Everyone loves applause—especially politicians. Yet leadership in difficult times often requires making decisions that don’t draw applause. It means having the independence to stand up for everybody, not just the loudest voices or the most powerful groups. When leaders have the independence to tell those groups what they don’t want to hear, it threatens the status quo. And threatened people yell.
So, let’s take a breath, hit the “pause” button on the yelling, and start where we all agree.
First, San Jose needs more police officers.
In August of this year, Mayor Reed and I proposed a strategy to help put 200 more cops on the street. This strategy focuses on identifying scarce funds to boost hiring of new officers, and to increase police pay sufficiently to stem the rate of officer departures to higher-paying cities. On Sept. 3, the Council voted 10-1 to move forward with this approach.
Unremarkable, isn’t it?
The loudest voices say otherwise.. Last week, the San Jose Police Officers’ Association (POA) launched a petition accusing me of having all kinds of unappealing attributes (some of which, my mother alleges, are inaccurate), and spent thousands in Facebook ads. (Mom objected again, urging me to improve my posture on camera.) Two days later, on this website, Councilmember Ash Kalra launched a diatribe repeating many of the POA’s arguments. (My Mom didn’t read it but wishes we’d all stop the arguing and hurry up and have grandchildren.)
We all agree on the need to add cops, and we agree on the need to increase pay to keep them. So, why the anger and accusations from the police union and their political proxies?
Simply, this isn’t a debate over how to hire more officers. This is a resumption of the continuing battles about our tax dollars: how we spend them, how much, and who gets to decide.
Yes, we need to add more officers. Yet adding more officers isn’t the only way to make our city safer. We need to deploy new technologies like data analytics to support predictive policing, expand community-based crime prevention efforts like neighborhood watch, bolster youth job training and gang prevention programs, keep truant kids in school and enliven dark blocks of vacant storefronts.
We need all of these things for a safe city, and most of them cost money.
As retirement costs ballooned over the last decade, spending on pensions and retiree healthcare crowded out spending on everything else. The result: We had to cut police staffing and (with the agreement of our employees) reduce pay, and slash a lot of other services like fire protection, library hours and food programs for low-income seniors.
I pushed for pension reform with the mayor precisely because we could no longer afford to run a city while paying average pensions of over $100,000 to retiring officers—increasing 3% annually, along with free health insurance, and large sick leave payouts—over the past decade. Without reform, we would only increase the burden of unfunded liabilities—already exceeding $2.9 billion—on our grandchildren and continue to cut all other services. After nine months of negotiations, public safety unions offered an alternative plan at the 11th hour, but that proposal would not assure a halt in the growth of this unfunded debt.
Today, the police union demands that we restore pay more quickly. Nobody can blame them for doing so; their members took painful pay cuts to continue working in San Jose during the recession, for which every resident should feel grateful. Although average officer salaries, including premium pay, now approach $100,000. San Jose pays less than departments in nearby smaller, wealthier cities.
Understandably, they want more.
We need elected officials who can stand up for everyone, though, not just powerful interest groups. We’ve proposed pay increases for police at a pace that already exceeds that of any other city employees. We need to increase police compensation, but do so within our means.
What about Kalra’s argument—that we raise police salaries faster, and hire more officers sooner? As was repeatedly stated during the Sept. 3 hearing (e.g., at 1:20:07 of the video), our proposal already enables us to do so if revenues increase faster in future years. But we’ve only identified roughly $30 million that we need to reach the goal of 1,250 officers in four years, and millions more are still required. Kalra fails to identify any specific funding source for his even-costlier alternative, instead relying on vague references to future “excess fund balance” and “excess revenues” that may never materialize.
Mr. Kalra’s argument could gain credibility if he would specify whose taxes he will raise, and which services—among the already-decimated funding for libraries, senior nutrition and street repairs—he will slash to fund his alternative.
Kalra also criticizes our proposal because we “rejected … considering additional funding sources” to pay for the hiring. Apparently, he only read two pages of it. Page 3 of the proposal specifically directs that we “should consider any of several options for identifying these funds, including but not limited to any of the following revenue sources, existing allocations or savings.”
Equally puzzling is Kalra’s objection that we’ll dwarf pay raises with increasing mandates on officers to pay for pension liabilities. To address this concern, we’d already amended the proposal at the start of the Sept. 3 hearing, to clarify that any 10 percent increase would apply to net wages (as reflected in the automated transcript, at page 24, or video, at 1:18:45) until the IRS allows employees to opt into a less costly tier of benefits. That clarification reasonably persuaded all of Kalra’s colleagues to support the proposal—including Councilmember Xavier Campos, who initially signed on to Kalra’s critical memo—but didn’t stop Kalra from parroting the old POA argument.
Kalra also decries the “political nature” of “the sudden urgency to deal with police officer retention,” but forgets that over eight months ago, I formally proposed a police retention incentive, along with other options, as part of a five-year police staffing strategy. Kalra should remember that proposal, though, because at a hearing Feb. 11, 2013, he supported studying it further. Former defense attorney Kalra asserted that I only developed a “recent interest” in public safety, but he should remember a few of my seven years as a criminal prosecutor, when I spent long days and nights working successfully to convict sexual predators, drug dealers and other former clients of his.
Nobody is expecting applause here. Tough decisions lay ahead, and we need to work together to solve this difficult problem without grandstanding. We also need independent leadership from the City Council to balance the need to restore officer pay with our limited ability to pay for it. Let’s just take a break from the yelling and refocus our energies on how best to create a safer San Jose.
Sam Liccardo is a councilmember for San Jose’s District 3.
Sam Liccardo is completely right on the mark.
It’s good to know he has one council aide. The police think he is a Liar. I just heard 600 cops barf in their mouth when they read the new lies.
I’m not Sam Liccardo’s council aide. Assumptions such as this demonstrate closed-mindedness and a lack of regard for the validity of differing opinions.
Agreed, Dakota!
So sorry Dakota you quit the city too to take a higher paying ob in Los Gatos ? It not just the firemen and police that quitting because of Liccardo but all city workers.
Blah too many roosters in the hen house. Just do the right thing! Finger pointing doesn’t make you right. The police protect and serve… give them want they want. Please don’t jeopardize our safety to in turn protect your ego.
