| COMMENTS: Mayor Knight
The WV State Code charges only the mayor with maintaining the "peace and good order" of the community. He is the sole manager of the police department. On any level where three branches of government function as they should, police and law enforcement are exclusively within the direct management domain of the executive officer. On the municipal level, the mayor is the executive officer.
The issue is not so much that council's decision occurred in executive session per se (although that is a very big part of it) as that it occurred without any responsible review based upon any information solicited from the recorder or the mayor and that it was almost a purely arbitrary and reactionary response to other issues that should be and are irrelevant.
Yes, gas is excessively high. However, the question becomes how much is the proper care and protection of the community worth? Is the price of gas so excessive as to necessitate such immediate and drastic action with no more reasoning than "gas is gettin' too high" and no more notice that the "discussion and review" was coming that an improper and misleading motion for a executive session. Moreover, how high is too high in the context of municipal budgeting, operations and performance?
Certainly, the council controls the budget in as much as they approve or disapprove the budget as presented by the recorder and upon request of the mayor and others within the municipal organization who rely upon certain budget provisions for the best possible operations of their respective departments.
The budget that council reviews each spring for the coming fiscal year is not line-item. The larger fund amount which constitutes the entire budget is divided up in accordance with the needs of each department and a lump sum is appropriated for each of these departments for the coming fiscal year. No money may be and no money is, as a matter of routine, transferred from one fund to the other. In short, the cost of the gas applies only to the police department. The budget still calls for that money to be spent within the police department. The budget does not mandate nor does it make any provisions for money left over from curtailing one expense to be invested into any other item(s). Again, only personnel within departments for whom fiscal money was appropriated may spend that particular money.
The police department is currently within the budget guidelines approved in the spring of 2010 for the 2010-11 fiscal year. According to the recorder and the auditor, the police department is not currently on track to exhaust its entire budget prior to the conclusion of the fiscal year. Less than two months remained in this fiscal year when the "deliberation" was made to curtail expenses by the police department.
Correctly or incorrectly, I have always tried to maintain proper procedure. Such drastic mandates with no review or information upon which to base them, with no suggestion regarding how that money is to be re-appropriated, let alone with no appropriate action to do so, and with little tolerance toward administrators' attempts to guide or inform, based upon knowledge and experience, are irresponsible and unacceptable. So far as I am concerned, no matter how difficult things may become for the town, mismanagement and improper legislation will not be the causes.
The council needs only to practice proper procedures (i.e. review of finances, impact of gas expenditures, consultation with other officers of government, application of funds toward more effective ends), and not just sneak into and inappropriate setting on false pretense for the purpose of diminishing police effectiveness because of personality issues.
COMMENTS: Chief Starcher
If a police department does not have 24/7 police coverage, answering night calls becomes an important necessity to ensure and the safety and security of the citizens in which it serves. The Grantsville Police Department is small, and we only have one full time and one part time officer. Therefore, we cannot afford 24/7 around the clock coverage. I have determined that 24/7 police coverage for the town would be in excess of a staggering $77,000 in salaries alone. By taking our cruisers home, we are able to ensure a rapid response to Grantsville by utilizing emergency equipment such as blue lights, siren, and a police radio. According to WV State Code 17C-2-5, the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle, such as a police cruiser, may disregard certain traffic laws, such as speeding, as long as they "do not endanger life or property".
Legal counsel was consulted regarding the Grantsville Town Council's illegal executive session. It was discovered that council could be fined for entering into an executive session for a topic that should have remained open to the public and for a topic that they have no authority or control over; the police. According to WV State Code 8-10-1, the police department of any municipality in WV falls under the authority and control of the "chief executive officer" of the municipality, Mayor.
Both of us take our cruiser home, and for good reason. WV State Code 8-14-1 states that every municipality shall have "plenary power and authority to protect persons and property within the municipality and preserve law and order therein, and for this purpose, to provide for, establish, equip, and maintain a police force or department." This state code is the one that gives municipal police officers primary jurisdiction and authority within the municipality, resulting in Grantsville Police Officers being dispatched to call-out emergencies within the Town. When an officer is called out at night to an emergency call for service, he often does not know what situation, challenge, danger, or conflict that he will encounter. In addition, the call may be for a crime scene investigation that could require assistance from additional officers. Thus, both Grantsville Police Officers take the police cruisers home for emergency calls (such as call-outs), back-up situations, in addition to the ability to travel to in-service training from the officer's residence.
If it weren't for the ability to take the Grantsville Police Cruisers home, response time would be compromised, liability would sky-rocket, and people's lives could be put in danger. With the use of emergency blue lights and a siren, Officers could decrease their potential response time by an estimated 15-20 minutes, to better serve the citizens of Grantsville. In addition, most private insurance companies (such as my own) will not insure officers to respond to emergency calls for service while in their personal vehicles. This is largely due to private vehicles not being classified as an "authorized emergency vehicle" as per WV State Code 17C-1-6. This also results in the Town being liable for the officer's private vehicle, and cripples response time to respond to emergency situations.
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