Hollister council members and county supervisors expressed a variety of perspectives about a consultant’s report recommending that the two governments do not fully consolidate law enforcement agencies despite an estimated $316,000 in savings.
The council and board held the joint meeting Tuesday night to get a presentation on the report from the consultant, Municipal Resources Group, and its two representatives at the gathering.
That consulting group has been putting together an “initial study” on potential consolidation for about a year. The city and county split the $20,000 cost.
Managing Consultant Mike Oliver and Dan Drummond, who doubles as police chief in West Sacramento, gave an overview of the report released Friday and answered questions from the elected officials. Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia was the only member of the two boards who was absent.
There were several other influential leaders in the local law enforcement community – including District Attorney Candice Hooper, Sheriff Darren Thompson and Police Chief Jeff Miller – who attended to watch the proceedings.
Those talks resulted in a wide variety of perspectives. Some of the officials still appeared open to a full consolidation. Others expressed skepticism about the involved complexities, while one councilman openly admitted he had been “hopeful” the savings would have exceeded the estimated $316,000 – about 5 percent of total law enforcement costs for the two agencies combined – presented in the report.
Municipal Resources Group, in the end, concluded that the similar sizes of the departments, geographic variances of jurisdictions and contrasting compensation were among the main reasons for the recommendation.
Though the consultant wasn’t supportive of consolidation, the report did list 10 areas where the two agencies can better cooperate – such as vehicle maintenance and detective bureaus – which could possibly save money.
“I think we were a little more hopeful,” said Hollister Councilman Victor Gomez, who went on, “Three-hundred thousand dollars is not going to be enough in cuts for us.”
One of three public speakers on the matter – the attending law enforcement officials did not speak – held a different view of the estimated savings presented by Municipal Resources Group.
“How many officers would that put inside the deal?” asked local resident Richard Ferrera, who wanted the two boards to take the question of consolidation to a vote of the people.
Ferrera also disagreed with the consultants on another main reason for the recommendation against consolidation. The consultant’s report viewed the move as a challenge due to the widely varying geography between county jurisdiction, which includes about 1,400 square miles, and the city’s, which encompasses 7.26 square miles. He pointed out that around 80 percent of the county’s population lives in or near City of Hollister limits.
“It’s the same people paying the bills,” Ferrera said regarding county and city taxpayers.
The notion of consolidation has been broached quietly for many years in a county with a total population of about 55,000, about two-thirds of which resides in Hollister. It became a central topic of debate during the 2010 sheriff’s race, particularly considering that both governments maintain structural deficits and are deflating their reserves.
Hollister’s budget problems appear more severe than the county’s – city officials last week discussed asking voters to extend the 1 percent Measure T sales tax raising more than $3 million annually for a $14 million budget – which means it would have to be the driving force for any sort of formal arrangement between the police department and sheriff’s office. From here, it will be up to the council to decide a direction – full consolidation or a more formal agreement for cooperation – and then county supervisors would get a proposal for the final decision.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho on Tuesday called it a “City of Hollister decision” and acknowledged, “Maybe the timing is not exactly right.” But Botelho made it clear he remains open to a full consolidation, despite skepticism from the report.
“We may be consolidated anyway,” said Botelho.
He added that he would have preferred to see an analysis in the report of the existing areas where the police and sheriff’s departments already work together.
“Richard Ferrera was right – we are one people,” Botelho said.
Councilman Robert Scattini held a similar view as that of Botelho and also agreed with Ferrera.
“We’re going to have to do some consolidation,” he said, contending that the issue is not about the size of the agencies.
But it is clear there won’t be consensus either way. His colleague, Councilman Doug Emerson, called the consultant’s conclusions “very valid.”
And Supervisor Margie Barrios, the last official to speak, summed up potential consolidation in simple terms.
“It doesn’t appear that it’s going to happen,” she said.