Councilmember Liccardo,
I’d like to say a couple of things about your post here:
1. You said, “Yet leadership in difficult times often requires making decisions that don’t draw applause.” Agreed. However, great leaders bring people together in tough times. You, the mayor, and most of the rest of the council have failed miserably at accomplishing this. You’ve created a toxic environment with a total lack of trust from the employees of San Jose. Changes to compensation and the pensions could have been negotiated instead of taken to the ballot. Nobody that works for San Jose feels that you have provided leadership. Why is it that employees are leaving in droves? Why do we not have a police chief, fire chief or many other department heads?
2. We do all agree that we need more cops, we’re the lowest staffed police and fire departments of any big city in the US. The lowest. You and the mayor have proposed hiring 200 more cops, but it’s a political stunt at best. You know the truth, and the truth is that you can’t hire cops fast enough to replace the ones that are leaving to retire or to work elsewhere. Be truthful, tell the public what hiring 200 won’t suffice.
As employees we all took pay cuts and we were willing to negotiate changes to our pensions but you chose another route. You have failed us and the citizens of the city as a leader in this regard.
““We need elected officials who can stand up for everyone, though, not just powerful interest groups.”“
And that CERTAINLY is not YOU. Vote NO on Sam Liccardo, if you want this city to heal and move forward.
“We also need independent leadership from the City Council to balance the need to restore officer pay with our limited ability to pay for it.”
Why now? Where was that leadership when we needed it? What we DO NOT need is your posturing for the mayor’s vacant seat. Vote NO on Sam Liccardo. No more of the same.
Sam,
You are a politician and lawyer first and foremost. You have absolutely twisted the facts, as well as the fact the SJPOA offered legal pension reform which YOU refused to even discuss. You are a sorry excuse for a council person, and this city is doomed if you are somehow, beyond any logical reason, elected mayor.
Just two of the MANY facts you conveniently left out; San Jose PD Officers may get a top step salary of about $95,000, but they pay about 25% of their own gross salary directly back into their retirement, never seeing a dime of that. That is BY FAR the highest of ANY municipality in the United States.The second fact is the average PATROL officer who has retired gets NOTHING CLOSE TO AN AVERAGE RETIREMENT OF $100,OOO. That is a BLATANT and unmitigated LIE. You are manipulating numbers and including in retired command staff which skews those numbers. You know this…Shame on you Sam.
You and Mayor Reed have championed every measure possible to destroy this department, now you are trying to be a hero. Your “proposals” are disingenuous and meaningless. You might as well propose curing cancer, oh wait, you already did that and said the POA would stand in the way of that too. You and this Mayor are the cause of GREAT police officers fleeing, and continuing to flee this police department, and it being barely on life support.
Ash Kalra has stated the facts, which history will prove accurate. You and this council would have been wise to listen to him.
If you are a citizen on the fence and don’t know which way to lean, read this ONE comment on the pitcher of Kool Aid “licardo” is trying to serve up here, this one is factually accurate and explains why SJ went from having one of the best Police Departments in the country into one of the most pathetic departments in the Bay Area. It isn’t the cops fault, it is theCities “leadership” (Ash Kalra being an exception). Don’t believe this? Vote Licardo as your next Mayor and enjoy the City and leadership you elected.
Thanks Sam this post proves that you like to hear yourself talk.THE COPS ARE LEAVING SJPD BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU got rid of all the programs you now are asking for. And the cost to reestablish these programs will cost the city millions. If you would have done it differently all these programs still be in place. The thing is Sam you now have hindsight on your side. You can look back and say yay I wish we would have down this or that differently. But you say, I do the same thing over. That is just STUPID. Anyone can look at their own,life and wish they would have done things differently. Not YOU. Anyone voting for you is a buffoon. THERE TWO WAYS TO GET THE COPS TO STAY. YOU RESIGN IMMEDIATELY OR GIVE THEIR 10% back that you and REED STOLE. You stole the 10% when you lied about a 650 mill shortfall. NBC News caught you lying.
This post still proves you are still fighting with the police. People are tired of city hall, YOU and the few police officers left bickering. Mr. Karla wants pension reform but speaks with common sense. The cops will listen to him. NOT OT YOU. YOU called the cops a cancer and that they on Gravy Train. Why would they stay and work for a Mayor like you.
HEY LICCARDO WHY WOULD YOU HIRE 200 more cops when you cannot take care of the ones you already have! It’s just plain Stupid to hire more cops when soon as you hire they will leave. Please save San Jose and resign.
How does councilman quitting his job actually solve any problem other than accommodating personal grudges? His term is about to run out anyhow. It seems you are speaking out of spite than solution.
We need to stop the cops from leaving!! If those who are corrupt and have lied would step down the cops would stay. They would wait to see if someone with integrity and common sense came in.
And Spite maybe if government can attack its cops then what else might they do…. or:
“When cops themselves lose faith in government’s willingness to follow its own laws, it doesn’t bode well for democracy as a whole. It is imperative that the police who protect citizens’ rights don’t come to believe that the public has turned against them and lost respect for the important job they do.”
– Joseph McNamara
Oh, and Liccardo, it is very disrespectful of you to keep referring to your colleague and fellow councilmember simply as “Kalra”. I could see you referring to him as “Ash”, “Mr. Kalra”, or “Councilmember Kalra”, but referencing him as “Kalra” is bush league on your part.
Says something about his Character for sure. And Councilman Karla spoke a great deal to Council person Liccardo plan of not taking care of the police and fire when they are injured. Council person seem to ignore this topic all together. Again showing he does not care about the police or fire fighters.
Sam ,
The plan that you and the Mayor is a joke at best and simply could NEVER be accomplished . It truely makes one wonder , what world you live in . Its actually very simple , you and the residents of San Jose expect the Public Safety to lay their lives down , should duty call . So pay them and compensate them accordingly . These are professions that You and most could not and would not do . Pay tham a comparable wage if you wish to keep San Jose safe . What you and the Mayor have done is nothing short of criminal.
You continue to blame pensions for the City’s Problems. But how can pensions be the problem when pensions account for less than 10 % ( roughly) of San Jose’s budget . The Airport debt combined with RDA debt is something like 7 Billion Dollars . But its the pensions weighing San Jose down?? I dont buy it. Speaking of RDA, Most residents dont know that the RDA board is chaired by the Mayor and the board is made up of Council members. Kinda shady ! so when blame is put on RDA , it should actually be put on City Council.
Even if This City gave back the 10 % to Public Safety that just brings them back to 2009 wages……….HELLO this is 2013! Your plan is nothing more than rhetoric , it can not and will not work , simply because people do not trust you or the Mayor. How can they when you are actively trying to steal their Earned benefits. This mass exodus will continue and will grow in a few short years when Fire personal will begin leaving/retiring 100 at a time.
