AgdaPkt 2010-04-12 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7A Page 1 REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From Cit Mana er April 12, 2010 SUBJECT Contract for Police Services for City of San Carlos RECOMMENDATION By motion, express Council support of providing municipal police services to the City of San Carlos and authorize the City Manager to prepare and submit a proposal to provide such services. BACKGROUND Consistent with the City Council's budget direction to explore shared services with other cities, staff has conducted a preliminary analysis that shows that a credible proposal can be prepared that has both short and long-term cost and service benefits for San Carlos and for Redwood City. In February of this year the City of San Carlos began deliberating options regarding police and fire services in their community. Like many municipalities, San Carlos is facing serious budget shortfalls and the neighboring city is looking at alternative ways to provide services to their community. The San Carlos City Council has expressed a desire to contract out police and fire protection services provided to its community. To staff's knowledge, the only agency to submit a proposal to San Carlos to date for police services is the County of San Mateo Sheriff's Office. San Carlos has expressed an interest in receiving proposals from other agencies. In response, the City Manager of Redwood City has formed a staff team to examine the feasibility of providing municipal police services to the City of San Carlos. The team, comprised of the Human Resources Director, the Police Chief, the Finance Director, police command staff, as well as finance and human resource representatives, has performed a preliminary analysis of staffing structures and service models for the City San Carlos. The preliminary data shows the City of Redwood City could provide police services at a reduced cost to San Carlos while also producing cost savings and/or additional revenue for Redwood City. In addition to the economic benefits, pursuing the model of combined or regionalized services is aligned with the City Council's strategic initiative of effective municipal operations and is also consistent with recommendations in the 2009 Grand Jury Report regarding the upward trajectory of personnel costs. That report recommended providing services on a regional basis. Although the Sheriff's proposal may be priced less than a Redwood City proposal, staff feels that our municipal police force is better suited to provide municipal police and community services that are more aligned with the values and expectations of the San Carlos community. Municipal police service is a core business of Redwood City and the Police Department has had much success in developing community relationships and partnerships to make Redwood City a safe community. The Redwood City police force is well-equipped to provide those services and apply the same service model to San Carlos while maintaining San Carlos' own identity and culture. Other agencies in the