Did You Know?
Bonnie Donovan
Did You Know? received a copy of the 21-page draft proposal by the Community Formation Commission, which was presented Feb. 15 to the Santa Barbara City Council. This is a must-read by all residents of Santa Barbara.
It is a continuation of the demands made by the local Black Lives Matter chapter, now known as Healing Justice Santa Barbara, back in 2020.
As we focus on a few of their demands in the draft proposal, we want to remind you of three of their original demands to the previous city council and mayor: Defund the police, get paid for attending meetings (even just to deliver their public comments at City Council), and have a say on practices and policies at the Santa Barbara Police Department.
That is why we have the CFC and the ask for a new department and a larger stipend above other commissions of $50 per meeting.
We see an example of this in the 21-page proposal to provide and manage a police department oversight commission.
They have an inherent urge to prolong their existence and expand their powers. An underlying belief within government bureaucracies is the notion that “we run things, we are here for more than 30 years, the politicians come and go every few years.”
The facts are that the city staff, not the city council, run the city. This is reflected in the fact that senior staff executives’ pay run at around $150,000 to $300,000, and city council members are paid about $45,000; the mayor, about $55,000.
Is their objective to use the commission to gain influence and control over our first line of defense, the police department:?
This whole commission is a BLM political construct, and the city staff and council members could be falling for it.
The facts indicate no need for a police oversight commission, and the Santa Barbara Grand Jury is always available to investigate any bad behavior by any agency of government in the city.
As we said last week, this oversight is welcomed but it must be created to fit Santa Barbara, not another location.
In their 21-pages of recommendations, they want the ability to hire an independent investigator if necessary; to be permitted to receive civilian complaints and forward them to the department for investigation; send cases back to the internal Affairs Unit for further investigation; hear appeals from complainants or subject officers; recommend case dispositions, discipline, or revised departmental policies and procedures; hold public forums; and/or conduct community outreach.
They want a measurable emphasis (shall) be made to seek nominations from community-based organizations that have an interest in civil rights, immigration rights, disability/mental health rights, racial equity, social justice, and that also have an interest in public safety and criminal justice reform. In addition, they want money set aside for COB members to attend NACOLE, and/or other relevant training opportunities.
They want to make policy recommendations regarding policies, practices, and procedures of the Santa Barbara Police Department. The chief shall be required to respond to these recommendations. Notice the “shall, shall, shall.” When the word SHALL is used it means it must be done.
Remember this started due to George Floyd’s death in Minnesota by an officer with 16 prior complaints. I remember asking why he wasn’t removed before the tragedy and thought maybe his union protected him. BLM and Healing Justice should be creating an oversight on the police union if they have an issue with our police.
The Grand Jury is a division of the Santa Barbara County Superior Court that keeps watch over numerous government agencies, cities, and districts throughout Santa Barbara County. It is made up of a diverse volunteer group of citizens from the five supervisorial districts.\
It is there for any city, county, or special district agency that receives county funds.
California law requires the Grand Jury to inspect county and city jails and detention facilities and to review county financial accounts and records. The Grand Jury relies on its discretion and citizens’ suggestions to determine other issues to investigate. They have three predominant functions: 1) Civil Government Oversight 2) Citizen Complaints 3) Criminal Investigations.
Under No.l 3 Criminal Investigation, it lists cases involving public officials or employees and Cases involving police officers.
Complaints can be sent to the Grand Jury through the mail, phone, fax and email. All complaints, investigations, and interviews are kept confidential. There is even a Whistleblower Hotline. Grand Jurors only receive $25 per day plus mileage.
The Grand Jury is likely to have much more credibility on police oversight, and we would be saving $670,200 annually. So let us remove the two-position department that will cost us $600,000 annually.
If you want to volunteer, volunteer. Santa Barbara is made up of so much volunteerism, and we appreciate all the volunteers! The idea of giving these “volunteers” $400 per month and $50 per meeting should be an immediate non-starter. What expertise other than political activism do they bring to the table?
Did you know that in the last 12 months of operation, the Santa Barbara Police Department received only eight complaints? That is in a city of 91,376 residents. Therefore, only 0.00087% of the population over 12 months had a complaint. Or, less than one complaint a month.
Would another department at the price tag to the taxpayer of at least $670,200.00 annually be overkill for eight complaints per year?
So we are being told that we need an oversight commission to correct and regulate the operation of the police department at a salary and benefits cost for two high-level bureaucrats and volunteers of about $670,200.00 per year. Do the math. That is a cost of $83,775. per individual complaint in oversight commission costs alone. We must add to that, extensive police department costs in responding to interference by the oversight commission. This looks very much like a steam hammer employed to squash a flea.
As we understand, the proposal is for a permanent management department on the city payroll costing $600,000 a year, in salary and benefits alone. Plus a committee made up of members of the public who have no specific knowledge of policing. But the huge unknown is how much additional cost will be added to the police department as a result of actions. What’s the cost of the management bureaucracy for the oversight commission? After all, they will feel the need to make their power felt by the police department.
We can expect well over a $1 million in cost impact. If we look just at what we think we know, right now, it is quite startling.
Just the known costs of the commission proposal are $670,200. Divided by the raw number of complaints of eight in a year, the cost of this commission based on facts is a rate of $83,775. per complaint. If we acknowledge that some complaints are likely to be spurious, or already dealt with satisfactorily, say bringing the total of legitimate complaints down to four in a year, the cost of the proposed commission per legitimate complaint rises to $167,550.per complaint.
This is clearly another case of a clumsy solution looking for a non-existent problem.
We ask which parks, library hours, etc., will be sacrificed for this unnecessary endeavor.
