Consider this your unofficial notice of public hearing.
You might already know that King County Sheriff Sue Rahr had planned to shut down Precinct No. 3 in Maple Valley, which is the main hub for sheriff’s deputies in the area. Earlier this year, we were told that this would happen in 3-5 years. That was shortened to about 1-2 years, and just last month, we learned that it’s going to start closing in January.
The new police hub will be in Sammamish, so the backup police officers for Maple Valley and Covington officers are now 20 miles away. Even with lights and sirens going, count on a 30-plus minute response time. That’s a very long time with a crime in progress.
Just this Monday, when this was presented to the Maple Valley City Council, a report came in around 4 p.m. about a man with a gun. He allegedly pointed it at an animal, then a child. With city officers tied up on other calls, two of the Precinct No. 3 deputies answered the call first, and one quickly arrived to the scene.
He had to wait for backup to arrive before approaching the suspect, and if he was working out of Sammamish, you can guess how long he and his backup would have taken to get there. A man and a gun can cause a lot of trouble with 30 extra minutes.
One of the myths of police response is that when something really bad happens, then suddenly the streets are filled with dozens of police cars all racing to the scene and locking down the area. The reality is, there are a limited number of officers available to respond to emergencies, and some calls are more important than others. Our new reality starting in January is that even those limited numbers of officers are going away. Maple Valley has about half the number of officers it needs, and the city is proposing to narrow that gap a bit.
So what’s the deal with the public hearing?
One of the City Council members insisted on having one to talk about how we’re going to pay for new officers to replace the ones that are going away. A public hearing isn’t required, but Maple Valley’s City Council has a long history of foot-dragging and avoiding tough decisions (easy ones too). It’s a new council for the most part, but old habits die hard.
Well, I say forget the public notices that you and I won’t read anyway. Consider this your unofficial notice to get your voice heard by Oct. 18. Here’s a quick rundown of the debate.
How are we going to pay for this?
The only realistic option on the table right now is a 3 percent increase in the utility tax, for gas, electric, and phones. It’s realistic because it can go into effect with 60 days of notice to the utility providers, and would raise just enough to cover three new patrol officers, a full-time detective, a police support officer and cars for them to drive.
What the *#@!? More taxes?
Yes. However, Maple Valley has one of the lowest utility taxes in the state at 3 percent, whereas most of the other cities are at 6 percent or higher. That’s why this one was singled out over other options.
What’s the big hurry?
King County is expecting to lay off 28 deputies in January, and Maple Valley has a shot at picking up some of them so they can start working right away. The 3 percent utility tax increase would need to pass by Nov. 1 so the city can pay for these officers in January.
That 3 percent is going to break my business
I sure hope not. If it would, e-mail me and I’ll help you sharpen your marketing plan or your website (no charge).
The city should just cut expenses
They are. The city staff cut down about a half million dollars last year, and they’re doing more than that this year. Jobs aren’t being filled, workloads are increasing, and they’re probably going to have to start stealing pens from home. One of the biggest extra expenses this year has been the lawyer fees spent in fighting YarrowBay, which would have paid for three officers on its own.
If you have an opinion on this, make sure that you are heard. E-mail your council members at council@maplevalleywa.gov or show up at the Oct. 18 meeting at 7 p.m. for the public hearing at the Tahoma Central Services building next to Rock Creek Elementary School.
Let me make one suggestion; if you are against the 3 percent utility tax increase, don’t just complain about it, let the city know where you think the money should come from. The 2010 budget is on the city’s website, so get out your highlighter and find $800,000 for us, will you?
