The Feb 23 memo from Financial Mgm't Director Lori Ann Farrell to City Manager Pat West for Mayor Bob Foster and all City Councilmembers, states in pertinent part:

Given the challenges facing the General Fund, it does not appear that there is excess revenue to support the cost of an additional Police and Fire Academy in FY10. In light of historically low crime rates and the Police Department's ongoing success in managing staff levels, the staff recommendation is to stay the course and budget through the Police and Fire Academies through the FY 11 Budget Adoption Process...Should the City Council wish to accelerate Academies to July 2010, the staff recommendation is to move forward with a lateral Police and/or Fire academy, in lieu of academies planned for FY 11, and return to the City Council during the budget process with a recommendation regarding future academies for FY 11.

The memo suggests that if the Council wants to accelerate replenishment police and/or fire academies in FY10 in lieu of FY11, funding could come from (1) requiring Police or Fire Dept. savings; (2) borrowing from the Council's Budget Stabilization Fund or (3) implementing cuts in other General Fund departments or General Fund supported capital improvement projects.

The memo also suggests lateral academies as an alternative to full Academy Classes to replenish fire and police officers, citing what appear to be significant cost savings.

To view city management's memo, click here.

Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske matter-of-factly disclosed the non-confidential but previously secret management memo during Council discussion of an item agendized by Vice Mayor Val Lerch, chair of the Council's Public Safety Committee, to approve a lateral Fire Training Academy. The management memo wasn't included in the agendized item...and Councilwoman Schipske said that in her opinion it should have been.

Vice Mayor Lerch, and Councilmembers Schipske, along with Tonia Reyes Uranga and Rae Gabelich, expressed varying levels of dissatisfaction with management recommended delays in Academy classes. Schipske and Reyes Uranga separately indicated [paraphrase] that since management's memo had already spelling out the Council's options, the Council should act on the matter.

Assistant City Manager Suzanne Fricke acknowledged that although the memo represented management's recommendation, the ultimate decision was up to the Council and management would implement that decision.

At the speakers podium, LB Fire Fighters Ass'n President Rich Brandt said he favored foregoing lateral Fire Academy hiring if that's what it took to start a full Fire Academy class by Jan. 2011...along with require testing and recruitment procedures that had to begin without further delay.

His testimony followed statements by a member of LB's Civil Service Commission who said the need for large testing venues to test large numbers of applicants efficiently on a single day restricted dates and times for available testing. Those comments drew fire from Councilman Gary DeLong and Mayor Foster...who both indicated that they didn't find the argument persuasive.

After voicing increasing levels of frustration with management's recommended delays, Vice Mayor Lerch announced that he would receive and file his lateral-firefighter item...and plans to agendize an item for next week (March 9) to seek Council support to move forward with a full Fire Academy Class.

However, Vice Mayor Lerch agreed to let the issue of a replenishment Police Academy issue wait until March 23 when, the memo recites, the information in the memo will be agendized for public Council discussion and the City Manager's newly chosen police chief, Jim McDonnell, can participate in that discussion [comment: presumably expressing views consistent with the city management memo].

LBPD's previous Police Chief, Anthony Batts (who exited for Oakland last year) repeatedly recommended that the Council budget the hiring of additional police officers...advice that sometimes appeared unwelcome. In some years, Chief Batts' budget presentations were scheduled near the end of Council budget proceedings...after other Departments had already consumed the lion's share of Council time.

The March 2, 2010 Council item on Firefighter hiring agandized by Vice Mayor Lerch wasn't discussed until roughly three and half hours into the Council meeting...roughly two hours after the Council discussed five items relating to greater City Hall support for the arts.

The arts related items were the first five items (items 16-20) on the Council's Regular Agenda under Departmental Communications; the public safety issue was Item 23.

In April 2009, city management informed the City Council (one week before a federal filing deadline) that LB wouldn't be seeking a federal grant for more police officers, funded in part by federal taxpayers for roughly three years, that requires cities to commit to continuing budgeting the officers when the grant expires. Los Angeles and Signal Hill were among cities that will receive police officers at a discount for several years under the grant, paid for by federal taxpayers in LB and across the country.

Five months later in September 2009, the City Council adopted a FY10 budget that cut nearly 60 budgeted police officer positions from officers available for citywide deployment (it left untouched officers contracted to and paid by the Port, Airport, LBCC, LBUSD, LB Transit).

The Council also "balanced" its FY10 budget by eliminating a previously scheduled FY10 replenishment police academy class, ensuring LB's police level would fall further as retiring/exiting officers weren't replaced.

City management has since acknowledged that due in part to a program implemented as a cost saving measure, the number of police officers who've exited LBPD exceeds previous estimates...with no replenishment police academy currently scheduled to replace them.