Sworn Personnel are Under Attack in Vallejo and Orange County - Alameda County is Very Different

If you believe everything you read in the newspapers, every local government is on the verge of financial collapse. Some cities and counties are facing hard times, but the reality is never as bad as the fear-mongers would have us believe.

Vallejo has problems, no doubt about it. But their problems were created and exist entirely within their city boundaries. The exodus of industrial commerce, lack of retail businesses and declining property values make Vallejo the perfect storm. Can they find the money? No, their tax base won't support the tax increases utilized by virtually every other city in the state, so sales taxes and utility tax increases are apparently out of the question.

What concerns police and fire associations is the widespread news coverage blaming sworn personnel compensation for the city's decline. Most cities spend most of their general-fund money on public safety. Vallejo's public safety budget reportedly comprises 80 percent of the city's annual budget - high by most standards. But no matter what the percentage is, blaming police and fire professionals for lack of proper funding mechanisms is wrong, and we're hoping that this trend stops here.

The shortsighted among us are claiming Vallejo's public safety programs are too expensive. What they should be saying is that the city has not created a sustainable financial structure to pay for vitally important services. Cities like Vallejo have many options to replace their declining industrial base; many cities recruit new car dealerships, big-box stores like Target and Costco; other cities with limited sales tax revenues manage to get by promoting tourism or with utility taxes and property assessments. These solutions require minimal foresight and leadership. Still, too many local governments are struggling because administrators and elected officials have their heads in the sand.

Orange County's problem is much simpler. They have the money, and they have a salary and benefit contract agreement with their deputy sheriffs. Their Board of Supervisors just wants to renege on the agreement. They're not poor; they're just dishonest.

If the members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors are successful in their lawsuit, they will overturn a pay and benefits agreement signed in 2005. If that happens, deputy sheriffs in Orange County will receive a surprise, retro-active pay cut. The impact on officer morale would be immediate and severe, and at a time when the Orange County Sheriff's Department already has more than its share of problems. From our perspective, the cost to repair the damage to the Orange County Sheriff's Department will be many times over more expensive than leaving their salary and benefits agreements in place.

Alameda County Is An Entirely Different Story: The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is one of, if not the most efficient and effective law enforcement agencies in the country. Alameda County residents and businesses have invested in our Department, and the results are apparent in the skills and professionalism of our nearly 1,000 line-level deputy sheriff, and our "triple crown" accreditation for the department.

Officer morale has always been good, and we enjoy good, if not great police-community relations. Likewise, our salary and benefit contract negotiations are generally congenial.

Alameda County, which receives most of its General Fund revenue from property taxes, spends roughly 35 percent of this money on public safety, far below Vallejo's estimated 80-percent figure. What's more, of Sheriff Ahern's budget of roughly $315 million, about $115 million of that is off-set from revenue generated through contracted police and detention and correction services.

We must recognize Alameda County has experienced a loss of revenue and the future is not certain. The Sheriff's Office will be contributing over $11 million as its share of the $72 million budget gap which will help balance the County budget. As a result, the Sheriff's Office is carefully managing resources to ensure that all jobs are protected. This will result in some belt-tightening in areas such as overtime, training and equipment purchases.

What is interesting to note in this era of public deficits, however, is that California counties that have already reported their tax rolls for 2008 are showing an increase over last year's amounts. Los Angeles County increased by 4 percent, and Orange County increased its property tax collection by 5 percent.

Alameda County's financial structure is very different from Vallejo's, and the history of our department is very different from most other departments, perhaps the opposite of Orange County's. Those places will continue to have conflict, but that does not mean we're up against the same challenge.

Alameda County deputy sheriffs appreciate the widespread support we receive from residents and businesses. We enjoy working for the ACSO, and we hope that our pride and dedication shows in our services.