This city needs leadership , real leadership. Fortunately for us , it isnt you. we need a leader than can bring people together , not decimate,demoralize and blame. You can Blame councilman Kalra all you like , but he has helped expose you and the Mayor for the Opportunists that you are .
I agree that San Jose needs more police officers. Problem is, if there is no sign of pension reform then tax increases are headed out way and that will make San Jose a less desirable place to live and work. Our taxes are high enough already.
But the same ones that lied about the city being 650 million short and got rid of all the cops are now the same ones that want to bring more cops to SJ. This problem will take decades to fix. Its time to clean house.
Liccardo, you’ve loaded so much BS into just just a few paragraphs that its hard to know where to start. The POA and its members readily acknowledged the need for pension reform and offered proposals that, if they had been accepted or even negotiated upon, would already be saving the city millions. Instead, YOU, Reed and the rest of your allies made the deliberate choice go forward with Measure B. You did this with full knowledge that, if implemented, Measure B will leave San Jose officers with the worst police retirement benefits in the state (it has already placed new officers in this position) and, for all practical purposes, strip us of disability protection if we are seriously injured while performing our often dangerous jobs. You were aware that Measure B, if implemented, will ultimately result in San Jose officers contributing 46% of their pay toward retirement costs. As an attorney, you were also aware the the state of the law is such that Measure B is highly likely to be invalidated by the courts.
Given all of the above, and my belief that you are an intelligent man, I can only conclude that you made your fateful choices to champion Measure B and vilify city employees in order to score political points as a pension reform “crusader” and position yourself to become the next mayor. Your motives in making these choices were cynical and you must now live with the consequences of those choices.
Scores of dedicated and talented officers have fled SJPD, seeking much better pay and benefits and an employer that actually respects and appreciates what they do. As a direct result, crime has skyrocketed and the residents of San Jose are much less safe than they were before you started playing your political games. This has been your doing. Wear it.
I don’t think you really care about public safety at all; your actions have clearly demonstrated that you certainly have no concern for the men and women who police these streets. What I know you do care about though, are votes, and you’re seeing that voters are beginning to open their eyes to who is responsible for the uneasiness they feel in their homes as crime continues to rise. You’re starting to worry about the election a year from now, when even more officers have left and crime has risen even higher, and after Measure B has been ruled illegal and it has become clear that the devastation you caused to SJPD and the residents of this city was all for nothing. So you’re offering up your ridiculous plan.
None of this had to happen. Very few of the officers who have left really wanted to go. You, Reed and the others made them feel like they had no other choice; that there was no future in San Jose. If you and your cronies had chosen to try to reach a negotiated, legal solution, far fewer officers would have left. This is a situation you chose to bring about. Your 3% raise isn’t going to change anything. Officers will still be leaving faster than you can hire new and inexperienced replacements. The new and inexperienced replacements will be leaving as well. Your plan is a fraud, a cynical political attempt to pull the wool over the voters’ eyes one more time.
Shouldn’t the public be more critical of the police unions that are actively telling their officers to leave our city unprotected to go to greener pastures?
The POA’s primary obligation is to the well-being of its members. Maybe you’re not following along, but San Jose has created the worst retirement system in the state for its officers. The pay is the lowest in the area. Even worse circumstances are looming if Measure B takes effect. Officers have seen how they are viewed by city leaders. The POA is providing a great service to its members by making sure they are aware of all their options. Officers aren’t being encouraged to leave. They are being provided with facts and information, and then asking their own decisions. Given the actions of Reed, Liccardo, et al., no encouragement is necessary.
Dear Didacticdivot, This is part of those evil Unions that Reed talks to. The UNION is nothing but all the officers. The President VP secretary, treasure, board members are all working SJPD officers. So its the officers advising each other that they need to leave. And now with 600 since 2009 that have left the ones that have gone are coming back and saying the grass is greener.. alot greener on the other side. Please council has told you its the evil POA union but really its the SJPD officers same thing.
Out of curiosity , would you do your job after taking a 46% pay cut or would you look else where? Everyone has the right to seek employment where they are paid and benefitted to at least a comparable level . it is the POA’S job to protect and assist its members and if that means them leaving for greener pastures then so be it . Public Safety did not create this problem but are being blamed for all the citys problems.Why is no one mad at the sheer arrogance of this Mayor that got us to this point? Why is no one Upset at the sheer mismanagement of this city by this Mayor,City Manager? Why does no one look at the RDA and Airport Debt that is 4 times the pension debt? This Mayor and His gang of 5 have lied , cheated and mislead the public many times . When will san jose residents wake up to the Cancer that is Reed , Lickardo,Nguyen,constant,Oliverio,Hererra.
Thank you for your comments, everyone. I sincerely appreciate the insight and knowledge. Thank you vey much.
Given Chuck Reed’s perverse taste in political distortion and his lust for bald lies, if his Public Safety Advisor was unlucky enough to be nearby as the mayor breathlessly read Liccardo’s post to completion, I trust Mr. Salcido finally got the decoration for duty he truly deserves.
Mr. Licardo:
I hope you were a better lawyer than politician as I am seeing your future!
Yay I agree I hope people see that he is still confronting the cops as he comes out with a plan to keep them. How is that working for you Sam. More SJPD cops left this month.
TRANSLATION: “I know I had a big hand in destroying one of the finest police departments in the nation. Now that the citizens are waking up to the fact that crime is out of control because cops continue to leave by the bus load, I need to make it appear that I have solutions if I have a chance of becoming mayor of San Jose.”
Too little too late Sam. Same things goes for Pete Constant and Madison Nguyen. All of you had your chance. Time to bring in someone who is a healer, uniter, with true vision and leadership skills.
Who is this person that can unite San Jose under true vision and leadership? Who is the alternative?
None of the current council members. We need an outsider who can mend fences. There is so much distrust and too much of a bitter past created by the council and the employees.
Only in August of this year did you and Mayor Reed propose adding 200 officers? Not last year, and not earlier this year, but 20-30 days ago?? The writing was on the wall at least a year ago, if not before then. Didn’t YOU see it??
I stopped reading your spin at that moment, because your lack of vision already does not qualify you to lead what little is left of this City.
I’m a tax-paying San Jose resident, and we as tax-paying residents have already seen your best stuff for the last 7 years, and we are not impressed.
San Jose residents need to ask themselves if they are any better off now, and feel safer, than they did a few short years ago.
