Budget Ax May Cut Away Pomona Police, Fire Depts.

Already under pressure to head off an expected $4-million budget shortfall with across-the-board cuts, the city is examining the possibility of turning to the county for police, fire and library services.

“You always have more pride in something that belongs to you,” Councilman Jay Gaulding said of present city services. “But I think with the situation we now have we’ve got to squeeze dollars as much as we can.”

Contracting with the county for one or more of these services could reduce the cost of city government enough to stem the growing deficit, council members say, warning that either sharp spending reductions or some type of citywide assessment will be needed to allow this city of about 104,000 to continue providing essential services. All departments in the city have already been asked to cut their fiscal 1986-87 budget requests by 3.7%.

Approved Three Studies

The council recently approved funding for three studies to be conducted by the county on the costs and benefits the city could expect if it switched to county contracts. County budget analysts said the reports should be ready for council consideration later this month.

Lynwood and Azusa, two much smaller cities and the most recent to make similar changes, report substantial savings and no loss of jobs in the transition. But some Pomona employees could lose their jobs in a switch to county control, county officials said, although they added that further study is needed to determine exactly how many. Under a conty-contract plan, some of the people affected would become county employees; others might be transferred to jobs in other city departments.

Departments under consideration for dissolution are the police, with 220 employees, 63 of whom are civilian or non-uniformed workers; teh Fire Department, with 130 employees, six of whom are civilian; communications, with 26 workers who handle fire and police dispatching for the city, and the Pomona Public Library, with 34 workers.

$36.5-Million Budget

Under the current $36.5-million budget, the city spends $12.6 million for police protection, $8.9 million for fire services, $1.4 million for communications and $1.5 million for the library.

Gaulding and other council members said they will not decide whether to support the move until the county reports are complete. But Mayor G. Stanton Selby said that despite the city’s 88-year history of providing its own police and fire services, Pomona may have to make the move if it proves to be the least expensive alternative.

“I look at it in two directions,” said Selby. “As a citizen of Pomona I don’t like it. As mayor responsible to the entire city of Pomona, I see it as a possible solution to our money problems.”

Councilman Mark Nymeyer said he would approve the move only under certain conditions.

Wants More for Less

“I’m not going to buy into the county for exactly what we have now,” Nymeyer said. “We have to have an increase in services and save money.”

Nymeyer also said he thought city employees should receive first consideration for county jobs created by the switch.

“I don’t want the employees to think they are just little pawns we shuffle around to meet the budget,” he said.

The reports are being prepared by the Sheriff’s Department, the county’s Consolidated Fire Protection District and the county Public Library. So far, the three studies have cost the city $8,500.

The county Board of Supervisors would also have to approve any contracting agreements. A spokesman for Supervisor Pete Schabarum, whose district includes the Pomona area, said that although a decision by an incorporated city to contract for so many services at one time would be unusual, it probably would not be unmanageable.

List of Considerations

But he said a long list of considerations would have to be discussed before the supervisors could vote on the matter.

“What might be a real cost savings and benefit to Pomona might not be beneficial to the county,” said Michael Lewis, Schabarum’s chief deputy.

The quality of the existing city systems, potential liability from lawsuits and the amount of worker’s compensation that would have to be assumed by the county would be the main points of concern, Lewis said.

The proposal to contract service was raised in a Dec. 5 report from the 25-member Citizen’s Advisory Committee appointed by the City Council. The report criticized present and past city councils for what it called inept management practices that helped bring about the city’s current financial predicament.

“Since Proposition 13,” the report said, “Pomona has not lived within its means. . . . Pomona has used its reserves and utilized revenue sharing monies for operating expenses.

“Pomona must recognize itself for what it is,” the report continued. “We are not a rich city.”

The report suggested contracting city services as one way to reduce the projected $4-million shortfall. The city’s growing financial problems came to light in July when public protests persuaded council members to scuttle a planned citywide assessment district for tree trimming and street lights. The failure of the assessment plan left a $1.3-million gap in the city budget, a deficit that is expected to grow to $4 million in fiscal 1986.

Neither city nor county officials would discuss how much money they thought the city could save under the contracting plan or whether jobs would be lost. But some county officials said it seems unlikely that all city employees would be offered jobs. And some city workers who qualify for county positions may have to accept lesser titles than they hold now, the officials said.

Little Room for Employees

Pomona budget officer Dayle Keller said there is little room in the fiscal 1986-87 budget to absorb employees forced out by such a switch, unless the City Council votes to create more jobs to accommodate them.

The jobs of police chief, fire chief and head librarian are among those that would be eliminated under the more centralized structure of county government, county officials said.

Reactions of the three department heads varied.

Fire Chief John Fowlkes said he could see merit in both approaches, Librarian Hal Watson was noncommittal, and Police Chief Don Burnett said he was opposed to the idea.

