Police merger study comes to an end

We will be posting the following documents in the next few days:

 

Study details morale issues

Report brings an end to merger talks

Appeared in the Alexandria Recorder on Page 1, Thursday, May 31, 2012

 

Report cites poor moral at Campbell County Police

Merger shelved with force in Alexandria

Appeared in The Kentucky Enquirer on Page 1, Wednesday, May 30, 2012

 

These articles also appeared on the web a few days before appearing in the publications credited but since links change or disappear we will be printing the documents in lieu of links.

We will also post the letter by Campbell County Judge-Executive Steve Pendry to Alexandria Mayor Bill Rachford dated May 15, 2012 and read at Alexandria’s Council Meeting on Thursday, May 17, 2012 announcing the early cancellation of the study.

 

Following the posting of these documents we will be giving you our take on this issue.

Merger On My Mind

On the topic of a possible merger of Alexandria’s Police Department and the Campbell County Police Department.

Could it be that the county has been seeking a partner for several years now?

Could it be that the candidacy of Wilder Police Chief Tony Rouse for Sheriff had a merger with the Sherriff’s Department in mind (along with the Judge-Executive Steve Pendry) had he been elected?

Could it be that Judge-Executive Steve Pendry approached Alexandria’s ex-mayor Dan McGinley about the possibility of a merger?

Could it be that ex-mayor McGinley rebuffed this idea?

Could it be that Judge-Executive Steve Pendry recognized that newly elected, inexperienced and unprepared current Mayor Bill Rachford was a newbie, stroked his ego and found a sympathetic ear?

Could it be that a city employee helped advance (and still is) the merger idea to the new mayor?

Could it be that someone who may presently be involved in police work could be filled with ambition and is excited about the possibility of heading up a new combined, merged or Police Authority?

One thing we do know is that there is turmoil (and has been for quite some time) within the Campbell County Police Department and the Judge-Executive instead of taking the bull-by-the-horns and putting an end to the nonsense has indeed tried to find a scheme whereby he could get the county out of the Police Department business.

Top management at the Campbell County Police Department is responsible for this turmoil and the Judge-Executive cannot or will not man-up and make the hard decisions that would end this problem.

Alexandria has a top-shelf police department and we hope that Alexandria’s leadership does not take the bait regardless of what glowing report is received from the so-called expert consultants of the county’s choosing and soundly reject this self-serving merger idea from the county.

Alexandria should keep its known entity and allow the county to wallow in its own problems or solve them on its own.

Council Member Joe Anderson does Public Relations and gives Tips and Advice

After watching the last couple of council meetings on Insight does anyone else get the feeling that Council Member Joe Anderson is the Public Relations Spokesman for Alexandria’s Bowling Alley?

He gets the floor and goes on and on and on about a Christmas promotion that they have going on.

If that’s not enough he announces a training session that he read about in the newspaper that is going to be held at the Alexandria Community Center for Emergency Management personnel as being open to the general public.

Following Council Member Anderson’s announcement, Alexandria Police Chief Mike Ward explained what the program is about and that it is not open to the general public. Anderson then wants to argue the point.

We don’t quite know what to make of Council Member Anderson and his stream of, it seems, never ending public service announcements and tips and advice to the citizens toward the end of every council meeting. Just think how much more of a snoozer it would be if every business in town would like to get a plug at council meetings.

Perhaps Council Member Anderson should read Alexandria's form of Government for a refresher on what is the job of a council member.

Pawn Shop coming to town? (Revised)

We are pleased to report that the original post of Monday, October 17, 2011 has now shown to be incorrect as it pertains to a pawn shop coming to town.

According to an article posted today by Jeff McKinney on nky.com, Quick-Cash Inc., traditionally a pawn shop, has cut out the pawning portion of its operation in order to open a location at 8242 Alexandria Pike.

John Wischer, general manager for Quick-Cash, said the Alexandria location is the company's first store in Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana that focuses on buying and selling gold, silver and platinum items and does not offer pawn loans in exchange for goods. Alexandria zoning laws do not permit pawn shops within city limits.

He said the buy-and-sell concept store is what differentiates the store from Quick-Cash's other traditional pawn shop locations.

Wischer said the 1,740-square-foot store next to an Ameristop also purchases and sells new and used consumer electronics, game systems, tools, musical instruments, laptops and DVDs. Wischer said sellers can check out the company's buy policy at www.getmoreformygold.com.

Highland Heights ends police merger

The following story was written by Jeff McKinney on November 15, 2011 and posted at nky.cincinnati.com. Go to the link and read the comments that have been posted there.

