Walnut Creek Council Candidate Justin Wedel Announces Plan for Improved Public Safety in Walnut Creek
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Candidate for Walnut Creek City Council Justin Wedel announced his plan for to improve public safety in Walnut Creek.
His proposed plan includes creating a "Walnut Creek Public Safety Task Force" comprised of representatives from our neighborhoods, business community, city leadership, members from the police department, and the city council. "The task force's primary responsibility will be to represent the Walnut Creek community by making strategic recommendations on the future of public safety in Walnut Creek directly to the City Council, based on my plan's five key objectives," Wedel said.
The five objectives that comprise his plan are:
1. Pension Reform - In order to protect the long-term financial wellbeing of Walnut Creek we must implement significant pension reform. Employees must pay their share of the employee side contribution and we must reassess retirement percentages provided to our public safety employees at the time of retirement.
2. Compensation Reform - Right-size our total employee compensation packages based on our ability to obtain and retain qualified Police Officers balanced against the long-term financial viability of Walnut Creek. We must work together to create a pay scale that accomplishes this goal.
3. Additional Personnel - The facts show that we do not have enough police officers to protect our streets at all times. Staffing metrics must be reviewed and updated to insure we can cover our business communities and neighborhoods at the same time, even during peak hours.
4. Improved Infrastructure - Some of our police department infrastructure in crumbling or does not meet the needs of the community. We must identify and replace broken items and implement a long-term replacement and maintenance schedule to insure ongoing public safety and investment.
5. Budget Reform - We must implement a city-wide service prioritization that drives overall departmental funding in Walnut Creek. Essential services should be funded before funding or subsidizing non-essential services. Without adequately funding essential services we will continue to experience safety issues and will be unable to provide for the safe environment our residents and visitors have come to expect.
"The events that occurred over the past weekend and the subsequent inability of our police department to respond due to a lack of adequate personnel is inexcusable and is further proof our City Council has underfunded and understaffed our Police Department," said Wedel. "Without immediate action we are placing our community at risk. As such, I plan on addressing this issue and my proposed solution during the public communications period at the next City Council meeting"
