Martinez Needs More Police

Friday morning I stopped in to grab my venti coffee and noticing Bob and Steve sitting beside the bridge I stopped to say hello; my eyes naturally peering below for a glimpse of our resident geese. Instead I saw an Allied Waste can obviously dumped over the bridge, its contents spilling into the creek. Before I go any further I want to acknowledge the quick response by Bob Cellini and city staff once I alerted them to the problem; when I stopped back by at noon all was righted.

So I’m thinking how many people does it take to lift up and heave over a full garbage can? Certainly more than one, and when would a group of two or more individuals feel secure in their surroundings to believe they could get away with this bit of mischief unnoticed? After all, the B of A plaza isn’t tucked away in some obscure corner of the city; reminds me of the vandalism of the Pony Express monument and the recent rash of smash and grabs.

It seems some in our city haven’t been treated to the same levels of scrutiny my own two sons, Keith and Noel (when they still lived at home and ventured out on foot later in the evening) were treated to. I recall both of them, on separate occasions, getting an up close and personal introduction to the hood of an MPD crown vic as they were patted down and asked where they were going. Now as a mom I bristled at the gruff treatment but I don’t seem to recall much in the way of graffiti tags on our walls seven years ago – so what’s changed?

On July 6th as I waited with Officer Ferrer for either Fish and Game or Animal Control to retrieve a dead beaver down at the marina, I asked why it was that our bicycle patrol was gone and why third shift seemed lighter than normal. He mentioned the recent retirements; I had also heard some time ago that many of our officers were active duty reserves and had been called up. I don’t think anyone will argue that our police force is woefully understaffed based on the increasing levels of quality of life and petty crime we see cropping up.

So what’s the solution, well hire more officers of course. But wait, our city along with our state is suffering from a shortfall in revenues due to the weakened housing market and the subsequent losses in property tax revenues. Okay so what’s the solution? Well some would want the residents of Martinez to believe the formation of a Redevelopment Agency is the answer. We’ll be told that property values should rebound and increase in strength. Alright, I’ll bite so if property values increase that means that property taxes increase as well which means we’ll have money to pay for essential city services, right?

Wrong. All of the increase in tax revenues (tax increments) after a redevelopment agency is formed are siphoned off and fed into the agency. Money that would normally pay for essential city services, public education and parks will instead be used to feed a behemoth bureaucracy that is not accountable to the taxpayers. So instead of putting more cops on the beat, the money could be used to put more buildings on the street. Tax money that should be used to buy books and pay teachers is paying for building improvements instead.

So what is the solution, maybe instead of trying to engineer growth at taxpayer expense our city might consider creating an environment that fosters organic growth. I don’t believe ransoming Martinez’ future by redirecting tax revenues to fund special interests and pet projects is in the highest and best interests of our city. Unless of course those who directly benefit from taxpayer generosity will, as part of the bargain, volunteer as peace officers, city staff and teachers.