Thread by @shayshinecastle

Moving on to the consent agenda, where the adjustment to base budget item is. Normally pretty routine, but as I said, this time it includes $2.7M for encampment removal. boulderbeat.news/2021/04/30/bou…

Brockett on why he wanted a public hearing: There are significant new expenditures on items of community interest.

"There have been some strong opinions from the community on a lot of different sides," Brockett says. "That was my primary reason for requesting that be a public hearing."

"I've heard from some of my colleagues that maybe a public hearing isn't necessary or helpful," Brockett says.

Brockett: "I don't believe it's necessary at this time to add the additional police funding" because it will take some time to hire those officers anyway. "Instead, recapture those funds for additional restoration of services" that have been cut during COVID.

His suggestion is to move it from THIS adjustment to base to a later one. Chief Herold did say last time that hiring will take up to 2 years; so the police dept can request that $$ in the future, when it is ready to hire, Brockett suggests.

Yates: "I think it's an intriguing proposal." Asks Chief Herold if she could still re-deploy 6 existing police officers without that budget allocation.

Herold: "No sir, I would not, unless I took resources from other dept."

Herold: "I would have to take an entire unit out of the police dept. My traffic section, which currently is 9 officers, or my Uni Hill impact team, which includes the downtown group, San Juan group and Uni Hill group."

"It would take a massive hiring spree to make this happen, and to do it the right way, to do it compassionately and make sure everybody is safe and to support the ambassadors and park rangers," Herold says.

Yates: Wasn't the original plan to redeploy 6 existing officers to these problem areas and then backfill for them? Were the next officers you plan to hire going to backfill those?

Herold: I would need to take 6 officers that I can train up within the next month. They're going to need legal training, use of force training, etc. I would take veteran officers and then backfill THOSE positions with new academy hires.

Which could happen by next summer, Herold says. Dept working hard to get "lateral" hires, which is cops from other places, bc they take less time to train.

Herold: We are losing officers almost on a daily occurrence right now.

(to retirement, other jobs, injury, etc.)

Young: How much time do you expect it to take?
Herold: If I'm successful and we hire everything we have open right now, I'd need the funding right now to offer ppl positions and lateral transfers now.

"I can't guarantee you we can get everybody in the next hiring cycle, but we'll keep going. It won't close," Herold says.

Young: So in the next 6 weeks?
Herold doesn't say yes or no, just that she hopes it will be as quick as possible.

"I'm losing people pretty regularly in the police dept," Herold says.

Swetlik: "I'm still a little confused on the timing. Idk many dept that we try to pre-fill or have a hiring system that goes above what we're actually trying to fill."

"Until that point ... I'm not sure it makes a whole lot of sense to put budget somewhere it's maybe going to be spent," Swetlik says. "Especially when we have a second adjustment to base in a matter of months" where we can give that $$.

Herold: "If I don't start hiring now, it just pushes the hiring process back and back and back. It is standard practice in policing to have a target over your number, knowing that you're losing people."

"This is standard practice across the country," Herold says.

Friend: It seems like we're in quicksand.

Friend: "Idk that in my time on council, we've had a public hearing on either homelessness or policing."

I mean... policing for sure, with the oversight and master plan stuff. Plus the budgeting public hearings. But she may be right on homelessness. It's been awhile, for sure.

Wallach: "I'm reluctant to put the police chief in the position of having to rob Peter to pay Paul. ... I would not wait until the second adjustment to base (and) give her the resources she requires in order to carry out the policies we have approved."

Herold: "Right now, if I was asked to do the encampment cleanups and provide safety, I would have to take another unit out of service. ... I am trying to hire quickly but also with due diligence."

Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde, new city manager, saying that it's common for other city dept. to kind of pre-budget and over-target for hiring. Fire dept, which have an academy training process as well, she says.

Chris Meschuk, who was city manager in the interim, concurs. Other dept. also over-hire if, for instance, they know someone is leaving, to ensure continuity of service.

Weaver: Any council person has the ability to cause this to be a public hearing on June 1 (when the adjustment to base is up for a second reading and adoption, I believe).

Brockett: "I hear you are hiring as fast as you can, which is good. We have a deficit. Seems like some amount of over-hiring is a very reasonable thing to do. Still, my fundamental point stands. We have so many dept in the city that provide important services to the community...

... that have been cut deep."

So his proposal is the same: Give the $$ later, since those positions won't be hired until later.

And use the money in the mean time to restore some cut services.

Like the library, like the parks & rec.

Moving on for the moment, but a vote on Brockett's suggestion / motion will happen later.

Brockett makes the motion now to appropriate more $$ for police later in the year, rather than right now. Joseph (I think) seconds.

Only 3 votes for that: Swetlik, Friend and Brockett, so that fails.

So, pending a likely majority vote for the consent agenda, that $$ will be appropriated now.

Brockett, Swetlik and Friend vote against this, but it passes.

Joseph explaining why she didn't: Bc she already voted in favor of it and didn't want to "go back." Chief Herold has prob already been planning, Joseph says.

@threadreaderapp please unroll. Thank you.