| G.R.I.T. UPDATE, Sunday, January 13, 2002 | |
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Click
on subject for Highlights: Good morning! Well,
this update took too long to do and is only half of what I wanted folks
to know. (I was hoping to get the complete transcription done of
the January 7th continuation meeting of the 1/2/02 council session, but
am only halfway through. )But a couple of important issues have come
up that need to be commnicated immediately, in case anyone is not yet
aware of what's been going on.
FIRST, and most importantly,
if you haven't heard this yet you need to: Mayor
Rowe pink-slipped three officers last week. Commander
J. C. Becker has made a statement on this, and I have reprinted it at
the end of this update in its entirety, without commenting on it.
My
own feeling on this subject is that I would like to see the council
chambers FULL of Sultan residents, taxpayers who should be alarmed at
this action and outraged that middle school security may be compromised.
One of the released officers is being paid with grant money (see Herald
article http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/02/1/13/15006954.cfm )
and from all accounts, the kids like and respect him. The school
is over-crowded, due in large part to the too-soon-too-fast development
which has occurred without proper concurrency oversight and control.
My thoughts are that if the city can spend nearly a quarter of a million
dollars on consultant fees in one year to review new development and growth
proposals, they should certainly be able to find the wherewithal to leave
these officers on the payroll, especially since they have voluntarily
offered to reduce benefits and pay.
Additionally,
we have heard from two independent sources that one reason this action is
being taken is to sidetrack an effort by the police to urge
that an audit of the city's finances be initiated. Not a bad thought,
that. Why didn't anyone else think of it?
And
whatever the reason for the officers' dismissal, this appears to be an
overly heavy-handed action to which taxpayers should demand and receive
an answer. Were these three officers troublesome because of disciplinary
problems? Did the city's financial condition suddenly turn from
a cold to pneumonia overnight? What happened that would jusify
such a precipitous action?
For
myself, if I actually lived inside the city limits (and thank goodness
I do not!), I would be in next Wednesday's council chamber demanding
the mayor's resignation. Just one too many straws and a bit too
much smoke, ya know?
SECOND,
G.R.I.T.'s RECORDING OF CITY MEETINGS:
This
issue is one of extreme concern. The city attorney and the council
need to step in to put a stop to the ridiculous charade occurring in council
chambers. The slow escalation of objections to our audio recording
through actions of folks other than us, and by non-action by the
mayor (as well as the city attorney), has put the taxpayers in jeopardy.
The
open public meetings act is clear on the point of recording
and the city attorney knows and understands that, if not the mayor and
others of his close association. Our recording has been going on
since June of 2000 without disrupting anyone or anything until early December
of 2001 when the mayor raised objections because of the "damage"
being caused to the ceiling. And despite our best efforts to work
within the mayor's whims, neither he nor the attorney have given us any
firm or factual basis as to why this recording was causing a problem. (Our
letter dated December 28th addressed to the Mayor Rowe and attorney Weed
remains unanswered.)
If
you wish to learn the specific details of the city's continuing harassment
(under the color of law) of our recording efforts, please check out our
website (www.ittakegrit.org).
And
despite rumors to the contrary in Sultan's newest "publication," the
Sky Valley Weekly, we do not record anything unless it is in
a public meeting, and not until the meeting actually begins. (Unlike
Brady Boucher, who came uninvited to a private gathering of candidates
who were running on the same platform as Dr. Raney last fall. He
walked into the Grange, and without a word to anyone, set up his videotape
camera and began recording the event and conversation. Or, worse,
comes to a public meeting with two five-foot mic stands with mics which
are not connected to anything, two geriatric boom boxes, one of which
has no tape in it at all, and in which the tape is not being transported.
Also curious about this set-up is the fact that the antennas were
extended on all three boom boxes -- one of which was his dad's -- which
have no functional purpose in the record mode.)
NEXT, OPEN HOUSE IN MONROE, REVIEW AND COMMENT
ON SNOHOMISH COUNTY'S DRAFT EIS FOR THE MINERAL
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
Be
sure to come early to this event and comment often!!! (smile)
This
event is scheduled from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in Monoe at the
East County Senior Center at 824 Village Way. Directions:
From Sultan, go west on Route 2, turn left at the first
traffic light (Main Street). Go about a mile(?) and turn LEFT onto Village
Way (You'll see a Windermere Real Estate office on the corner, which is
just before the entrance to the Monroe city hall complex.)
If
nothing else, It's VITAL that you ADD YOUR INDIVIDUAL VOICES to
the voice of solidarity of the other Snohomish County towns of Index,
Gold Bar, Sultan, Monroe and Granite Falls, which are saying loudly, clearly
and forcefully to the county that this EIS (Environmental Impact Statement)
does not even begin to adequately address transportation as a significant
factor. In fact, it has barely been mentioned. The county has
stated that this mineral plan is being done as part of the requirement
for the GMA process, and that its primary purpose is to identify mineral
resources to ensure their future "conservation." But, really, folks,
despite the pretty language, we all know that the blueprint this EIS presents
will set the permitting and extraction guidelines for gravel in the future,
and that includes the Powerhouse Project and any extraction east of Sultan
which will be using Highway 2 for transportation.
