Thursday, April 18

THE BAIT AND SWITCH


Jeremy

          Thank you for your respectful comment. I hope that if your other officers decide to post, even anonymously, that they will maintain the same decorum. I don’t disagree with your numbers. However, you have to understand that we were told that the hiring of the second police officer would not significantly increase the budget. By your own words it was sold as not negatively impacting the budget; this is a fact and a real truth. I was on the finance committee that voted for it and I remember the deliberations well.

Here’s my problem, Life’s a pitch and then they buy. We are sold one thing and then after we buy we are told that the terms of sale have changed. It’s called a bait and switch and it is illegal; at least in the private sector. For instance, we were told that if we allowed the water users to use the town’s credit to buy the water company, the taxpayers would not have to pay one thin dime. To date we have already burdened the taxpayers with over a half million in subsidies. To add insult to injury the taxpayers are now being asked to pay another 1.17 million to relieve the debt for the users. We were told that adding an extra officer would not significantly increase the police budget. Now we are being told that the budget will have to be increased by a significant amount. This is a fact and a real truth. Why you can’t understand this is beyond me.

You ask a good question with your bottom line which I would like to address. Perhaps the town should reconsider if we want a 24/7 police dept. This issue has come up in the past and the town voted yes. However, with the costs involved in maintaining a full time police force constantly ballooning the town may have to revisit this issue. Some people feel that a town this size does not need a full time police presence. I was in favor of the full time police force and the new station when it was sold at a reasonable price. However, the terms of the sale are changing and now I am on the fence. If the budget is going to increase too much then I might go with someone who suggested that we eliminate the police force and turn the new station into a community center. You see, anytime the terms and conditions of a sale are changed the agreement can be canceled.

KevinZurrin

2 comments:

  1. Kevin,

    Here's another bottom line, you (the FC & BoS) were lied to. It is unrealistic to think that adding a third officer (subject to salary and benefits) to a budget meant for two would not change the numbers. No matter how you slice it, it is not possible.

    The department was mismanaged for years and now we are left to clean up the mess. I know that there is a lot on the plate for town meeting, but now is the time to set things straight. I’m not asking for a “Cadillac police department” as you said, just one up to par.

    Jeremy

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