Posted 2/13/16 – We have recently heard in the press that several members of the Sierra Madre Police Department have left to take jobs elsewhere, leaving our force short. I don’t blame them for a minute. As someone who works for a living, I understand perfectly. Some people are advocating that we should slash the utility tax, which essentially provides the money for police services, and a lot of other things. Some people are advocating that we switch our police service to the Sheriff’s Department. Both of these ideas are false economies. Without the utility tax we do not have the money for a huge percentage of our budget including police, no matter where we get it from. My bet is that when we look at the number quoted by the Sheriff it is for only bare bones service, and that at any level, the level we are accustomed to or any other level, the Sheriff would cost at least 25% more than our own department, as well as being less satisfactory to most Sierra Madre residents. As Pogo so famously said, “We have met the enemy and it is us”.
Eric Olson
Sierra Madre