The Town Council election is coming in less than two weeks. There are 6 candidates for 3 seats in San Anselmo, I could have been one of them, perhaps that was for the best that I sit on the sidelines. Particularly since I still reside in San Rafael these days... (almost back-maybe.)
At the candidates forum which I attended and got permission from the Town Chamber of Commerce to videotape, questions were presented by the moderator Dick Spotswood to the candidates. It was a respectful cordial affair, as much of San Anselmo's politics have been for as long as I can remember being a witness (about 30 years). Sadly from my point of view, no questions were being taken directly from the audience, though cards were passed around for the audience to write their questions. The time at the end for audience questions was very short probably no more than 20 minutes, and the three questions I had jotted down were not among the few chosen to be presented to the candidates.
I was a little unsatisfied. I had some questions that I wanted answers for, it was a little late notice and unfortunately through the years I still haven't really got myself in the position
to be a respected voice of local journalism and that may likely never happen. So it was not surprising that candidates might declined to be interviewed by me and have themselves up on youtube. However two of the candidates have responded via email to answer my questions and I hope to post all 6 candidates answers by next Tuesday.
Here are the 4 questions I asked of them.
What lessons have we learned from the failed development on Red Hill?
Knowing that the flood district is funded with millions of dollars and continues to do engineering studies what is your position on the future of The Corte Madera Creek regarding a possible concrete channelization of the stream similar to Kentfield?
A group of architects and citizens have put together a plan to redevelop the Southern end of San Anselmo. It has been a year since their public presentations at the town hall and in front of the Post Office. Are you in favor or opposed to the part of their plan that seeks to lease the green buffer median strip that separates San Anselmo Avenue from Sir Francis Drake to a developer shrinking SFD southbound to one lane and build commercial and residential structures facing San Anselmo Avenue?
Over the past 5 years as the town has battled budget short falls, reduced it's Town Hall operating time, reduced the Library Hours, the the budget for the Police Services has expanded. Is the town becoming over-policed? Are you concerned?
In regards to the 4th question regarding police services perhaps if I had checked my email diligently and read the Town Manager's comments directly addressing the San Anselmo Police's
roll in our town I might have chosen not to include that question. None the less I think It is perhaps a good thing to weigh the situation in our town and decide what direction we want to go, to make sure we have the appropriate sized police force and one that gets that we are a small town, that friendliness and civility is what we would like. Which is the experience that most of us have gotten with perhaps a few exceptions.
Before I post what the Town Manager said, I will say that I disagree with the candidates answers to the question of possible consolidation of Police Services with the town of Fairfax. All were for consolidation with Ted Freeman giving slightly less emphatic endorsement than the others. A consolidation that is not going to happen because of the Fairfax's council being in apparent solid opposition to this event. Maybe some of the candidate's might give it some more thought - a consolidation though it might save some money lends itself to a loss of identity and accountability of our individual Towns, even though we being almost twice the size of Fairfax and would have a little less to lose we too would lose a little more of our identity. Let's keep thing's small and easily accountable. Moot point except it's all about what our representatives see for our future.
Here is Town Manager Debra Stutsman's report on our Police.
Frequently Asked Questions
I have heard a number of questions out in the community recently about the Police Department, so we’ve put
together some “Frequently Asked Questions” that I hope will be informative.
Q: How many police officers does San Anselmo currently have?
A: San Anselmo has 19 sworn police officers, two more officers than the department had in 1972.
Q: How do you determine how many police officers are needed for a town of our size?
A: Because of law enforcement's varied service requirements and functions, as well as the distinct demographic
traits and characteristics of jurisdictions (crime rates, calls for service, etc), the number of police officers per
1000 residents differs, but according to the FBI, the national average is 2.5 officers per 1000 residents. The
Marin County average is 2.14 officers per 1000 residents. San Anselmo has 1.58 officers per 1000 residents.
Q: What is the cost per resident in San Anselmo for police protection?
A: $351 per resident, the third lowest per resident cost in Marin County.
Q: How many vehicles does the police department have?
A: The department utilizes 5 front line patrol vehicles and 5 unmarked vehicles. We have 3 motorcycles for
traffic enforcement, a parking buggy and 1 vehicle for our community services officer. In 1978 the department
had 5 patrol vehicles, 3 unmarked cars and a motorcycle for traffic enforcement.
Q: Why do the police need a SUV?
A: The Ford Expedition is equipped as a command vehicle for major incident response as well as being utilized
each day as the field supervisor’s vehicle. An example of the equipment carried in this vehicle includes:
• Maps of the layout of each school in our jurisdiction in response to intruder on campus situations.
• Ballistic body shield, vests and helmets for use in the event of an intruder on campus situation.
• Evidence collection equipment.
• Traffic accident investigation equipment.
• Command Post including pull out white board and layouts of all banks in Town.
• Portable lap top computer and docking station enabling access to numerous data bases along with
departments records information system.
• Cameras, ladder, bull horn, and less lethal weaponry.
