SANTA CLARITA / ANTELOPE VALLEY : City OKs Budget, Drops Deputies From Key Anti-Crime Programs : Finances: The Palmdale council decides to cut costs by using civilians to teach drug education and to oversee Neighborhood Watch.

Almost a month into the new fiscal year, the Palmdale City Council adopted its 1994-95 budget after voting to replace sheriff’s deputies with civilians in key anti-crime programs.

The vote, at Tuesday night’s meeting, ended weeks of debate concerning the merits of using sheriff’s deputies to teach children about drug abuse and to oversee crime prevention programs such as Neighborhood Watch.

A majority of council members decided that the cost--about $100,000 a year for each deputy--was too high and that civilians could do the same work for a lot less.

“What we’re looking for is a way to retain the programs in some form within the budget constraints,” Councilman Jim Root said.

After deciding how to fund these and three other public safety programs, the council approved the remainder of its 1994-95 budget, which calls for $28.7 million in General Fund spending. The fiscal year began July 1, but the council voted to continue spending at last year’s level while debating how to balance the budget.

Overall, the council boosted public safety funding by $1.2 million, including the addition of three one-deputy patrol cars and 16 more hours of patrol by a deputy in a fourth car.

But the council wrestled for several weeks over how to pay for other crime-related programs.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials urged the city to retain the current SANE (Substance Abuse Narcotics Education) program, in which two full-time deputies and one half-time deputy teach more than 6,100 local children in grades four through six.

Palmdale city staff members, however, said that civilian instructors, including retired officers, could teach a similar program costing far less money.

Councilman David Myers said he had to decide whether to pay for deputies in classrooms or in patrol cars. “We don’t have the money to do both, so I’m saying: Put that deputy on the street,” he said.

City Administrator Robert W. Toone Jr. said the Sheriff’s Department requested $263,000 for the SANE program. The proposed city-operated program, he said, would cost $99,000.

Myers, Root, Councilman Joe Davies and Mayor Jim Ledford voted to switch to drug education by civilians.

They also voted to use civilians instead of a deputy to oversee Neighborhood Watch, Business Watch and other programs. Using civilians dropped the annual cost from $104,000 to $65,000, city officials said.

Councilman Terence Judge, a sheriff’s deputy, cast the lone vote against using civilians. He argued that deputies are better role models and more qualified to run these programs. He also protested that the city did not look hard enough for other funds to keep deputies in the programs.

It was legal for Judge to vote on funding for his employer because the county is a nonprofit entity and because Judge does not work in the programs affected by the votes, City Atty. Angil P. Jones said.

Ending a third disagreement over sheriff’s services, the council unanimously voted to pay $25,000 for a deputy to spend two hours a day supervising the VOICE program, in which civilian volunteers with cellular phones patrol the city and report illegal activity to deputies.

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Capt. Tony Welch, commander of the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Station, said he would halt the VOICE program in Palmdale if the council did not provide the $25,000.

In a separate 3-2 vote, the council cut its allocation to the United Community Action Network, UCAN, a counseling program for troubled teen-agers and their parents. The city has been giving $50,000 annually to UCAN, but Toone urged the council to cut the allocation this year to $5,000, a sum that is close to the $3,500 given by neighboring Lancaster.

Myers and Judge recommended that UCAN receive $20,000, but the other three members supported the $5,000 grant.

The council resolved a final disagreement by voting unanimously to split the $234,000 annual cost of school crossing guards with the Palmdale School District. Initially, Toone proposed that the city, which is no longer required to pay for crossing guards, hand the entire expense to the school district.

Under a separate agreement, the school district also will allow city recreation programs to use district gyms and sports fields at a value equivalent to $60,000 annually.