Highland Heights ends police merger

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS – Highland Heights City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to withdraw the city from the Highland Heights Southgate Police Authority.

The 6-0 vote will end a three-year merger agreement between the police departments of Highland Heights and Southgate.

The cities entered into the agreement to combine the departments in 2008, but Highland Heights had a first reading to exit the authority Nov. 1.

Council’s action means that Highland Heights will give Southgate a 90-day notification that it’s dissolving the authority tied to the interlocal agreement, Highland Heights Mayor Greg Meyers said.

Meyers said the city is disbanding mainly because residents have expressed to council and himself they’re not comfortable with the authority. He said residents contend they are not getting the level of service they were getting from the Highland Heights Police Department.

The cities entered the merger to find efficiencies and save money, but a larger-than-anticipated call volume from Southgate is leading to resident complaints of poorer service, driving the push for a split, Highland Heights officials said.

Meyers expects Highland Heights to form its own police department within three months.

Steve Franzen, city attorney for Highland Heights and board attorney for HHSPA, said a specific date has not been set when the merger will end.

Southgate Mayor Jim Hamberg said Tuesday night, “Our city is looking forward to developing the new Southgate Police Department.”

In other action, Meyers and Highland Heights presented a proclamation and a clock gift to Dave Shaw, the city’s planner from 1994 until his retirement in September. Shaw was honored for his efforts in preparing the city’s comprehensive plan and update during the past decade that set the tone for the city’s growth and development.

Highland Heights, Southgate move to end police department merger

According to an article by Jeff McKinney published on the front page of The Kentucky Enquirer Thursday, November 03, 2011 Highland Heights City Council held a first reading on a measure to withdraw the city from a three-year-old police merger with the City of Southgate.

To paraphrase the article, the merger created a board containing representatives from both cities to oversee the entity.

Among the reasons cited for Highland Heights disbanding the Highland Heights Southgate Police Authority (HHSPA) according to Highland Heights Mayor Greg Meyers is because the residents of Highland Heights do not believe they are receiving the level of service that they had before its creation. Highland Heights council is expected to have a second reading and take a final vote to end the merger November 15. Southgate Mayor Jim Hambeg and Southgate’s Safety Committee have been notified of Highland Heights intent to end the merger.

Meyers said that the HHSPA has an annual budget of slightly more than $2 million dollars and that Highland Heights contributes 60 percent and Southgate 40 percent. The allocation is based on the cities' populations, numbers of businesses each have and the number of police calls made to residents and businesses in each.

Each city would again form their own police departments and divide up the assets, such as cars, between them.

Here are some relevant quotes summarized from the article:

Highland Heights City Attorney Steve Franzen:

The merger dissolution is disappointing as the cities hoped to save some money and increase efficiencies of delivering police service, but it did not happen.

Highland Heights Mayor Greg Meyers:

The merger did lower labor costs, but both cities had fewer police officers to protect a larger combined territory.

It's not a pleasant thing to be doing, but it's the correct move for our citizen services.

Southgate Mayor Jim Hamberg:

The dissolution would be an opportunity for Southgate to reform its police department, sets it own policies and go back to being a community police department for the residents of Southgate.

Some Southgate residents informed me and council members periodically that they were not seeing cruisers as frequently as they used to before the merger.

The entire Enquirer article can be found by clicking here

We hope the leaders of the City of Alexandria look hard and long at this and take these lessons into consideration before they make a decision to enter into some sort of Alexandria-Campbell County Merge. They need to ask themselves if:

1. Would this result in better police services for the citizens of Alexandria.

1. Would this result in a lowering of property tax rates for the tax payers of Alexandria.

We understand that this idea was brought forth by Campbell County and is being maneuvered along with the help of a few other individuals that are truly too close to the issue. The county has contracted for an “independent study” on the merits of a merger. We suspect that the county will get the results that they would like but residents of the city that we have talked to and heard from universally feel that any merger would not be in their best interests while bailing the county out of some uncomfortable issues concerning their own police department.

We would like to see this idea go away. If the county feels that they have problems that a merger would solve for them they should instead take the bull by the horns and straighten out those problems without dragging the City of Alexandria along with them.

We hope there are not but could there be some egos and agendas within the city driving this?

We cannot see any increase in efficiencies, service levels or cost benefits for the citizens of Alexandria should a merger come to pass. We can see advantages for the county.

Unlike Highland Heights and Southgate which both consider themselves losers in their merger there will definitely be a winner and a loser if Alexandria/Campbell County merges, regardless of what the “study” says.

Pawn Shop coming to town?

