Officers point to potential shutdown.
Gregory Benchwick, The San Francisco Examiner
MILLBRAE -- With Wednesday’s announcement indefinitely postponing the Millbrae/
Burlingame police services merger for the next two years, the city of Millbrae is scrambling to find solutions to keep its ailing Police Department alive. Some officers point to the possibility of a departmental shutdown.
Detective John Aronis, vice-president of the Millbrae Police Officers Association, said there are only two options for the department: “Either we don’t exist or the public safety tax passes.”
Aronis points to a bleak three-year forecast for the Millbrae Police Department, saying the department may need to be closed, in which case the city would contract with the Sheriff’s Department for police services and Millbrae officers would become deputies. “With the public safety tax, we could still hire people and be a top-notch Police Department,” Aronis said.
The shared service agreement was put on hold after the Burlingame Police Department announced it had cut a deal with the city to delay an improved benefits package. The agreement will save Burlingame some $800,000 over the next two years, a bigger savings than the projections for shared services. As part of the deal, almost all avenues for shared police services between the two municipalities are put on hold.
The shared services agreement was already taken into account in Millbrae’s current budget, which still faces a $284,000 deficit. The agreement would have saved the city $35,000 this year alone, with much more substantial savings in coming years. While the merger is on hold, it could still see the light of day, according to interim Police Chief Brown Taylor, because the agreement doesn’t preclude a shared chief or shared dispatch services.
“I’m disappointed, because I think it was an opportunity for both cities to institute good government practices. Burlingame stands to make some money -- at least the police officers and their sworn personnel. We won’t be able to merge that particular faction,” said Police Chief Brown Taylor. “We still have consolidation of dispatch and records to come to the council soon.”
Aronis wondered if the Burlingame Police Department didn’t “shoot themselves in their own feet by doing what they did,” as the deal only precludes a merger for the next two years. “If the city of Burlingame still believes in consolidation, they can come back after this and say, ‘Thanks for the savings.’”
Millbrae’s interim city administrator Jeff Killian says the city is talking with other agencies about joint operational opportunities.
The city is still exploring the possibility of merging fire services and police communications with San Bruno. A three-city police communications merger -- with San Mateo, Burlingame and Millbrae -- is still on the drawing board, according to Killian.
“We’ve seen a delay. At the same time, there seems to be a recognition that there are a lot of benefits that could be achieved by having a consolidation. That benefit would be primarily to the public,” Killian said. “It has granted that mergers and consolidations can be very complex and they can’t be arranged overnight.” The proposed consolidation would have taken place over two to three years, according to Taylor.
With the question of “to merge or not to merge” temporarily suspended from the city’s agenda, public safety should be addressed, according to Aronis.
“I think we’re at the danger zone already. If somebody gets hurt or we have a major catastrophe or crime, we are right at the edge of the danger zone,” Aronis said. “I could tell you that if something happened tomorrow, we would probably ask for assistance from outside agencies. You can’t ask for assistance all the time.”
Over the past 14 months, the Police Department has reduced its staff from 32 to 26, letting many positions fall to attrition. Many officers say the high attrition rate stems from low pay and a poor benefits package.
Officer Aaron Treadway, a seven-year Millbrae veteran, will leave his post Oct. 3, moving down to work in Redwood City. He said the move will give him and his family an extra $20,000 a year in benefits and increased salary.
“It does have to do with knowing that the city of Millbrae is in such a dire financial situation and knowing that for the next three to five years it’s going to be bad,” Treadway said.
Taylor says the situation is not as bad as some officers are making it out to be.
“We’re stable in terms of personnel, in terms of where we are. We’re not going to lay anybody off,” said Taylor. “We are able to provide good services for the city. We’re a very efficient operation.”