Burnett said he thought contracting would probably result in reduced police service to the city.

“I would never consider it a good move for the city,” Burnett said. “When you have a city this size, I feel a local police agency can be much more responsive.”

Chief Won’t Transfer

Burnett also said he would not accept a position with the Sheriff’s Department if it were offered.

“I’ve worked 24 years to achieve what I want to achieve,” said Burnett, who came to Pomona from Garden Grove in 1981. “I’m not about to take what I would consider a step down.” Burnett said he plans to prepare a department cost study for the council.

The mood in the Police Department, according to Burnett and other officers, is one of uncertainty. Michael Price, president of the Pomona Police Officer’s Assn., said that although his group has not yet taken a position, it would be powerless to prevent the change.

“If the city decides to contract services to the Sheriff’s Department we will do whatever we can to make the transition easy,” Price said.

Loss of Rank Possible

The police association, he added, will soon distribute a salary and benefit comparison of county and city jobs. He said some of the higher-ranking Pomona officers might have to accept lower rank if they were hired by the Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s Capt. John C. Thurman, a contract law specialist who is preparing the Sheriff’s Department report, said he had not done enough research to make preliminary estimates on how much the city could save or how many city employees might be hired. But he said that in the past, most employees in cities with existing police departments have been given county positions.

Thurman said an effort would be made to hire Pomona employees who meet the county’s qualifications, which vary according to position. But he said the number of openings countywide would also play a role in determining how many would be offered jobs.

Of the 84 cities in Los Angeles County, 36 contract with the Sheriff’s Department, 44 contract with county fire districts, and 48 contract for library services.

The most recent decision by a city to eliminate its police department in favor of county service was made by Lynwood, a community of about 50,000 in southern Los Angeles County that began contracting in 1977.

Concerned About Lawsuits

Donald J. Fraser, Lynwood’s assistant city manager, said the move was made because of concerns over city revenues, although budget problems there were not as severe as Pomona’s. Lynwood was also concerned about the potential for loss in suits against its police department.

Fraser said Lynwood has saved about $5 million overall since it made the switch, and has seen no signs that the cost will rise above what it would have been had the city continued to provide the service. The city now allots $3 million of its $17-million budget to the Sheriff’s Department, Fraser said.

“The service we got was tremendous,” said Lynwood Councilman John Byork, who was on the council in 1977. “Cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Department get a heck of a lot more service than they can by independent means.”

Councilman E. L. Morris, who also was on the council during the transition, said all but four of the city’s approximately 65 police employees were given jobs with equal or higher pay in the Sheriff’s Department. Three who were not, he said, could not pass a county physical, and got disability payments. The fourth, the police chief, retired.

Second Phase

Thurman said that after the council receives his cost study, he will ask it to approve a second phase of research that will provide an in-depth look at how much of the current city police force the county could absorb. That report would cost about $25,000, he said.

It is the second phase that worries Burnett.

“If they go to Phase 2 we know it’s all over; they’ll be going to the county,” Burnett said.

Fire Chief Fowlkes said he was not concerned about losing his title, and that because he is 53, retirement is one option available to him if the Fire Department is disbanded.

Barbara Fondrick, who is preparing the county reports on fire services, said it is the county’s policy when taking over fire protection to hire all city firefighters who pass a physical examination. However, it is unlikely that the six civilian employees would be hired, she said.

“We don’t take the civilian staff,” Fondrick said.

Azusa Disbanded Fire Service

The city that most recently disbanded its fire department was Azusa, a community of 34,500 that began contracting with the county for fire service in 1983. Eight other cities have joined the county fire district in the past 19 years, including Claremont.

So far the move has saved Azusa about $300,000, said Julio Fuentes, assistant to Azusa City Manager Lloyd Wood. Of 29 Fire Department employees, all but three got jobs with the county, and those three retired, he said. Among them was the fire chief.

According to county library administrators, Pomona would be the first city to give up its own library in favor of contracting the service. Watson, Pomona’s head librarian, has not yet taken a position on the switch. He said he had not decided if he would take a county job, retire or seek a job elsewhere if library services are contracted.

“I would certainly not be in favor of anything that means we will lose employees,” Watson said. “I know they would not need a city department head. There’d be no place for me, no matter what I did.”

Michael Garofalo, a regional county library administrator who is preparing his department’s report, said it was unlikely that the county could absorb all 34 city library employees.

“We don’t have the kind of money to absorb that number of people,” Garofalo said. “It would be difficult to imagine that.”

SERVICE COSTS Departments Considered for Contract and Current Budgets Police Department $12.6 million Fire Department $8.9 million Communications $1.4 million (dispatch) Library $1.5 million The total Pomona budget for 1985-86 is $36.5 million with a $4-million deficit projected for 1986-87.