Overheard at the local Ameristop in the Town and Country Shopping Center, “we just can’t wait until the new pawn shop opens in our shopping center” and that the mayor had recently stopped by to sign paperwork that would permit it.

We have been told that if this is so, it will be contrary to the city’s zoning ordinances.

EDITED THURSDAY, DECEMBER 01, 2011

New Business Tax in Alexandria’s Future?

There will be if Council Member Scott Fleckenger has his way according to a video of Alexandria’s Tuesday, October 6, 2011, Council Meeting that is now running on Insight Cable Channel 16.

Mr. Fleckenger is proposing that council set a rate for a Gross Receipts Tax that has been on the books for a while but has had the rate set at zero percent.

Viewing the video shows that Mr. Fleckenger’s idea is not without opposition.

Council Member Barb Weber stated that taking the economy into account she thinks that now is not the time to be imposing any additional taxes on anyone.

Mr. Fleckenger’s business lies right outside the city limits and would not affect him but some folks are wondering if he would voluntarily offer his business for annexation into the city so that he could participate in the tax that he wishes to see imposed on others.

Comments may be posted or read by clicking on “Comments” below.

Alexandria weighing flea market idea

We’ve been told the person that approached the mayor on this wants to run a full time business.

Why doesn’t the person proposing this great idea take it to Cold Spring, Highland Heights or the county?

Because we don’t believe that they would want anything to do with it.

If Alexandria really gets serious about this (we hope they don’t) and wants to entertain the guy (we’re pretty sure we know who he is) that’s proposing this nutty idea then say hello to problems and issues that some may consider insensitive and too politely incorrect to mention here.

We can’t believe one of our elected officials would even bring something like this up much less support it.

Posted on nky.com –

Alexandria weighing flea market idea

By Chris Mayhew • 11:59 am, Aug 29, 2011

ALEXANDRIA – Mayor Bill Rachford said he’s been approached about the idea of having a flea market in town at the Aug. 18 meeting

Rachford said it’s only an idea, but what has been suggested was to allow flea markets on four or five-acre plots of land by a private operator.

One of the locations that was brought up as a potential site for a flea market was at the old Thriftway grocery store lot, he said.

Council member Stacey Graus said he thought if there was going to be a flea market use allowed in the city it should be something special and only held a couple of times a year.

“I mean I’m fine with it,” Graus said. “I don’t want to make it every week.”

Council member Dave Hart said if the city were to allow any flea markets in city limits the cost for police protection needed to be considered.

City Attorney Mike Duncan said if the city were to consider ever allowing flea markets it would require a text amendment to a zone.

“By omission, they’re not a permitted use in any of the zones,” Duncan said.

First comment posted on nky.com following the article –

By: INSPCALLAHAN

2:56 PM on August 29, 2011

I thought the last Mayor was a joke, this guy is even funnier. Why don't we let the circus come to town, never mind, the real circus is happening when the city government meets.

The city government ought to think of how to get real business in town and keep them. Why do you need a flea market, when you have all of these Street sales poping [sic] up? One that is coming up is the Wood Stone Subdivision Annual Sale, and this is a pain in the butt if you live in this Subdivision. You have all types of people from all walks of life coming into a neighborhood to case it, you have Streets so congested, that if there was a fire, the Fire Department could not get to the fire, you have people selling food prepared food items like they were a resturaunt [sic], and much more.

Come on City Government of Alexandria, do something that is going to bringt [sic] possible jobs in the area. You want a Flea Market, you are only going to add to the probelms [sic] that already exist.

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Consultant to look at possible merger of the Alexandria and Campbell County police departments

According to an article written by Jeff McKinney on nky.com the Campbell County Fiscal Court and the city of Alexandria have agreed to hire a consultant to offer advice on how the governments could possibly merge their police departments.

Alexandria Mayor Bill Rachford said Thursday that the city has asked the county to develop a study that would determine if the two entries should merge.

He said a time frame has not been determined when the study will be completed or how much it will cost.

Rachford and Campbell County Judge-executive Steve Pendery in recent weeks have discussed a possible merger of Alexandria’s and Campbell County’s police departments.

“A study of this sort will determine if a merger is feasible or not,” Rachford said.

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Alexandria considering a new public works position

According to Chris Mayhew in the Alexandria Recorder a proposal by the mayor to elevate a public works position into a supervisory role was met with skepticism by two of the three members of council’s public works committee during an Aug. 4 meeting.

Mayor Bill Rachford said the proposed idea is still in the discussion phase, and he intends to continue talks about a foreman position. Rachford said he and public works director Sam Trapp came up with the idea for a foreman as a way to improve the department’s operations.

The new position wouldn’t mean hiring anyone new, Rachford said.

