It is looking like the City of Santa Ana is going to outsource its fire department, to the Orange County Fire Authority, saving over ten million per year. Some of my readers are asking why we can’t just negotiate those savings with the Santa Ana Benevolent Firemen’s Association. My sources at City Hall are telling me that the union won’t cooperate.
So why not outsource the award-winning Santa Ana Police Department too? Simple. The Santa Ana Police Officers Association is cooperating and savings are expected to be over ten million a year – and quite possibly as high as thirteen million a year. It doesn’t hurt that our Chief of Police, Paul Walters, is also now our Acting City Manager! He knows his police budget better than anyone.
How important are our police, to our community? Well, a recent study identified that communities get a lot of bang for their buck, when they hire police officers. Here is a recap of that study, from an L.A. Times editorial by Greg Ridgeway and Paul Heaton, published on Nov. 22 of this year: Continue reading