Minutes - Council Work Session - 07/31/2007

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Councilmember Look stated he thinks the recreation coordinator position is a luxury. As property values go up in future years they should look at that position, but he finds it difficult to add additional staff during a time when it is as flat as it is. Regarding the police officer position, he inquired ifthe officer to population ratio is 1 per 1,000. Police Chief Way replied that is the general ratio that is discussed. He would rather that be one factor along with other things, such as calls for service. Councilmember Look asked how many patrol officers the City currently has. Police Chief Way replied there are 15 officers, and they also need to do administrative things; the number of sworn personnel is at 22. If they look at the 1 per 1,000 ratio, the Ramsey population is about 22,050. The Stanton book recommends factoring in many things such as whether there is a high school in the City, the daytime population, whether there is a highway in the City, etc. The metro average ratio is 1.3 total officers per 1,000. Councilmember Elvig commented one thing that convinced him to add officers the last few years was that they could not muster enough inertia and overlap to get more than one officer on at night with union requirements. Police Chief Way indicated current staffing consists of two officers at night and three in the afternoon. On July 1,2007 they went to three officers in the afternoon, then an officer was hurt and they are now paying overtime to cover the third officer position. He stated he is okay with eliminating the request for the patrol officer position. However, it should be known that he originally requested two officers, and next year he will be back requesting the officer. They will not be able to do a lot of extra things, and there will need to be a price for things like the special events and special requests that are received. There was additional discussion of the police officer position that included the following topics: · The cost of an officer related to crime prevention: currently the City's Police Department is reactive rather than proactive · The use of community service officers and reserve officers · Additional work load that will result from the newly adopted abatement ordinance · Overtime will always be a cost; it is not used to pay for vacations and holidays, but it is necessary for coverage when an officer calls in sick and court time. Councilmember Look stated this is a $10 million budget and they are discussing 1.3% of the budget. He finds it difficult to believe there is not 1.3% of flexibility in this budget. Councilmember Elvig stated he appreciates staff putting these reduction options forward. He has been a non-advocate for hirjng all along, and this is a tough year. If the City is not growing and the revenue is not growing he does not see how they can continue at the pace they are currently at. Wages, health costs, fuel, the cost of living, everything is up. To maintain a flat rate or a slightly reduced rate is a good shot and a good way to start this. City Council Work Session / July 31, 2007 Page 11 of 18