It
would also be extremely beneficial -- whether or not you come to the open
house -- that you write a short letter to the county planning person (Tom
Neimann, address on our website) to reinforce this same message.
SPEAK NOW OR DEAL FOREVER AND EVER WITH GRAVEL TRUCKS ON ROUTE 2!
Also
on the website is a copy of what Gold Bar is sending to the county, along
with the resolution that all the above-mentioned towns are sending to
the county. Each town will also be sending their individual
city-specific input on the EIS as it affects them (except Sultan).
We hope to obtain these comment letters for you at a later date.
SURFACE
WATER QUALITY PRESENTATION MADE BY BERRYMAN & HENIGER
Following
the January 7th council continution meeting Don Graf from Berryman and
Henigar made an interesting and easily-understandable presentation on
this badly-needed issue. I will try to trnascribe his complete presentation
and public comments next week. Thank you, Connie Dunn and Don Graf,
who has promised to provide me with a copy of the maps and his Powerpoint
presentation for posting on our website.
FUN
AT THE HIGH SCHOOL!! COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WORKSHOP
Well, what can I say? This was a FUN event! The format was a good one, and I think Tom Beckwith (the consultant for Sultant's comp plan process) and his helpers got more information than they needed in a very short period of time! About 35-40 follks showed up and were split into two groups. Each group had a facilitator who asked residents their opinion of various topics related to Sultan's future, like transportation, growth, parks, permitting, etc. One reason it was such fun is that it was done in an interactive, non-threatening and non-judgmental way. But also because it was fun being at a public meeting where people really, truly WANTED to hear what you had to say! Lotsa fun was had by all. (J.
C. Becler's statement appears below signature line)
Loretta
Storm, co-founder, GRIT
BECKER'S
LETTER
Released today, Sunday, January 13, 2002 from Police Commander J. C. Becker - statement he is planning on making to the council January 16, 2002: Sultan police morale is the worst it has ever been (in the five years I have been here). Rather than looking forward to futures, the officers are looking to leave and find a department with more stability. One officer (who was assigned to the schools is gone as of January 21). I have been personally told by 5 of the remaining seven patrol officers they have applied elsewhere and are in the process of leaving within 3-5 months. I myself will leave on May 1, 2002 unless a significant change takes place and we can save the officers who are leaving.
Some
things to consider With 2 officers, the sergeant and a chief there is no way patrol shifts can be staffed on a 24/7 basis. 2 officers per shift will be impossible so the state standards for response to domestic violence calls will not be able to be met and officers will either have to go to calls alone (thereby increasing the risk of injury OR the killing of a citizen because the officer lacks the ability to safely restrain them keep in mind the city can get sued for not having enough officers on a call and handling it poorly, look at some of the cities that have paid out millions in wrongful death claims). With 2 deputies on duty east county (from Snohomish to Skykomish) and 1 or no troopers all the way to Stevens Pass, backup from other agencies will be hard to come by and non-existent on routine calls or things like traffic stops (where many officers are killed). To replace the officers who are leaving (all with college degrees and 3+ years of service now) it will take 1-2 months to hire them, 7 months in the academy, 4 months on FTO (with a trained FTO and we will only have one, the sergeant left) it will be a minimum of ONE YEAR before we will be able to replace them and something I would consider if looking for police jobs, with Everett, Monroe, and Snohomish all hiring (and having never laid an officer off) who would want to come to Sultan and work in a place that had been laying officers off? The training costs for new officers will be one year s salary plus academy and uniforms and this assumes they make probation, experience has shown 1 in 5 do not, so those expenses on the lost officers are absolute wastes of money & Sultan officers handled 15,000 service calls last year, which at the reduced 2001 budget means it cost about $61 per call. That coupled with a 1-3 minute response time in emergency calls and 5 minutes on routine calls put us in the top 3% of all law enforcement agencies in the state. Our budget last year was 1/3 of Monroe s yet we handled half as many calls with half as many people. Even a non-math oriented person like myself can see these figures mean we have been doing something right. The county sheriff can not even come close to these numbers at twice the price, ask him! I implore you to bring a motion and resolution which includes: 1. An expression of appreciation for the police officer s sacrifice 2. A promise not to lay any police officer off without full council approval and then only after exhaustion of every other possibility. It is really in YOUR best interest as a resident because we are rapidly crossing a bridge, which will not be crossable again. If you loose your department, you ll not only loose your control, but your level of safety. |
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