“You’re just giving somebody a little more responsibility,” said Trapp during the public works committee meeting.

Trapp said with the administrative duties he has going on, he’s sometimes in a meeting with the mayor and others or in the office filing reports and not at a job site.

“I’m just saying I can’t be there every minute of every day,” he said.

Council member Dave Hart, public works committee chairman, said the committee had been offered the opportunity to help write the job description for a foremen position. There was no discussion of the job description.

Adding a foreman position likely also means a salary increase, said council member Stacey Graus during the public works committee meeting.

Graus said if a supervisor puts forth a weekly set of priorities of what’s supposed to be done, then the employees should be able to carry everything out.

“I’m having trouble with the idea of having a foreman for three people,” Graus said.

Trapp said he didn’t disagree, and that public works employees are able to carry out tasks on their own.

Trapp said it’s not like the entire crew of three workers are always on the same job at the same time, and a foreman will have control of a job site.

“Well, the foreman controls all aspects of the job – not just one person,” he said.

Council member Barbara Weber said the idea of a foreman is kind of a duplication of responsibilities.

“I don’t really see the necessity,” Weber said.

Trapp said the department is now using daily time cards and tracking how much time each person spends on each job.

“Now we’re accounting for every minute of the day because some people feel like we’re not here every minute of every day,” Trapp said. “That’s just how I feel.”

Weber said the city has other reasons to track time including making sure the public works department runs as efficiently as possible and to see who is doing what kind of work.

“There’s more of a reason for it than we’re just basically poking over their shoulder,” she said.

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Dollar General coming to Alexandria

According to an article by Chris Mayhew of the Alexandria Recorder a Dollar General store is in the works for the City of Alexandria.

The company has submitted a preliminary site plan for a store in Alexandria and the fees have been paid, said John Jewell, chairman of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. The proposed 1.9-acre location for the store is on north side of Summerlake Drive at the intersection with Alexandria Pike, Jewell said.

Previously this year, Dollar General built and opened a store on Ky. 8 in Silver Grove. There are also store locations at 13042 Alexandria Pike south of Grant’s Lick and 1841 Monmouth St., in Newport. For information about Dollar General visit the website www.dollargeneral.com.

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Alexandria expects sale of condemned building

In a recent article by Chris Mayhew on Campbell County Connects The owner of a building condemned by the city on East Main Street has communicated with the city for the first time in more than a year, expressing an intent to sell the property rather than have it demolished.

Alexandria and Campbell County to merge Police Departments?

Discussions are taking place concerning the possibility of Alexandria and Campbell County merging their police departments.

This issue has now become a matter of public record.

In our original post we were questioning what seemed to be the hush-hush nature of discussions.

Thanks to Barbara Weber, councilmember and chair of Alexandria’s Safety Committee this issue has now reached the light of day.

We’re looking for more details as this matter develops.

What we do know is that this “merging” or “consolidation” if it does occur will forever change the City of Alexandria and the citizens of Alexandria must decide if they want this change.

The city needs to go slow on this matter resisting at every turn any attempt to speed up its decision to go forward.

Many, many details need to be worked on how this would benefit the city.

We’re looking for more details as this matter develops.

This above post was edited Thursday, July 21, 2011.

The following story by Chris Mayhew was published on Campbell County Connects Wednesday, July 20, 2011.

Alexandria, county considering police merger

By Chris Mayhew • cmayhew@nky.com • 8 :02 pm, Jul 20, 2011

ALEXANDRIA – It’s possible southern Campbell County will be served by one unified police force with an announcement of a potential merger of the Alexandria and the county police with the city in the lead.

Mike Ward, Alexandria’s chief of police, and Alexandria Mayor Bill Rachford discussed the idea of combining the two departments at a meeting of the City Council safety committee Wednesday, July 20.

Ward said he and the mayor met with Campbell County Judge-executive Steve Pendery a couple of weeks ago at the county’s request. The idea of the city taking over police services the county provides was raised.

“We discussed the possibility that the city might be interested in a merger of the county and city police departments,” Ward said.

Ward said he and the mayor felt they should inform the safety committee if the city was going to move forward with examining the idea.

“At this point I don’t know what in the heck I can tell you other than the question was raised and we’d like to look into it,” he said.

Ward said details of funding a joint budget and managing services provided by a merged department are not difficult duties for police administrators.

“The hard part is having two governments come to an agreement,” he said.

Barbara Weber, chairperson of the safety committee, said the 15-minute closed session at the start of the July 20 meeting was the first time the idea was ever mentioned in a meeting.

Prior to the closed session, Weber said any changes affecting the public should always be in an open meeting and the private meeting was going to be limited to a talk about police personnel.