Sam can’t even take care of his own district. Look at it. How does he think he can run a whole city?
Hi Sam,
Thank you for your post. I too am tired of all the fighting and politics. Everyone is. People are dying on our streets, homes are being burglarized, and crime is still rising.
Our PD is operating on thin ice. I really worry about the health and safety of our Officers. No other department is going through what our Officers are. They work long hours with little to no time off. They are getting physically ill and injured, have very little downtime, NO time for family and friends, and they are exhausted.
These kinds of work hours and conditions are not healthy for any human being. This is unacceptable to me, and it should be to everyone else.
Our Officers are out numbered by criminals, and more prisoners are expected to be released from prisons, due to overcrowding, in the next year. Where does it end?
I keep hearing about the salaries of Officers. Let’s be honest here. MANY City Employees make more than a Police Officer, and they don’t put their lives on the line everyday, and their work load is no where as bad as our Officers are. It’s time to trim from the TOP!
There are way too many highly paid unneeded managers working for the City, and upper division personnel in the PD that could be eliminated. That would save us millions!
It’s really time to get something done to improve this situation! Enough fighting and posturing, let’s move forward together.
Councilman Liccardo has a point.
If everyone can please tone down the level of animosity that are found in these articles, I would like to point out a few things. I am not a political pundit and I am not a seasoned expert on any of these issues. However, my family and I have lived in this city all my life, and all of us are hardworking members of the city. In so, I would like to make a few points concerning this situation.
If anyone has any follow up comments, then please post. However, I kindly request that these posts be cordial. I’ve been seeing a lot of animosity and fervor in the comments lately and would like to avoid some of the crossfire. Again, I am not an expert and nor do I want to be one.
1. I agree with Liccardo on a lot of the points he brings up. He openly states rebuttals to Kalra’s criticisms and he verifies what he is saying with links and sources. All of the fine print is located within this article. If anyone decides to click and take the time to dissect the sources, then they will see that Liccardo is on point. This is not because he is a lawyer and this is not because he is trying to “twist” the facts. It is simply there, and he is simply referring to them. While Councilman Kalra certainly put up a lot of information in his article, as a private and clueless citizen, I have no way to research what he is saying. I am simply taking it at face value. While there is certainly nothing wrong with that, I would suggest verifying and publicizing your sources before openly criticizing a fellow coworker and councilman.
2. I agree that Police and Firefighters are important. I agree that Safety and Security in San Jose is important. However, is this really the core of the issue? Is this really the center of the conflict? If SJ Police truly cared about whether or not their citizens might end up in trouble, then how come they are leaving the department? How come they are transferring to other cities? How come there have been strings of homicides and robberies and officers are still requesting to leave the department?
If safety is truly the concern of the people, then how come I keep hearing the words “salary”, “pension”, and “income”?
There are still honorable policemen and women on the force that are staying to help. There are still good people on the force who are dedicated to protecting and serving their community. They have my respect.
However, it has become worrisome that just because their salary is decreasing, that other officers can simply walk away and transfer. Police is not just a job; it is a vocation. It is a duty. There is a certain privilege and power that is uniquely reserved for police officers, and they should be continually held to that standard. The unions are actively bashing against the council, and are actively encouraging their officers to transfer. In the wake of this decision, deaths and tragedy has struck upon the families that they have sworn to protect. I understand that times are rough. I understand that money is a big issue. However, I cannot bring myself to understand the rationality behind $30,000 and a human life. There can be no comparison, and there shouldn’t ever be one. The people of San Jose should be better than that, and we are.
3. On the basis of common sense, Liccardo is not a sociopath that seeks the destruction and ruin of anyone whose salary is below his disgustingly high income of ~$80,000. As I understand it, engineers fresh out of college can make more, and they do.
4. Liccardo comes from old money. That’s why he comes to work in a private jet and sips exotic champagne while his staff toils in the mines. Also, due to his extensive education (Harvard, Georgetown), he can easily land a job that can make him 4-5x as much money but only half as much public distaste. However, due to his lavish and spoiled upbringing, he spurned that route and instead decided to spend his early years and youth chasing child sex offenders. He must’ve chosen that career path for its reputation of luxury cars and fancy penthouses.
And while we’re at it, dedication and a passion for justice? Yeah, sure. This man cut funding to our police officers…
5. …in order to set balance to an otherwise already burdened economic situation. Police at that point was using up almost 1/3 of the city’s funds. This is an obviously absurd amount.
6. What about teachers? What about libraries? What about community programs? What about art and after-school classes? What about sports? What about coaches?
What about all of the other things that comprise a city and make it beautiful? How can someone be prone to violence when they live in a city that is so absorbed in its pursuit of community?
The only reason why everyone is so wound up about police money allocation is because the police unions are stirring up storms to let it be heard. That’s impressive. I’ll be even more impressed when someone can find me a way to allocate money towards schools and teachers. You know, the places that are actually key in actively preventing crime.
—-
And as a heads up, teachers make half as much as police. And that’s after the cuts.
All your bullet points are wrong and based on lies of the city council. BUT lets just take your last comment. “The only reason why everyone is so wound up about police money… is because the police unions are stirring up storms…” The Police Union is nothing but all the officers. They are the ones that are leaving. They are saying pay me what other cities pay or I will just go work for them. Your point (#5) about how the officers salaries use a third of city money. That is not accurate. The officers are paid out of the General Fund. Cities have lots of different accounts. But they can only pay salaries from the General Fund. SJ puts less money into the General Fund then any other city. You have a goofy idea of why officers are officers (your bullet #2). You say by leaving they are not saving people? They still doing their duty and saving people but just in a different city that does not have the guy who wants to be the next mayor calling them, thugs, a cancer, a gravy train. After reading Liccardo comments that he is confrontational with the same officers he wants to keep. Tell me why would they want to work here. Karla is offering an olive branch. The COPS listen to him. If Sam is boss it will be more 4 years of bickering between the cops (or as you and Sam call them the Union) and the mayor. MOST important read Karla’s article about what happens to the officer is they are injured now under the Licccardo Reed plan. The officers will NOT be supported or taken care of. Every city takes care of the injured. BUT not LICCARDOS city.
On just the hostility that the police have for Liccardo why would anyone support him. Do we want to continue to have a city where the Cops think the Mayor is a liar and a crook.
Pensions are not the problem. RDA money is. If you research things like you say when you rebuttal. Tell me about the 2.5 BILLION dollars the city owes the state.
