~by Victoria Riley for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
More than 50 persons attended the Jefferson city council meeting Tuesday – including Jefferson police officers, Greene County sheriff’s deputies, Iowa State Patrolmen who live in Jefferson, Greene County Ambulance EMTs and Jefferson firefighters – but only two people spoke.
The large attendance was there for a discussion about the Jefferson police department. Staffing in the department is at a critically low point, and entering into a 28E agreement with the Greene County sheriff’s office for law enforcement is being considered.
With no input from the public, and without comment from mayor Matt Gordon, who had encouraged the large attendance via a post on social media, the council approved a motion directing city staff to begin negotiating a new union contract immediately and to expedite the process. The new contract will go into effect as soon as possible, during the current fiscal year.
The city’s contract with the local AFSCME unit expires June 30, 2021. Without the action taken Tuesday, negotiations would begin several months from now. Jefferson police officers and all non-salaried, fulltime employees are covered by the contract with AFSCME.
Council member Harry Ahrenholtz read from a prepared statement to open the discussion. Ahrenholtz is the senior member of the council, having served since 2014. He defended the council’s record regarding the JPD.
He began by confirming that he supports the Jefferson police department, “and I’d be very confident that all the council members here do, too. More importantly, I think the citizens of Jefferson support and expect a fully functioning police department for this community.”
He said he and other council members take their duties seriously, and that includes “exercising good stewardship of taxpayer dollars…. That presents challenges and struggles, just as it does in any business and most households in our community.”
Ahrenholtz provided data for the past five years. Operating expenses for the JPD have increased from $540,000 to $840,000, an increase of 55 percent, he said. That increase is “significantly” larger than in other city departments.
He said part of the larger percentage of increase is due to the number of employees in the department – there are more JPD officers than employees in any other single city department. Health insurance costs have “escalated dramatically” he said, and that impacts the JPD budget more than the smaller departments.
He said the hiring incentive implemented in 2019 – a $2,000 sign-on bonus and $200/per month in student loan payments for officers with a degree in criminal justice – has helped in the hiring process but not in retaining officers. The JPD now has an 80 percent turnover rate.
Ahrenholtz also said that in the past five years, the city has made $190,000 in capital expenditures. He said capital improvement projects that had been pre-planned provided much of the funding. The council has approved non-budgeted items on an “as-needed” basis. Additionally, the department has received supplemental funding from individuals, companies, and grants.
According to Ahrenholtz, new officers all know what the pay scale is when they’re hired, and what is needed to achieve pay increases. They also know of the health insurance benefit, which covers the full cost of insurance for single coverage and “the majority” of the cost for families. They know of the availability of overtime, of paid holidays (there are 11 for city employees), double-time holiday pay, paid vacation time and the city’s contribution to the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System (IPERS).
Base pay has been singled out as the primary cause for turnover in the police department. Since that’s specified in the union contract, it can’t be changed without opening the contract.
Council member Pat Zmolek reported the council’s police committee has discussed the command structure of the PD but hasn’t made a decision or recommendation. The discussion includes retaining the current chief/captain structure, having a chief and two sergeants, or having a chief and an administrative assistant.
Zmolek said the committee has also discussed with chief Mark Clouse reinstating an officer reserve program. Reserve officers would enhance the department, not fill the role of officer. He said nothing will be done in that area until staffing problems are remedied.
Greene County sheriff Jack Williams attended the meeting. He explained the sheriff’s office could provide full coverage that would include everything the JPD now does except animal control, or emergency coverage, which would include responding to domestic assaults or “actively ongoing crime.” Things like harassment would be logged and handled by the JPD as an officer was available.
Williams said the SO could provide emergency coverage for one 12-hour shift a day without adding a deputy. He would work shifts to help cover. “The sheriff’s office as a whole wants to see the PD stay, so we’re willing to stretch our limits a little bit to help you guys attain that goal (a fully-staffed PD) at the end,” he said.
Williams said it would take about a year to get back to full staffing.
“We definitely want to make sure it’s something temporary that assures the survival of the JPD,” council member Darren Jackson said.
Williams said he, the county attorney and county supervisors would like to meet with their city counterparts yet this week to begin drafting the needed 28E agreement that would outline the responsibilities the SO will assume and the financial compensation.
Williams and Greene County Ambulance director Michelle Madsen were the only ones who spoke from the audience. Madsen read a statement that highlighted the importance of law enforcement in keeping ambulance staff safe in their work.
Other business on the agenda was handled quickly. The council approved the second readings of ordinances to increase water and wastewater rates by 3 percent and to increase residential and solid waste collection rates.
The base amount for water service will increase 34 cents from $11.17 to $11.51 (monthly). The base amount for wastewater service will increase 55 cents from $18.48 to $19.03. The base amount for trash collection will increase from $10.45 to $11.45, and the recycling rate will increase from $3.70 to $4.70 per month.
The council approved a contract revision with People for Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) for caring for the animals at the shelter. The contract was increased from $6,000 annually to $8,000 annually. The extra amount was requested because of shortfalls in PAWS fundraising due, in part, to the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase is effective for the current contract and will remain in effect until further notice.
The council approved a credit card policy that will allow the city to obtain credit cards for each department, with the department head having primary responsibility for the card. Each card will have a $5,000 credit limit.
The cards cannot be used for cash advances, to purchase gift cares or gift certificates, to purchase alcoholic beverages, for travel-related expenses related to spouses or other non-covered persons, items for personal use that would not be reimbursable by the city, video rentals or bar purchases provided in hotel rooms, rental or lease of land or buildings, rental or lease of motor vehicles, or entertainment.
The policy outlines procedures employees must follow when they use the card, and specifies that failure to correctly follow the policy may result in disciplinary action that may include termination.
The entire meeting lasted only 30 minutes, much less than recent meetings.
