Combined law enforcement, stealth buildings

My thought is that if you like such impediments to common sense then it would be best to vote for Barrack Obama! He seems to be of the opinion the government is way smarter than ordinary people, who, by the way pay taxes, and therefore he and his minions should make all decisions to govern our lives. Sometimes it is nice to be old and realize that "they" can do little harm before I pass from the world that "they" are intent on screwing up beyond all belief!

This week I flew to Tulsa and picked up my wife from spending a couple of weeks visiting our daughter and family. It may have been a mistake to let her stay that long because she got used to being pampered. For instance, every afternoon she found her laundered clothing neatly folded and ready on her bed. She never cooked a meal, dusted a shelf or swept a floor the whole time. Bad mistake, because she came home and now expects such pampered treatment to continue. Ah, but it is good to have her back, and yes, she deserved the break! She just loves being retired!

It appears that the McCook City powers that be have decided to proceed by stealth and build a new "Public Safety Center." (see Todd Cappel's July 31 letter to the editor "City sales tax revenue for voter bonded projects?") I say by stealth because there are at least two legal ways to finance the project. The preferred method is to float a bond issue and, if the public consents, build the needed center. The big problem is the "IF" and recent experience, the large "NO" vote for the county's similar proposal, indicates that the public might not say yes to another large expensive city project.

A second way to commit taxpayers to financing a new Public Safety Center is a relatively new way to do public financing and that is called "Lease Purchase." It works the same way, costs a little more and gets around the requirement for a vote of the taxpayers. Most local governmental entities make major equipment purchases by lease purchase, which has the added advantage of not having to be defended at budget time. Just show the seed money in a one-year budget. McCook is planning on using $500,000 from the sales tax, get the project committed and the taxpayer will have no choice but to pay off the loan in future budgets.

Does the city need a new public safety center? In my opinion probably yes. I know that the present building the police department kind of grew like Topsy since it was initially built just after World War II. A new purposely designed building could be much more efficient. Notably absent from any discussion so far is what will happen to the city jail? Jail is a requirement of county government and for years the city has tried to weasel out of the responsibility of operating the "Holding Facility." Now if it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck is it a duck?

The fire department constantly wants to expand with ever more new and bigger (spelled expensive) equipment. The present sleeping quarters and living areas are far from optimum and there is no dedicated weight room either. Both the fire department and the police want to be away from the "dangers" of being located so close to a busy railroad.

The city offices, including the council boardroom, are unhandy and not handicap accessible. At present, the offices seem crowded, although organizations naturally seem to add personnel until all available office space gets utilized. My main question, though, is if we move the city offices what will happen to our wonderful old (already paid for) auditorium?

Yes I think that a case could be made to justify a new Public Safety Center and get a bond issue to pass if the taxpayer/voter could see some financial advantage to justify the expense.

For years I've advocated combining the police and sheriff departments with great potential for saving money. Throughout the USofA, a reasonable ratio of police officers to total population is 1 officer to 1000 residents. Red Willow County, including the McCook Police department has a ratio of about one sworn officer to 500 residents, twice as expensive it would seem as necessary. I would recommend eliminating the entire McCook City Police Department and enlarging the Sheriff's department enough to do the entire job. That move would eliminate the Police Union and give the public accountability through election as to who is in charge of that vital public safety function.

McCook recently, at considerable expense, installed a fine new dispatch center for fire and police. Yet the Red Willow County Sheriff's office continues to dispatch their own officers during office hours. Actually, with modern communications the McCook Dispatch Center could dispatch all of Southwest Nebraska and let the whole area share in the expense of the operation. But then, that would take cooperation and sadly we have seen little of that due to strong personalities and an innate propensity for empire building!

It will be interesting to see this whole public safety scenario play out!

That is the way I see it.