Mostly why in the heart of SJ is SJ the only one with this perceived problem? RDA money Sj owes more to the state then any other city. Google it.
Thank you for your response. I will follow up on your points.
I do not think I have a “goofy” concept of police officers. The facts are simple. People are dying in this city, and cops are leaving this city. Tragedy has been left in their wake. The moral implications and ramifications of these actions have been clear.
The disability clause is an outrage, though. There has got to be change on that, so I will agree with you completely on that issue.
I do not think Councilman Kalra is offering an olive branch with his article. He is inciting conflict and opening up a wound to impede a councilman’s bid for mayor. However righteous this may be, further creating rifts between police and council will not heal this city. We need to move on.
This isn’t liccardo’s city. This is our city. The people of San Jose are ultimately in charge of what we can and cannot do. I believe this firmly. Proactivity and initiative are key roles in the process of healing. Pointing fingers and blaming your elected official is a passive man’s game.
You also did not address my last point, as you stated. My “last point” is about schools, teachers, education, and programs. Community-oriented issues. If cops get more money, then these programs will get less. It’s that simple. What do you have to address this?
18th floor?
Ok that was bad.. forgive me for goofy comment but.. .you not going to find any cops to agree with you. You said if a cop is about safety then why does he talk about pensions and pay. When the officer signed on to the city. the city and he entered into a contract. the city said I will pay you X and you will have a pension of Z. Reed and Liccardo said well I do not care that you signed a contract. Lets let the people vote on it. Measure B will be struck down. It has all over the country. You can not vote away a contract. The officers cannot work for free. They have families , mortgage payments, college cost, tithes to their church just like you. They can do their job anywhere in the country, world. But why would they do it for less money then what a Los Gatos cop makes? It is not a small difference. The cops who left are reporting making thousands more then the SJPD officers. Why any cops are left is beyond me. But 600 have left since around 2009. This is biggest exodus of police leaving in USA history. Your guy Sam now can look back to 2009 and has hindsight. Yet he says he do it all over. That just a dumb comment. Before 2009 SJ was the safest city in USA. It was welll known by all cops all over the country as the model police department. SJ had cops applying for jobs from all over. SJ could hire the best and did. That is why it was #1. Liccardo destroyed that. You did not address he and Reed calling the cops cancer and gravy train. How will any cop ever trust this guy after he confronts them at every turn. Frankly the cops hate him and distrust him. No citizen wants to have a mayor that the police hate. That is why Reed is loosing his bully grip. People like you are waking up and saying WTF. The cops love Karla because he is speaking what they are saying. They think they have someone who is actually is listening to their concerns. Karla did not create the riff… Liccardo did when he lied about a 650 mil short fall. Are you not concerned that NBC caught Liccardo Reed lying. AND a big lie. Totally a make up number. People lost their jobs over this lie. Karla is not running for Mayor. Liccardo plan is more bully the cops. He learned from the best. As long as Liccardo tries to slam this down the cops throats the longer the police going to leave. I know for a fact if Liccardo resigned officers would stay to see who would be taking over. The city will not heal until Liccardo, Constant, Olliverio are gone. Ive been in city government for a long time. This group is the first time I ever saw corruption on such a scale.
As far as where the money for all the other stuff. Its there. CIty has millions in different reserve accounts.. Someone usually always post it.. so keep reading… My answer to what about all the other stuff. Why does SF not have this issue? Because they do not owe 2.5 billion in RDA.
I’ll take on bullet point #2 then…yes, people are dying in the city, and cops are leaving. But what about the families of police officers? If a police officer and his/her family can’t even afford to live in the city he’s supposed to protect, what are they supposed to do? Gross salary figures are one thing, but it all boils down to what actually gets deposited into the bank. You make it sound like because they became officers here, they must stay here and protect only this city’s population! But if they can’t even cover living expenses and quality of life for their own family here, whats the point?
And to touch on your last point about money for other community oriented issues, why don’t you check out the city auditor’s recent audit that shows how money is misspent at the top (city manager’s office) or how about the recent Environmental Innovation Center boondoggle? Or all of the money that keeps getting poured into the airport?
And one more thing….to the best of my knowledge, Mr. Liccardo never had to chase down a child sex offender. That pleasant job was left to the police….they are the ones that had to do the REAL dirty work, and that is the kind of work that stays with them the rest of their lives. Mr. Liccardo may have prosecuted sexual offenders, but he DID NOT do the kind of work the police have to.
Great point, Marie. Liccardo is the kind of opportunistic megalomaniac who would cut the ceremonial ribbon on the new Bay Bridge, and then take credit in the press for personally digging the ditches and pouring the foundation.
Thanks, Marie, for the information. I really appreciate your comments. All of this is exceptionally concerning. I will do some further research on things you pointed out.
Divot:
Police Officers and Firefighters swore an oath to protect, and to serve with respect and dignity, the citizens of San Jose. Their wives and children didnt. Are you asking for the families of these men and women to sacrifice right along with them? By reducing their wages, increasing the amount they are forced to pay toward retirement, increasing their health care costs, reducing their death benefits and making a disability retirement next to impossible? You have a VERY interesting view of what people should be willing to sacrifice for YOU….what are you willing to sacrifice for THEM? The answer seems obvious…..nothing.
Bohica, I do not think like that, and do not appreciate you putting words in my mouth. I do not feel entitled to something that does not currently exist in San Jose.
Thank you so much for your mature and informative response. This information is invaluable. I will definitely read up on it. Thanks again.
First Name:Rhymes With Sam…
I would like to jump in here with a few facts and address your concerns point by point.
1. In the first place, Councilman Kalra is reiterating facts which the SJPOA has already posted. If you go to protectsanjose.com and read the articles found there, you will find all the details you need to understand Councilman Kalra’s assertions. Among them are the facts about how San Jose officers, under Measure B, would have to pay up to an additional 16% of their gross income to offset the unfunded liabilities. Altogether, this would add up to the 46% which Councilman Kalra mentioned. As well, protectsanjose.com discussed the issues surrounding disability retirements. Lastly, the POA had suggested a simple alternative to Measure B which would have been legal at the time: rolling the PD/FD pension plans into CalPERS. They calculated that this would have saved the city $500 million over 5 years. It would also have slightly reduced the pension benefits and also extended the minimum retirement age. This is important because, one of the provisions of Measure B is that it generally sets a minimum retirement age of 60 for public safety. This is important because the vast majority of public safety employees start their career in their early or mid 20’s, placing them in a position of having to work for nearly 40 years in a profession that is… Well, let’s just say that it can be both grueling and destructive to public safety employees. Simply put, though, making PS employees work to that age virtually ensures solvency of the pension plan because PS employees will probably die before they get to enjoy even a few years of their retirement – and that’s assuming they even get to their new retirement age. Simply put, Measure B does the following where public safety is concerned: Make PS employees pay more for a benefit that is not as good as at other agencies, lies about the ‘Voluntary Opt-in Pension’ (namely that it does or can ever exist. It doesn’t and likely never will), ensures that officers and firefighters will never see a disability retirement under any circumstances and regardless of how injured they are unless they are a quadruplegic or experience a debilitating traumatic brain injury.
