Mayor Tolson with mic, Chief Walser standing

AUDIO (in MP3):

Sultan Town Meeting 3/15/07
re future of Sultan Police

(Main Page of 3/15 Town Mtg.; also see 1/30/07 town meeting page)

NOTES on our recording and digital audio. Click here if you would like to receive our periodic updates.

 

 

G.R.I.T.
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INTRODUCTORY PROCEEDINGS:

PUBLIC COMMENTS

  • Maxine Purbaugh: Advice to police is be more courteous and nicer; we could have a peaceful place here, can't see why it can't be like it was a long time ago.(Audio File E, 2:58 min. 525 kb)
  • Steve [last name unknown] - City says it can't afford police, but how can it afford NOT to have police, especially with the growth wave coming (1,400 new homes on the basin alone) (Audio File F-1, 1:33 min., 275 kb) Councilmembers respond -- Derek Boyd, Bruce Champeaux, Steve Slawson -- to Steve's question (Audio File F-2, 4:24 min., 777 kb)
  • Susan Hollenbeck - Thanks to all for coming; grant money dried up; how many does city have today?; questions re who pays for jail fees. Walser Responds; another Hollenbeck question and Walser response. (Audio File G, 6:25 min., 1.1 mb)
  • Kerry Ourada - Various statements; believes this issue should be decided by citizens, not the council, via ballot vote. (Audio File H-1, 3:03 min., 539 kb) Derek Boyd responds (Audio File H-2, 2:51 min., 503 kb)
  • Ken Marshall - Favors sheriff's department; new SPD Dodge Charger cost $45,000 all by itself. Responses from Chief Walser, Lt. Scott Berg and Councilman Jim Flower. (Audio File I, 8:25 min., 1.5 mb)
  • Karen Powers - Gone to police on three occasions with serious problems; feels they're unapproachable. Chief Walser responds. (Audio File J, 4:52 min., 838 kb)
  • Elizabeth Kirkman - Feels police are proactive and sees them being effective in school system. (Audio File K, 1:48 min. 320 kb)
  • Robin Maybery - Advocates for people to sign up to serve on Citizen Advisory Board; Chief Walser concurs, and urges involvement in Neighborhood Watch Program ("The more eyes we have in the community, the safer we'll be.") (Audio File L, 3:43 min., 636 kb)

[G.R.I.T. NOTE: Approx. six minutes of a citizen's statement was excised, at their request, with comments re an operational drug house close by, as well as a minute or two of the SPD response which contained identifiable content.] The second portion of the SPD officer's (sorry, did not record their name) statement can be found here (Audio File M, 2:41 min., 474 kb)

  • Cheryl [could not catch last name] - Gave several instances of police inaction and asked why it takes so long to clean up a drug house. Chief Walser's and Officer Holman's response to one of the examples Cheryl gave. (Audio File N, 4:46 min., 841 kb)
  • Gerry Gibson (Audio File O, 3:50 min., 693 kb) - Two minutes too short a time to address issues. Stated losing 70% of one's staff (i.e., police officers) will definitely affect quality of service. Re budget problems, people don't trust the city and the issue should be decided by a vote of the people. Complains the city spent $3.3 million in consultant services which would have paid for plenty of police. Tolson response: "Those are - consultants are pass-through dollars. The developer comes in, he needs to have something done, such as a review or uh, a[n] ecology, uh, uh - a-a checklist done, and things like that, those will be brought to them. The issue such as we have for consultants for our sewer lines and our water lines, those are paid for [and] commonly referred to as an "enterprise fund." The water line pays for the water issues, the sewer line pays for the sewer issues. We have a lot of those, yes we do. So does every city." [G.R.I.T. note: First, Mr. Gibson was talking about $3.3 million in consultant fees for planning, advisory and certain legal services and counsel, not certain developer "pass-through" fees for one-time charges of water and sewer new hook-up/connections or park and traffic impact fees which the developer always adds to the price of the new home he/she builds which are passed onto the homeowner. Moreover, the city fails to adequately charge developers back for a myriad of standard developer fees contained on its published Fee Schedule, so Tolson's statement is disingenuous, to say the least. A recent example of a fee on which developers receive a "Get out of jail free card" is the recent $1,500 fee (plus "direct costs" such as the city's legal fees and other incurred expenses) for a Hearing Examiner (John Galt) appeal by a developer whenever the H.E. denies a developer's plat application. Last year Galt recommended denial of approximately six plats, all of which were non-compliant due to incompetence and a sloppy planning process by the city which could easily have been avoided. Thus, at a very minimum, $9,000 could have been collected. Not a lot of money, true, but certainly enough to pay for the $9,000 the City spent to hire a lobbyist to schmooze the legislature for "free" water quality money to pay for improvements to its wastewater treatment plant so more developers can build more houses for more people who will be protected by less police. Whew....]
  • [sounds like "Eileen Olson or Nelson; lives on Skywall; Au dio File P, 2:35 min., 456 kb] - Kudos to Officer Larry Marshall. Asked the Sultan Police Officers to weigh in on what they think about being employed by the Sheriff's office. All officers gave their comments. (Audio File Q, 7:16 min., 1.3 mb) Officers Vipiiny and Gillespie elaborated upon sheriff's re-testing requirements and how difficult was the statewide-mandated testing and screening process was to endure; Councilman Steve Slawson's unfortunate comment, which attracted an auditorium-full of Boos, is in Audio File R (8:41 min., 1.5 mb): "You know, another thing I'd like to say, if, if our officers can't pass the test for the county, we don't really want 'em."
  • Mary Carson Ford - Urged everyone to form and participate in their local Neighborhood Watch programs and to take the FEMA-emergency mgt. training, both are wonderful (Audio File S, 2:12 min., 390 kb)
  • [Woman; no name was given] - Stated she had a law enforcement background; says the SPD are so very professional. Responses by Derek Boyd and Steve Slawson; became fairly contentious. (Audio File T, 6:56 min., 1.2 mb)
  • Interim Sultan School Superintendent (did not catch his name) - Kids need consistency; support police in schools; comments by Councilman Boyd. (Audio File U, 3:48 min., 670 kb)
  • Eileen Harrington - Thanks to all officers. Voted against the recent police levy ONLY because she did not wish the city to manage it, but instead wanted the funds to go directly to the Police so they could use it for things they really need. Her son has had his bicycle stolen. She said"We have lost our city to kids, and they run this town." Advocates for curfew. Chief Walser response - Supreme court, in their infinite wisdom, determined that a curfew is "unconstitutional." Strongly requested that people record their bicycle's serial number and engrave their own numbers on their bikes. (Audio File V, 7:29 min., 1.3 mb)
  • Ed Boucher - He thinks the Sultan police are "The Best" and that the council and mayor are the "best that money can buy." Stated, however, that contracting with the Sheriff sounds like a "great way to go." But disappointed that they could not hear the Sheriff's presentation tonight. (Audio File W, 3:11 min., 563)
  • Rob Criswell (former Sultan Councilman)- Feels that battery of tests should be done on an annual basis because of the stresses and psychological strains to which police are constantly subjected. He was a councilman for six years and stated that he cannot remember a time when the police expenses did not exceed its budget (not true). Response by Officer Peiria re testing, and statement by New SPD officer Liz Faith. Fred Walser also responds (Audio File X, 7:41 min., 1.4 mb)
  • Mayor Tolson - Meeting wrap-up, (inaudible) statement by City Administrator Deborah Knight outlining the "next steps in this process" (negotiations with the county -- sounds like a done deal to us), and meeting adjournment. (Audio File Y, 1:30 min., 272 kb

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