By Jaymes Butler
In order to be a world-class city it has to start with world-class public safety. People are not going to move their families and business’s to the City of Sacramento if they feel unsafe.
The problems are many layered but priorities have to be set. The city council has failed because these problems have been going on for many years now with no plan to solve them.
The Sacramento Fire Department budget has been chronically under-funded for many years. Firefighter’s respond not only to fires, but also emergency medical calls, hazardous materials incidents, and specialized rescues like water, vertical, confined space and animal rescues.
The Fire Department hasn’t grown in 20 years while the population has increased by 40 percent and the call volume has increased by 100 percent. Sacramento’s fire death rate is double the state average and the city has about 40 percent more fires than similar sized cities.
The Fire Department needs about 9 stations replaced, 5 remodeled and 6 new stations. The Fire Department also needs 4 new ambulances to keep up with the call volume and a real fire boat.
In Natomas, the fire department has very poor coverage because of no firehouse on the west side of I-5 (Station 43). My fire company, Engine 18 is the first up to respond to the west side of I-5 and it takes us 8 minutes to get there where the rest of the city has 4 minute response times.
Beware of the promises of Station 43 by your council member. How can the city council add an additional firehouse/engine company while they are approving brownouts (Closing Fire Companies) across the rest of the city?
The Sacramento Police Department is sorely under staffed: 1.8 officers per 1,000 residents, which is the worst among the top 50 cities in the country. The situation is only going to get worse with the cutting of 174 positions and normal attrition, there’s no police presence in the community, therefore no deterrence.
Ultimately, we as the citizens of Sacramento have to look in the mirror and place the blame on ourselves. The last round of elections two years ago, four city council members (Ray Tretheway included) ran unopposed only validating the poor decisions that they have made.
During the budget hearing when the city council cut both fire and police only two people from the Natomas community stood up and spoke during the fire hearing and no one came during the police hearing.
The current round of elections, there are five council members up for reelection and only one contested race. We have a chance for a change in leadership at the top but will that be enough in a city manager strong government where the mayor is just a vote.
Please know that the men and women of the fire and police departments work very hard everyday to protect the lives and property of the citizens of Sacramento but we can only do with the resources we are given. Public safety should have grown in direct proportion to the growth in population.
We need the citizens of Sacramento to get involved and stay involved, place pressure on our elected officials to do their jobs and ultimately replace them if they are not willing to do so.
Jaymes Butler is a Natomas resident, Captain E18-A and Municipal Director for Sacramento Area Fire Fighters, Local 522.
“Ultimately, we as the citizens of Sacramento have to look in the mirror and place the blame on ourselves. The last round of elections two years ago, four city council members (Ray Tretheway included) ran unopposed only validating the poor decisions that they have made.”
So in other words, Ray Tretheway is speaking out of both sides of his mouth, is incompetent, has failed the community, and it is the community’s FAULT for voting for him?
Ok, I’ll go with that.
So, next step? RECALL HIM. I’ll lead the charge.
But no. Natomas residents don’t want to recall Ray. They love Ray. They keep telling him they’re “eating Natomas up.” They keep telling him how wonderful the community is.
So, the conclusion? There is no light at the end of the tunnel until 2010 when Ray comes up for re-election.
Wonder how much more damage he can do in the next two years?
Guess we’re about to find out.
Thanks for you words, Cpt. Glad to see there is at least more than one person who lives in Natomas who sees through all the smoke and mirrors.
Do not get fooled with the “Anti Gang Tax.” The city claims that they could hire 60 new officers. This is not true, what they would do is keep 60 officers on the pay roll and pay for them through this tax that failed. You would not see one single new cop hired. There are also layoffs for officers looming in the very near future, sometime in the next 6 months.