2. Officers are leaving SJPD because they:
a. can’t afford to pay their bills as their income is continually reduced (see Councilman Kalra’s article). For example, lieutenants (two full ranks above patrol officer) can go to other agencies and, in many cases break even on their net income if not actually net more money as an officer elsewhere than they do as Lieutenants at SJPD.
b. can’t take the chance of getting injured because the city fights injured officers at every step on medical treatment (I know this from personal experience)
c. Can’t put the financial and physical security of their families at even greater risk than it already is by nature of the profession to work for a city that won’t take care of them if they are injured or killed in the line of duty.
In short, protecting and supporting one’s own family, income and retirement in addition to working in an environment where both the City’s leadership and citizens respect the work they do are the driving motivators for officers leaving SJPD.
3. Your assertion about Liccardo not being a sociopath cannot be verified. I submit to you (quoting Michael Scott) that “The best lie is wrapped around a core of truth.” In this case, based on Liccardo’s actions, I submit to you that, not only is he a liar but pathologically so. As you point out, he comes from wealth and is one of those typical silver spoon types. I have no doubt that public office confers certain benefits which may not be transparent to outsiders. Consider, though, his actions with respect to residential home construction, low-income housing and land use. Consider also the connection between Debra deMattei Figone and the construction industry. Yes. She is one of THOSE deMattei’s. I don’t know about you, but I would absolutely consider a pathological liar to be a sociopath and Liccardo has certainly proved himself to be, at minimum, an unrepentant liar – particularly since he can’t even be honest with those who read this piece about how badly Measure B will hurt public safety employees or that there were legal and viable alternatives to Measure B. Hell, he can’t even be honest about the fact that we pre-pay for our future medical benefits.
4. see above
Excuse me?
“Thank you Officer Anon for your post. I appreciate your response and definitely the information you have put forth. I apologize if my former posts may have come across as callous, and I thank you for your insight”.
Yes, they did come off as callous. I also apologize for responding in kind. Have a great day.
Divot:
Five unions offered Liccardo and the mayor a solution that would save the City $500 million dollars. $500 million dollars that could have gone to parks and libraries. This was years ago. He (they) decided to go forward with a costly ballot measure and costly law suit. (see link below) One in which you most likely voted for if you were one of the very few that did vote.
Divot, why do you think Mr. Laccardo is being so vocal about the subject now? Is it because he cares about the crime and seriousness of the lack of police in this city? If your answer is, “yes” then why did he wait so long to be vocal? Why didn’t he do something way before he became want to be mayor? It’s campaign season Divot. I have formed my opinion I will let you form yours.
Your point about officers salaries and them leaving is perplexing. You say that there are honorable policemen and women on the force staying to help. Ya thats nice. It was also nice for the band to keep playing while the Titanic sank. Where did nice get them Divot? Exactly. So if a person believes that their job is a vocation, a duty or calling then I suggest they become a priest, clergy or deacon. This this thought process is absurd. If you think salary is no big deal then why don’t you believe that the police and fire men and women deserve to be compensated appropriately?
Finally Divot, can you tell me how much of the General Fund budget is going to pay down the Redevelopment Agency’s debt? Do you know how much that debt is? I only bring this up because I believe that is the real problem and blaming it on City workers is just a “spin”. It is about fiscal mismanagement and I’ll be damn if I vote for any present City council member (especially Liccardo) for mayor. Liccardo has done nothing in his term to push this City forward. When you leave a city worse off then the day you began….well that is not a good thing.
Also can you provide a link were it shows that teachers make half as much? Please include hours worked. Not that I don’t believe you, its just I’ve always wondered about that.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/6299280-san-jose-unions-offer-pension-cuts-plan/
Just,
Thank you for your response. No, I cannot tell you how much of the General Fund budget is going to pay for the RDA. You have brought up something that I will research further. Thank you.
You can look up the salaries on Salary.com. I personally know teachers who make around 40-60K and officers who make around 80-100K. No, I do not think I can find a source that includes complete hours worked. Maybe you will have better luck with the internet.
I would suggest not calling the city of San Jose a sinking ship.
Mr. Liccardo pointed out in his article a plan he instituted 8 months ago to staff more police officers. I understand its campaign season and there is bad blood, but a plan is a plan. Even 200 more officers is a plan. I haven’t seen any other plan come from the council so far. I don’t understand how Liccardo’s proposal, on the basis of that proposal alone, will hurt the future of San Jose. Maybe you can clarify.
Liccardo plan is to get the ignorant to say Sam has a plan that’s good. But a bad plan is no plan at all. We could plan to jump off Golden Gate Bridge. But if we going to die how is that a good plan? You have seen no plan by our council because the council is corrupt and is still following Reed. Anything Karla says will be shut down by Oliverio constant reed rosé, Liccardo Nguyen. But the cops listen to Karla. The plan should be let Karla negotiate with the cops. Hiring 200 more and then have them quit is stupid. Liccardo like reed will brag we are hiring 200 more, but when 300 quit he will not tell you that.
HOW CAN YOU OR WHY WOULD YOU HIRE 200 MORE WHEN YOU CANT TAKE CARE OF THE 800 THAT ARE LEFT.
a plan should say we not going to loose one more. So since he did not address this. I submit to you that there is NO PLAN, just more lies ….
5. It is not absurd that the PD budget consumes one third of the general fund budget. In point of fact, public safety in other similarly sized agencies consumes far more of the general fund budget than it does in San Jose. In point of fact, public safety in other cities often consumes between 60% and 70% of the general fund. Other cities do not find this problematic, so why is it in San Jose? Simply put: RDA debt. When California’s RDA system was eliminated by Governor Brown, cities had to take on a debt which previously didn’t affect their budget in any way. Now, San Jose is on the hook for something on the order of $2.6 billion – the equivalent of SJ’s Capital Fund, Special Fund and General Fund combined(!) and more than LA’s RDA debt. In short, the RDA – of which Liccardo was a board member in his capacity as a councilman – ran up an enormous bill which no must be paid – primarily through transfers OUT of the general fund.
