Cary Weist's website states,

Examine Council’s budget priorities and find out why one of the top-five riches cities in the country can’t afford to properly fund public safety.

Public safety could be accomplished by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office at a substantial savings to the property owners. San Carlos, Millbrae, Half Moon Bay have switched and are very satisfied with the protection and service.

"Examine Council’s budget priorities and find out why one of the top-five riches cities in the country can’t afford to properly fund public safety."

Atherton already spends more than TWICE as much per capita for police services than does Woodside, Portola Valley, Saratoga and Moraga. Any candidate who recommends spending even more lacks good judgement and has no financial credibility.

"Atherton already spends more than TWICE as much per capita for police services than does Woodside, Portola Valley, Saratoga and Moraga. "

For what amounts to a glorified private security force. The town could contract with the county Sheriff AND hire a private security force to take care of such things as watering lawns, lock out service, taking in mail, etc. for substantial savings.

I think this would be a very telling conversation, What does Carey mean when he says,

"respect it deserves" and he is talking about a Police Department.

Where does this kind of statement come from? Who thinks likes this?

That comment makes it sound like the PD is some beleaguered force fighting crime w/out any assistance, understanding or appreciation, up against insane odds.

We've laughed at APD since childhood, given their silly antics. The laughing hasn't stopped.

Good for Cary for stating his positions. All of the candidates should be clear on several issues:

Police or Sheriff;

Library in the Park or not,

Should a council majority overrule the wishes of the people

General Law City or Charter City

Road Impact Fee or not

Little League benches or not

New Town Center or not

It could be time for a SURVEY.

The Survey should be for the Atherton Police Officers.

1) Do you feel disrespected? If yes by who?

2) Do you have feelings of jealousy towards the citizens your'e sworn to protect?

3) Do you have any objections to working for the Sheriff's Office in the future?

While I appreciate Mr. Weist taking a position, I don't concur with it. Mr. Carpenter states that the Town spends twice as much per capita as the identified cities.

The Town could write a contract for whatever services it wanted with another police department or the sheriff's department and potentially retain current staff. Woodside has a different contract than San Carlos than Millbrae, yet they all contract with the sheriff's department. And I'll bet San Carlos and Millbrae are playing less now than they did with their own stand-alone departments.

And Atherton isn't the only city that should consider this option.

Cary Weist is stating/implying two things, both of which are incorrect.

1. Atherton cannot have quality police services without its own police department. As a wealthy community, Atherton is "special" and cannot possibly get by with a police force that serves others as well. (Totally false...just ask people on Park or Fifth avenues in New York City).

2. If Atherton does operate its own police department, it cannot have a good police department without paying top dollar for salaries, benefits and pensions. There can be no bound on what is spent. If Atherton tries to constrain these costs, it cannot hire or retain good officers.

A flyer was recently sent to Atherton residents by the Atherton Police Officers' Association, using scare tactics to warn residents about not even thinking about outsourcing, or questioning the police budget.

The vice president of the APOA is John Mattes. Mattes sent out the flyer. He is a poster boy for why #2 is totally, completely false.

As of about six months ago, Mattes was the Communications/Dispatch Supervisor, making about $150,000 per year. His salary reached $150,000 per year because all the time he spent supervising his dispatchers was on overtime, since Mattes spent his 40/hours per week doing dispatch work himself. Chief Ed Flint wisely demoted Mattes down to about $100,000 per year for just doing dispatch work, taking away his managerial duties.

Did Mattes resign because of this salary cut? No.

Did Mattes file a lawsuit because of this salary cut? No. (Though threatening one is SOP any time police or union benefits are cut).

That's because even at the $100K, Mattes knows he has a good deal. This is the free market at work.

Mattes was the test case. All the cops can take a big haircut in salary and benefits, and pensions. We can still get plenty of good cops to work in Atherton.

Do you know what police salaries are in New York City? About 30% less than San Mateo County. Pensions? 50% to at best 60% of salary, not 90%. Is New York City a less dangerous place to work than Atherton? I think not. Is the cost of living much lower there than here? Not a chance.

The notion that the sky will fall if Atherton outsources, or cuts the outrageous salaries and benefits to cops, is ridiculous. Cary Weist has perceived there is a small but very powerful faction of residents who get special treatment by Atherton cops, led by former mayor Didi Fisher, and has hitched his political wagon onto their train of do whatever it takes to make the police department happy.

Duh...don't hold your breath. I'm sure Mr. Weist will not be trying to explain himself. Nor will his de facto running mate Elizabeth Lewis.

"...do whatever it takes to make the police department happy."

Seems to me that those that think they "need to keep the police department happy" have the equation exactly backward. The police officers' jobs are not to be kept happy, they are there to serve the residents of Atherton. The APOA should be worried about keeping the citizens happy, not the other way around. Just more evidence of the lack of professionalism exhibited by the APD.

It's simple Atherton - outsource and be policed by professionals. Keep your own police force and be policed by unprofessional glorified security guards. Seems a pretty simple choice to me.

"The Town could write a contract for whatever services it wanted with another police department or the sheriff's department and potentially retain current staff. Woodside has a different contract than San Carlos than Millbrae.."

Precisely. Woodside pays $274 per capita while next door Portola Valley pays about $150 - because they each chooses to buy a different level of police service.

Atherton pays over $600 per capita for its police services.

Here's the latest from Elizabeth Lewis' website. Peter Carpenter has endorsed Elizabeth Lewis, according to her, at least.

Thank you so very much for supporting my campaign. I appreciate your dedication to maintaining our local police department. They provide a vital service to our special community.

Seriously Peter?

After Elizabeth Lewis confirmed to me her commitment to work diligently to develop a more collaborative council (Collaborative Council - As a minority member of the council, I have been distressed both by the polarization on the council and by the apparent failure of the council to listen to and be responsive to residents’ concerns and to ensure that council actions reflect their representation of all residents, rather than their own preferences.) I was pleased to endorse her. There are many issues that are important in this election but unless we can develop a collaborative Town Council none of them will be properly addressed.

Lewis has taken NOT made the statement posted above about the police department and has not even included that issue in her four issue statements (Web Link

As I stated above Atherton already spends more than TWICE as much per capita for police services than does Woodside, Portola Valley, Saratoga and Moraga. Any candidate who recommends spending even more lacks good judgement and has no financial credibility - and would certainly not have my support.

Peter:

Frankly, I am surprised given Lewis' demonstrated lack of ethics.

Cary's website has changed the wording.

Ensure Public Safety
Ensure that Atherton maintains local policing by keeping its 85-year-old police department.
Provide Atherton law enforcement with the staffing and resources to provide the services our community expects.
Examine Council’s budget priorities and allocation of funds to find out why one of the top-five riches cities in the country is struggling to properly fund public safety .

Missing is the "Respect it Deserves".....What changed?