and you’ve steered through all the political mine fields in city government making no enemies along the way. Even one opponent in 30 years can derail your promotion and career.
If you have what it takes and are willing to take all the mental and physical risks and completely compromise your beliefs on every issue you ever face at every level then you too can retire at 50 as a police chief.
You’ve probably got a one in a million chance that all of this actually happens. But, as all Press Democrat readers know, city government hands out retirement packages like candy to anyone for no reason at all. Right?
You can look forward to moving to Arizona and playing a lot of golf and spending a lot of time at the doctor’s office — you’ll need those medical benefits by then because 30 years of hard work and dangerous conditions take a toll.
Good Luck Steve. Of course you could have done it too had you simply set aside 15% of your paycheck into a money market account. By the time you are 50 you could have an annuity paying you $5000 a month for life. You thought of that at age 20 right?
If you break it all down in real terms and set aside all the sour grapes and resentment inherent in this topic, just about anyone could set themselves up to retire well at 50. Most people are unwilling to pay the price and make the sacrifices during their working life. Twenty-year olds have a tough time imagining retirement. Plenty succeed and most or all are resented by those who failed to plan ahead.
Wow, we should all be so lucky as to retire at such a young age with full pensions and benefits. Government at all levels should wake up and understand that the average taxpayer works well into their 60′s, retires on what they saved and seeks health benefits either publicly or privately for the rest of their lives. The government pension plans and pay scales are out of control.