PROTECT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT FROM BEING OUTSOURCED:

By Greg Conlon

Conlon belives that the Police Department is the most cherished and respected in the Town and would not support outsourcing its Department.

A number of cities and town have looked at outsourcing the Police protection to other organizations outside the towns or cities on the Peninsula. Some have outsourced this essential function to the San Mateo County's Sherriff's Office in an attempt to cut expenses and balance their annual budgets. I do not agree with outsourcing such an essential function. The primary reason I do not agree is if for some reason a police department outside the Town did not perform we would have to go to the Sheriff or the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to address this concern. I do not believe the vast majority of Atherton residences would want to resort to such a step to cut expenses to balance the annual Town budget. The Town needs to keep control over this essential service. I do not support outsourcing the Police Department.

Only if we should for some reason face bankruptcies, which I do not see occurring, would I even consider outsourcing the Police Department. Our current parcel tax is used two-thirds for the Police Department and one-third for capital expenditures to keep our roads and streets under repair. If elected I would work to renew the current parcel tax and to focus on other areas of operating expenses to cut expenses to balance our budget.