6. The city of San Jose does not employ teachers, open or maintain schools or support art or after school classes. Nor do they have anything to do with school teams, sports, school coaches or anything related to education. The city charter specifically spells out the charter duties of the city in Section 800. None of the things you mention are included in this portion of the Charter. Indeed, the primary duties of city government are in the support of public safety, infrastructure development and maintenance and administration of the city. Currently, San Jose does far more than that, well outside the bounds of core charter services. This is part of the reason San Jose is in such a financial mess. I think it’s interesting that Liccardo never mentions this fundamental fact, and I submit to you that this omission is as much a lie as some of the others he’s told. Set aside the issue of the allocation of funds for schools. That’s a County issue, not a City issus.
The REAL REASON we are talking about public safety is because police officers (especially) are leaving in droves for other agencies, earning a better retirement and netting a better income and, all the while, experiencing more respect from their employers. It’s really that simple. Individual police officers have no specific duty to remain with San Jose. That’s absurd – particularly in light of the poor treatment they’ve received here. And while, yes, being a police officer really is (or ought to be) a calling, it is an INDIVIDUAL CALLING, not a collective one, and it is up to each individual to determine how best to pursue that calling and, at the same time, determine how best to protect and support his or her family and provide for his or her retirement.
And, as a heads up, the teachers issues is a red herring. San Jose never has employed or supported teachers or been involved in education. That’s the county’s responsibility. It always has been (and one which, in my estimation, they’ve discharged just as poorly as the city has discharged its duty to support and maintain public safety).
Thank you Officer Anon for your post. I appreciate your response and definitely the information you have put forth. I apologize if my former posts may have come across as callous, and I thank you for your insight.
No on Liccardo! He will only make things worse. I will leave San Jose if he is elected.
“Without reform, we would only increase the burden of unfunded liabilities—already exceeding $2.9 billion…”
We know for a fact that Mayor Reed was lying when he said that the unfunded liability was “$650million.”
Now Councilman Liccardo, candidate for mayor (who feels compelled to remind one and all that he was a county prosecutor who spent, “long days and nights working successfully to convict sexual predators, drug dealers and other former clients of his….) tells us that the, “… burden of unfunded liabilities— [is]already exceeding $2.9 billion.”
REALLY? $2.9BILLION Mr. Liccardo? 4.5 times the amount of Mayor Reed’s amount?
Perhaps some of those “sexual predators, drug dealers and other former clients of his (Mr Kalra)” might look into the way you handled their prosecution???
…and pitting your employment as a prosecutor versus Mr Kalra’s as a public defender as if to say that prosecutors are somehow more honest, credible and trustworthy so as to make their word more credible than a defense attorney is one of the most contemptuous and despicable things I think I have ever heard from an “educated” person.
You deserve everything you have coming to you from your colleagues at the BAR!
The cops normally would side with the DA over the public defender. But the cops know when someone is lying and when someone is using common sense. Nothing worse then a crooked cop or DA. Stop lying and resign.
I cannot believe what I just read. Here are some statements that I would like clarification from Mr. Liccardo:
To begin with, the “free health insurance” he says our retirees get costs me over 10k a year. If Mr. Liccardo does not realize that, I will gladly send him a copy of my statement. It does not take a mathematician to multiply 10k by 20. I say 20 because that is the minimum amount of years you have to work to get that benefit. Yes, $200,000 plus interest is a lot of money that the EMPLOYEE contributes to his “FREE” retiree medical.
In addition, one would think that retaining existing employees with experience is much more valuable than hiring new ones. The SJPD cannot get nearly anyone to lateral to this agency. That is pretty sad, considering any department within the state is eligible. Notice how I did not minimize any other agency.
Too bad that that cannot be said about Mr. Liccardo with his “I am a Prosecutor” and Mr. Kalra is a “Defense Attorney” statement. I think we all know that people who defend our rights are just as important as the ones who prosecute criminals. Is that not what Mr. Liccardo believes? As a police officer, I don’t take it personally when someone does something wrong. I do my job. I wonder if this is where Mr. Liccardo gets his “Us vs Them” attitude. As an “Officer of the Court” he should know better.
And, Mr. Liccardo, when you criticize our POA, you criticize us. They are our elected officials and our voice. I get that you have a job to do. No problem. Do it. Just remember that the decisions you make affect people. I won’t tell you how to vote, but remember, think before you speak.
Not to minimize Mr. Liccardo’s experience as a “Prosecutor.” I do think that seven years is not a lot of time within any given occupation. It takes the average cop five years before we stop calling him a “Rookie.” Let’s all hope he’s still learning.
Yes Sjpd agreed to a temporary 10% paycut to avoid laying off officers. But guess what the city layed off officers anyway and are refusing to gives us our wages back, but they gave the IPO a 9% raise like she really needs it. What is your retirement from the city going to look like after only 8 years, probably comparable to ours, but I’m sure your not going complain about what you have coming. I ask the insider to please follow up on the city manager benefits she will receive along with her pay out when she retires again.
First of all, I am not a police officer nor do I know any and you could definitely say that I am not Pro Labor. In fact, I voted against Cindy Chavez because of her ties to the corrupt George Shirakawa. I unfortunately see the move above as a completely political move to try to snow over the general public about how this will fix the mess that was created by Measure B. I also now know that it isn’t just a radical push by the Police Officers Association to grandstand. How do I know this? I’ve spent the last month or so talking to every police officer I’ve seen on the street for two reasons… 1. I want to thank them for their service. I find that they really do care, but at the same time are completely overworked and tired. During those conversations they bring up the point that officers are still leaving and that new recruits won’t solve the problems immediately. When I’ve inquired why, they mention some very important points… How is a new recruit going to learn all the street knowledge that a veteran officer has learned over years? That experience is invaluable and is leaving San Jose. They also mention that this petition or proposal won’t solve the problem. and 2. I ask them what they think about what went with measure B. This is where its just plain obvious that there is absolutely no trust between the Police Officers and Sam Liccardo or any of the other elected officials who created this mess. Once the trust is gone, it takes a long time to recover, if ever. San Jose doesn’t have the time. We need to clean up an heal immediately and the best way to do that is move on to another candidate. Its unfortunate as Sam has a number of good ideas, but because its like the slogan that was brought up during Bill Clinton’s campaign… “Its the economy, stupid” . In this case, you could sum it up as “Its about trust, stupid”, not about 200 green, rookie officers.
