I watched the council meeting tonight and It's still on in the background.  There were a lot of interesting people there.  I am impressed how many people actually came out.  It is no surprise to me that the city did not pick a forum where everyone there could attend.  Quite a lot  were turned away.  I commend everyone who went and especially everyone who spoke(yes, even those I disagree with.)

Most spoke against the Rent Tax.  This is a 2% tax which would be imposed by renters and collected by landlords.  The way it was proposed was awful from the start and the idea is stupid.  It is destined to fail from the start.  Only one person I heard (might have missed one during a bathroom break) in favor of the tax.  That person said she would support it if the money went to the schools.  Yeah there's a brilliant idea, lets give them more money because they have been sooo responsible with the budget they have.  Not a good idea.

Others were there against a cut at Access Tucson.  Well, if I ever watched Access for anything other than council meetings maybe I would care, but I just don't. Give them there funding or reduce it it just won't effect me.  The one thing I like about it is that it provides some jobs.  But then maybe it's time to get rid of some of the non-essentials ehh?

I appreciated the support of Police Fire and Utilities.  One man even stood up and spoke about taking care of the responsibilities of city government first.  I hope they heard that.    I even saw one of my new Facebook friends get up there with his support.  He asked for the right thing too, more cops. Sure I could use a raise, but if I get killed waiting for backup what good is money?  Besides, now is a good time to hire.  I'll tell you why.  

1) Many are retiring and we need to hire for attrition. 

2) To stop hiring will mean we will have a group of senior officers retiring all at once later on down the road.  The gap in hiring means TPD will be like it is now.  Full of less tenured cops and no or very few experienced officers.  Like anywhere the old teach the new and the new work hard while the old slow down.  It's a good thing and it balances the job knowledge in the department.

3) There are a lot of people out of work.  Many of them with experiences in life that we need in the department.  Not only does hiring provide jobs to those without,  but it pushes more to apply for the job in the first place.  We will get people with supervisory, military and other experience which will fill needs in the department. We will not have to settle for those who only meet the requirements we will get those who exceed them.  

  Overall, I don't think you will see more cops in this budget.  The city has applied for 125 cops which will be paid for by the Federal government.  The money provided by one of the stimulus bills in the form of a grant.  It has not been approved and who knows how many officers will be approved.  Either way 125 is a drop in the bucket.  We'll need about 600 just to catch up with attrition in the coming years.  Meanwhile crime rates continue at near the same numbers.  Violent crime is down this year from where we were last year this time, but it's getting warm now.  More people are on the streets.  The marijuana harvests are in down south and the numbers will rise.  Hopefully, we can head some of it off.  One thing to remember about last years homicide numbers.  They were tweeked by comparison to previous years.  No, they didn't lie about the number of people killed.  The factor never looked at is that we have an outstanding trauma hospital here in UMC.  We have a saying that UMC can keep a cold piece of lunch meat alive.  And they are a very skilled bunch.  Many people have been saved in that hospital that would have become a homicide statistic in years past.  Therefore, comparatively the numbers don't match.  Every year they get better at keeping people alive.

"Do more with less" will be our mantra.

I will pray tonight for the council to make all the right decisions.  I will pray for our men and women in the US military, Police, Fire and all other service.  I will pray for this great Nations leaders and I will pray that the Lord will be pleased with our futures.