“This closed session will be to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of individual officers,” she said.

Later, in open session, Weber said pension funding was something that was on her mind when it comes to any potential merger.

“That’s a ton of money, and it’s going to bankrupt a lot of cities,” she said of Kentucky’s pension system.

Ward said pensions are always at the top of the list of police lobbying groups when the Kentucky General Assembly meets.

“They know they’ve got to do something, and they’ve got the long session coming up next year,” he said.

And with any merger the county will have to pay a share of costs to run a combined department, Ward said.

“Depending on the agreement that you reach with Fiscal Court, the Fiscal Court has to pay their fair share as well,” he said.

Rachford said he sees four options for any consolidation discussions including:

• The city taking over the county police

• The county taking over the city police

• Creating a police authority with its own independent board

The option to do nothing is also on the table, Rachford said.

Rachford said it was too early for a public question-and-answer session in response to a request by Weber for a public forum on the merger issue. Rachford said the city was just beginning to gather information about the county’s pension costs and other financial costs of the county’s department.

Rachford said he was scheduled to meet again next week with Pendery. The city will go forward and see if the idea makes sense, Rachford said.

“At this point it is merely exploratory,” Rachford said. “No decisions have been made, but it’s something worth looking at.”

This story will be updated.

* * End of Campbell County Connects article * *

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Alexandria councilman’s taxes delinquent

UPDATE

Alexandria councilman’s taxes paid up

2:43 pm, Jul 15, 2011 by Chris Mayhew cmayhew

ALEXANDRIA – Joe Anderson, an elected member of Alexandria City Council, has paid his delinquent 2010 tax bill in full.

Campbell County Attorney Steve Franzen said Anderson was paid in full as of July 11.

The Alexandria Recorder published this article (also shown below) on July 1 revealing Anderson’s 2010 tax bill was declared delinquent by the county.

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Wait until you hear this excuse!

As reported by Chris Mayhew on Campbell County Connects.

Alexandria councilman’s taxes delinquent

By Chris Mayhew • cmayhew@nky.com • 2:27 pm, Jul 1, 2011

ALEXANDRIA – Joe Anderson, an elected member of Alexandria City Council, is among the list of people who didn’t pay their 2010 Campbell County property taxes.

County property tax bills collect taxes for government entities including the county government, fire district, school district, and library district.

The Campbell County Clerk’s 2010 delinquent property tax list includes an amount of $1,514.86 for his property at 81 Viewpoint Drive.

Anderson said not paying his property taxes was an experiment.

“I did that for a particular reason, just to see what would happen with that,” he said.

Anderson said he didn’t pay so he could see the process and how the county sends out tax notices and delinquencies. Anderson said he will pay his taxes.

“Oh yeah, you can’t not pay it,” he said.

Anderson’s annual salary as an elected member of city council is $3,600. Alexandria Mayor Bill Rachford said he believed Anderson had paid his city tax bill, which is separate from the county tax bill.

Campbell County Attorney Steve Franzen said it is his office’s responsibility to follow-up on delinquent property taxes.

“We take it very seriously for a number of reasons, not inconsequentially for how we fund the office,” Franzen said.

Public officials are charged with overseeing tax money, he said.

“I’m not sure what the great mystery is for Joe Anderson,” Franzen said.

Franzen said he wouldn’t recommend anyone not pay their taxes.

“It’s not an experiment that I would advise people to undergo,” he said.

Anderson, like anyone else on the delinquent list, still has time to pay up before the delinquent taxes are sold at auction soon, he said.

“The first thing that happens is that his tax bill will be thrown in the sale of all delinquent tax bills that occurs in late July or early August,” he said.

A 10 percent penalty and 12 percent interest is assessed as standard procedure to any late payment, but paying before the delinquent bill is sold avoids having to pay additional attorney’s fees, Franzen said.

Private companies that buy delinquent tax bills in bunches at public auction file lawsuits to collect the bill, and upon receiving payment remit what is owed to the county, he said.

Anderson’s delinquent bill will likely be purchased by a private company, but in the event it is not, Franzen said his office steps in and prosecutes.

In an effort to collect a delinquent tax bill a property will even be foreclosed upon if a bill ultimately goes unpaid, he said.

“It happens all the time,” Franzen said.

Source document: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/campbellcountyconnects/2011/07/01/alexandria-councilmans-taxes-delinquent/

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More on the budget

Alexandria adopts revised and balanced budget

Alexandria erases red ink from new budget

Alexandria plans pay raises amid shortfall

Alexandria is facing a proposed budget with a $182,000 shortfall