SAN CLEMENTE : Foes Unite to Fight Disbanding of Police

Residents and business owners angered by the City Council’s decision last week to disband the Police Department and contract for services with the County Sheriff’s Department will meet Thursday to discuss options for overturning the vote.

“Since last week, my phone is ringing nonstop by people who are astounded at the City Council’s vote,” said Robb Topolski, a resident and former city emergency dispatcher who is organizing the meeting. “Some callers are those who maintain that losing the Police Department is not an available option. Some want to weigh the values of regional policing, but they want a fair accounting and a vote.”

Topolski said some are also asking for a recall drive against the four council members who voted in favor of the merger, which could save the financially troubled city an estimated $2 million during the 1993-94 fiscal year alone. Other possible options include an initiative and referendum bid, a court injunction or an effort to ask the County Board of Supervisors for a public vote of acceptance, Topolski said.

“It seems to me that attention has turned more toward anger at the council than at the issue,” Topolski said. “The people feel robbed of their opportunity to voice their opinion and have a vote on it.”

The public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, 1505 N. El Camino Real. A group of business people who created the We Support the SCPD committee, which paid for newspaper ads in support of the Police Department in recent weeks, will also be involved in the meeting.

After months of emotional debate, the City Council voted 4 to 1 last week to disband the 65-year-old Police Department and merge law enforcement services with the Sheriff’s Department. Council members voting in favor of the merger said estimated cost savings were too great to ignore, especially since the city is facing a projected shortfall of $6.35 million in the 1993-94 fiscal year.