Downtowner
I dont believe that you and I have agreed on anything. So I would like to thank you for actually going out and educating yourself . that simple act is what gives me hope for San Jose . Most residents blindly follow the Mayor and Council members and take their word as gospel . It has been proven time and again that they have either lied,cheated, or misrepresented the truth many times. City workers offered a proposal that would have started saving over $500 million dollars( Guaranteed) inside of 5years. the Mayor/council refused to even look at it . it is their sheer arrogance and Hidden agenda that has gotten us to this point.
so if no one else says it ………………..Thank you for checking(educating ) yourself. we might not always agree , but at the very least we an stay informed
I agree and if more citizens took the time to educate themselves, as this poster did, they would have the truth about what is going on and the lies that are being told by the administration. I commend you for your efforts, Downtowner. That was a very intelligent thing to do.
You are right DisgustedinSJ that we haven’t agree on anything, but I do respect your opinion.. I guess the title of the post says it all “We Need an Independent, Responsible Approach for a Safer San Jose”. That wouldn’t be with anyone who sits on the current council. Its time to move on and get leaders that will pull us through this crisis. The morale is so bad right now with the Police Officers I’ve spoken with. Its sad we took one of the top performing departments in the country and trashed it so quickly. Time to move on…
Agreed 100%
Hey Scam Liccardo, have you talked to brother Pete Constant about his trip to Washington DC last week, paid for by the taxpayers of San Jose, to talk about pension reform? You know, the same Pete who gets a tax free disability from the city, yet is well enough to be a full time city councilman and teacher at a college? The same one who is apparently fit enough to run for mayor? Seems like he is the very problem you are speaking of, yet the mayor and you are afraid to take him on. Sure would be refreshing to see one of you take on Pete “Hypocrite” Constant, rather than close your eyes to your buddy.
Hey Sam ,
Get ready , The City of Los Angeles just lost its bid to freeze Pensions . The courts ruled that “vested rights” can not be changed without being given something of equal or greater value. Both Pensions and Retirement benefits are covered in these rulings. The losing attorneys are none other than Meyers-Nave , the same attorneys representing The City of San Jose in its bid to strip workers of their earned benefits. If Im not mistaken this law firm has not won in any of its cases to strip workers benefits, and has lost in court Multiple times already.
“…“vested rights” can not be changed without being given something of equal or greater value.”
Many, many past posts have stated this fact. I am not sure why their attorneys didn’t know that when the lay people did? I also wonder why they would hire these attorneys who have lost every single other case on this same issue? Weird.
So So Interesting ,
Oh they know. Is just that Mayor Reeds extreme arrogance makes him believe that he can either bypass /beat the law . He believes that because San Jose is a charter city , that certain laws do not apply. Courts have ruled numerous times ” against this type of attack on workers rights . In the end the biggest losers are San Jose Residents . millions of dollars will have been wasted because of one mans egomaniacal obsession. he along with his hand puppets: Lickardo,Constant,Hererra,Nguyen,Oliverio have destroyed this city and its public safety
That’s really a shame that millions and millions of taxpayer’s dollars have been wasted because of an ego. Just think of the services that could have been provided with that money. Truly sad.
And Now this P.O.S is trying to push for a statewide pension reform initiative . His new mantra is “litigate instead of Negotiate” . It will be beaten down just like Measure B. Can not wait for His term to be over
I just read that and I could not believe the lengths he is going to to push this. Not only will he be disliked by officers and other City employees, his list will include teachers, nurses and more, throughout the state. I suspect he is grasping at straws trying to leave a legacy he can be proud of as he leaves office; in an effort to be able to say he accomplished something positive (as he sees it). As of right now, his legacy is one big mess and growing.
Not sure this URL will work but if anyone wants to read it, here it is:
http://www.mef101.org/News/news169.html
didacticdivot, I would invite you to examine David S. Wall’s excellent summation of the profligate waste that is the Mexican Heritage Plaza. He correctly notes that it has been a money pit since its inception and it is only (racial) politics which has kept it open and out of private management.
Note that the $450,000 annual expenditures Mr. Wall describes would pay for three additional officers – assuming that the city could hire and keep enough officers to approach authorized strength considering the truly crap-tastic 2nd tier pension program. The current academy lost about a third of its recruits already (lending credence to an article on Protectsanjose.com regarding the unrealistic hiring plans from Reed, Liccardo and Constant). MeyerWeed has posted a couple of excellent analyses on http://meyerweed.blogspot.com/ covering the challenges of recruitment, training and retention.
I think it’s also important to note that the Mexican Heritage Plaza is not the only example of profligate money-losing ventures run (into the ground) by the City of San Jose. Muni golf course, and the Hayes Mansion are two other examples of ventures which the City ought to simply sell off and cut their losses.
Lastly, and also on the topic of waste, as well as vanity projects, we should also examine the millions upon millions which the city has expended to acquire property for Chuck Reed’s signature vanity project – I mean the future A’s stadium. The city has purchased numerous properties at a premium (amounting to at least $25 million) and proposed to sell those properties at a loss (!) to Lew Wolf for the purpose of building the stadium. San Jose never had the cash (to my knowledge) for the purchase and that $25+ million is a part of San Jose’s massive RDA debt, the service of which is consuming scores of millions in transfers out of the general fund at the expense of core services like public safety, street maintenance and, yes, library services.
For all the talk of fiscal responsibility emanating from Chuck Reed and his ilk, their spending behaviors closely mirror that of a certain Oracle employee at an SF strip club with the company AmEx.
9-27-2013 Even Ch. 11 News is on top of the newest graduating academy recruits and the fact that there are some who already plan to leave….after the City spent $170K to test, do backgrounds, hire them and get them through the academy………..only to have them resign and go to other agencies that pay far more……Wake up Mr. Reed and Liccardo………….or do you even care.
WHY WOULD YOU HIRE MORE WHEN YOU CANNOT KEEP THE ONES YOU HAVE.
I would be shocked if any of the recruits finishes the probationary period . It is not unreasonable to think that most if not all will leave for better pay/benefits. SJPD is nowhere near comparable to other city’s pay and benefit package. SJPD is among the lowest paid/benefitted in the country Thanks to our insanely arrogant Mayor and clown council .San Jose ” you get what you pay for”