PBA president comes out against revised charter referendum

Posted by Howard Owens on October 31, 2009 - 2:36pm
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City residents, when you vote on the revised City Charter on Tuesday, Frank Klimjack wants you to consider one additional thing: You may be voting on whether Batavia has its own police department in the future.

Klimjack, president of the Police Benevolent Association, is asking city voters to just say no.

"I really think what this administration is looking to do is over time get rid of the police department," Klimjack said. "They will tell you it will be a merge, but there's no merging. You have to abolish your police department, and then hopefully the guys who are still hanging, maybe the sheriff's department picks them up or maybe they get picked up by another municipality."

The proposed change to the charter would strike the words "There shall be a police department ..." and add in "the City Council may choose to establish a police department. ..."

"That's huge," Klimjack said. "That's a total 180 degree change, where they tell you they're behind the police, 'we support the police,' and then they turn around and want to run this charter by you."

And Klimjack isn't sure what the city would replace the current police force with.  It can't be the State Police, he said, unless state law is changed, and he isn't sure bringing in the Sheriff's Office will really save city taxpayers any money.

Currently, the city is patrolled, usually, by four police officers. The Sheriff's Office would need to hire 30 additional deputies to keep the same level of service.

"The Sheriff is not going to do it for free," Klimjack said. "Is there savings? There may be some small savings, but what do you get for it? You get an occupational force that has no ties to the city whatsoever."

Klimjack worries that low voter turn out in an off-year election will mean that relatively few people are deciding the future of the police protection and service they get.

He's concerned, also, he said, that the level of service for the city, without a local police force, will be not as good as what citizens get now.

"The consolidation of dispatch," Klimjack said, "you'll hear it's been great, but it's been nothing but a disaster on the working end, for the guys who are actually working in the field. Did we save any money? I don't think we did. I live in the City of Batavia and I didn't see it in my tax dollars. I just look at that as the first step in consolidation and do you really want to get rid of the Police Department?"

Posted by Dave Olsen on October 31, 2009 - 9:03pm
How is it that the Sheriff's Dept would have to add 30 deputies to replace 4 police officers?
Posted by Charlie Mallow on October 31, 2009 - 9:25pm
He is talking about how many officers it would take to keep the staffing level 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Posted by Gary Spencer on October 31, 2009 - 9:37pm
Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight!!!!
Posted by John Roach on November 1, 2009 - 10:37am
Turned mine back, but thanks Gary.
Posted by Marlene Morris on November 3, 2009 - 6:56pm
I went to vote this afternoon, but when I walked in and looked at the sample ballot, I realized that I had no knowledge about the City Charter. There was no information to look at pointing out the specific changes so I had to leave. I tried to look up information. I was wondering how (what methods) City Council informed its' electorate. Someone suggested trying the city's webpage which I did. I looked at the dailynewsonline and finally here. What I learned is that I should have come here after reading the charter. What I would have liked to have seen was not only the proposed changes, but also an official justification for those changes and what we will see on the ballot.

Why don't we need a City Engineer? Why change the terms for council members from 3 to 4 years? Why not mention money amounts for compensation of council members and the president? As to the police and fire departments, what is the justification for safety of us city residents or only for cost cutting measures? I think the latter.

After seeing how fast the police arrived at the recent accident on Main St., it reminded me of this summer seeing an accident on a county road, not far from the County Park. There was a need for an ambulance. I stopped to see if I could help, someone was administering first aid. But the people seemed frustrated due to the waiting. I am not critizing the sheriffs department; they cannot be everywhere. Would the Sheriff's dept. have dedicated cars in the city, too?

Just some thoughts. Besides I need to go to vote and exercise my rights.
Posted by John Roach on November 3, 2009 - 7:17pm
The recomended changes are on the city web site. That was mentioned on the Batavian a while ago. From comments, it's clear many people saw it.

As for the Engineer-the city does not do any of its own engineer work anymore. It's done by contractors or the State. Since we don't do engineering work, why pay a high priced engineer?

I like the idea of saving money and cutting the city work force. Everyone is always saying we need to cut and tonight, they get the chance to do it.

The term went from 3 to 4 years, becuase you can not have an odd number of years under New York State Law. Since it was 4 in the past, this change just cleaned it up. I wish we could have 3 year terms, but we are not allowed to (Big Brother in Albany).

Hope this answeres a few of your questions.