By STEVE KOBAK
skobak@thestamfordtimes.com
STAMFORD — Arguments between police officials and board of finance members over the budget created tension at Tuesday's board meeting.
Police requested nearly $1 million in overtime at the meeting and more than $100,000 in additional funds. The overtime was passed with a vote of 4-0 with two abstentions.
"Am I comfortable with it? Absolutely not," Police Chief Brent Larrabee told the board. "But we have no other resources."
Larrabee said his department tried to keep overtime around $300,000 but was not successful.
The request comes after drastic cuts to Stamford's budget put pressure on all city-funded factions, including the public safety department, which blankets police and fire activities.
A government official told The Stamford Times public safety budget cuts total $2,576,084, with police services taking over $1,500,000 in cuts and fire totaling $630,343 allocated amongst all departments. Stamford Police Department took a $1,158,908 cut with an additional $150,000 taken from police services and $21,086 from animal control.
William Callion, director of public safety, health and welfare, constructed an "interim action plan" to deal with "horrific cuts," which he said are above $650,000. He said Stamford Fire & Rescue [SFR] incurred "the lion's share" of the cuts but he thinks the plan utilizes the staff in the most efficient and cost effective way possible.
"We've got to do the best we can with the dollars we got," he said.
The plan includes a merger of the Glenbrook Fire Department. The merger shifts Springdale, Glenbrook and Belltown into SFR and places SFR officials into under-manned volunteer stations.
"The plan that we've put forward would provide more consistent, reliable coverage throughout the entire city," said Callion.
Officials from Glenbrook could not be reached for comment.
The also plan includes a shifting of services to avoid lay-offs. Four-person teams will cover the city's center while three-person teams will be regimented to "less dense areas" in accordance with the plan.
"We're hopeful that the other departments that are in this will come aboard," said Callion, "and we'll all get everything done to make sure everybody is as safe as possible within the reduced budget we've got."
The police department has yet to show a plan to the press, but officers say they are already feeling the sting of budget cuts. Officer Michael J. Merenda, president of the Stamford Police Association, said the cuts lower the amount of police available on the streets. Police are used to having 24 to 28 officers on patrol but the number was lowered to 18 in recent months. He said this jeopardizes officer safety and, in the long run, will hurt the city of Stamford.
"We will see crime go up," Merenda said. "I don't think anyone will deny that."
Merenda said criminals will use the lowered patrols as a vantage point, timing their crimes with due respect to the police routes and times of patrol.
"The bad guys know when we work and they know how many cops are out there. They see how many times a cop comes around the corner," he said. "If there's only one cop covering a section of town, he's not going to get to drive by as much as often as if there were four cops there."
He said Stamford probably has "100 less officers" than near-by cities with the same population and exceptional efforts from officers ensure the crime rate is consistently low.
In an interview prior to the Board of Finance meeting, Chairman Mary Lou Rinaldi told The Times the board spent a lot of time combing trends in public safety departments for "sweet spots between being appropriately staffed and controlling overtime."
"We're not experts in managing a public safety force," she said. "However, there are people on all of the boards that have certainly seen performance trends and efficiency trends over the years of going through this budget process."
She said the board tried to "strike a balance between allowing the city to function" and keeping tax increases under control.
The city incurred budget cuts for many reasons, Rinaldi said. Benefits are increasing in price at substantial rate and healthcare costs are not going to be in control anytime soon unless focus on delivery of services, Rinaldi said.
Salary increases build into union contracts create changes in the budget, according to Rinaldi. She said even if the budget was penciled in exactly as it was in 2006 and barring additions, there would be three or four percent jump in spending due to increases implemented by union contracts.
Rinaldi reminded those complaining about financial hardships the budget does not come into effect until July 1.
"For people to be talking about financial hardships when in fact the new budget is not in place, timing is an issue," Rinaldi said.
Board of finance member Joseph Tarzia said the cuts reflect the actions the board had to take to meet tax payers' demands.
"The tax payers have sent a message to the board saying, 'Look, we can't put up with large tax increases and you need to deliver services in more cost efficient ways,'" said Tarzia. "Most of us on the board believe that it can be done."
Mayor Dannel M. Malloy said his budget was full-staffing and full-funding in regards to the public safety department and the cuts were made by the board of finance. Nonetheless, he said he will "think differently" to meet the challenges he faces.
"Our mantra now is to provide the highest level of services with the amount of money that we've been allotted," Malloy said. "No whining. We've got to get it done."
He said he expects the city to retain its low crime rate and, though police desk work may take a little more time, police can still effectively respond to crime.
"Will you get your accident report as quickly as you used to? Probably not," said Malloy. "But will a police officer be able to respond to real criminal behavior? I think the answer is 'yes.'"
Larrabee gave further indications of the police department's sacrifices at the board meeting Tuesday. He said six vacant positions were cut from the force and he may have to lay off civilian workers.
Tension built when Rinaldi expressed displeasure a letter published in The Stamford Times in which Larrabee expressed distress over the current budget situation. Rinaldi specifically objected to the part of the letter where Larrabee wrote the chaffing budget "transformed my job from researching and implementing quality police techniques, to one that is little more than ensuring that the overtime budget is in control."
She abstained from three of the four votes on police activity.
Larrabee said the editorial was meant to be internal but was leaked to the press. He told the board the letter is "factually correct."
Visibly agitated, Larrabee claimed his job has been "bean counter," as he constantly has to worry about overtime and feels chaffed by the budget. He said that a series of armed robberies stemming from "two street gangs" kept police busy and his
"Would you rather me say, 'Don't go out and catch the bad guys. Don't police those crowds. Let the town go to chaos'?" he asked. "Glad to do it but I'm not going to jeopardize officer safety."
In April and October, the police union contract allows officers to choose the area with respect to seniority
Board members also gave the police chief suggestions at Tuesday's meeting. Timothy Abbazia told Larrabee police need to document certain aspects of their job and report positive changes the department has made to tighten their budget. Joe Tarzia said the chief should consider "civilianizing" certain jobs, thereby saving money.
Peter Privitera, director of the city office of policy and management, said in private meetings with police staff he gave the police department the option of devising a budgeting plan and suggested a multi-year budgeting projection. He said the only alternate is laying off workers.