Summary

Issue suggested and article written by Board Director Bill Wright

Should a new Police Chief in Kensington continue to wear two hats - serving as the leader of the police department while at the same time taking on the role of general manager or "town manager" to manage the non-police services in our community - or should these two roles be divided between two separate individuals with different skill sets and orientation? The answer to this question will set the stage for how we can best use Kensington's financial resources to maintain our safety and security, while also managing the other important town functions that make this a great community.

Background and Analysis

In January '07 the first major item facing the board of the Kensington Police Protection and Community Services District (known historically as the KCSD) will be the recruitment of a new police chief who also serves as the general manager. I and the rest of the board will be called upon to make a decision on this issue, and our decision may be the most important structural decision for the next few years. I would like to generate community discussion on this and receive your input to help me in my role as a board member. To do that I will present the merits and drawbacks of an alternative structure that has been discussed, rather than the currently-structured dual role for the Police Chief position.

Unincorporated areas typically have little to no local responsibility for the municipal services they receive. These are generally provided by the County or are provided under shared agreements with neighboring cities. By choice, Kensington is a little different. Rather than relying on the County Sheriff, we have our own police force. Rather than relying on the County's Public Works Department, we have built our own park. Rather than relying on the County for management of our refuse and recycling collection, we took action to retain local control. In addition, and partly because of our experiences, we believe that many other issues facing our community are best managed locally, not in Martinez. In some cases we need to be a strong advocate for certain things the County is supposed to take care of, but doesn't. In other cases, we have figured out a way to get things done ourselves. Currently, our town relies on a Police Chief to lead the police department AND manage other non-police related issues.

It's no secret that in the recent past there have been problems in the police department with high turnover of personnel and in at least one case, bungled fiscal management. There has also been sustained degradation of the park. Concurrently, there has been a decrease in citizen oversight of the refuse contract. Beyond our town's borders, Kensington has had problems with the county's public works department, problems with AC transit and problems with other municipal agencies. Past police chiefs/general managers have not had the time or perhaps the inclination to take the initiative to intervene or mediate where appropriate. In addition to these basic responsibilities, we have missed opportunities to be more proactive on a host of other items, too involved to mention here, that could help our community. In all, one could argue that our town has been under-managed and our community has been under-served.

It is possible that the situation has gotten to this state because we have relied on a decades-old organizational structure that had served Kensington well in the past, when our needs were more basic, when managing a police force was less complex, when we didn't own a park, when the term recycling was not in everyday use, and when the phrase "Proposition 13" wasn't even in anyone's imagination. We now live in a different time, our community is changing, crime in neighboring communities is on the rise, the demand for information is growing and we need to be proactive as well as responsive - both to issues of safety and security as well as to community concerns around non-police issues.

A change in structure would allow a police chief to focus exclusively on leading a police force and to ensure that the police department is using its resources effectively and efficiently with minimal turnover and good morale. This enhanced focus will pay financial dividends (e.g. more efficient deployment, less turnover) which can be used to hire the town manager, possibly part-time, to effectively address non-police community services. This year, the financial cost of high police officer turnover and the cost of managing the existing police chief situation has been very significant. Let us come up with a structural solution to avoid these costs in the future.

Alternatively, we can maintain the current structure. This may be an equally effective structure as long as we are successful in hiring the right type of police chief/general manager. An argument can be made, and has been made, that with a community of our size there hasn't been that much for a general manager (or town administrator) to really do in Kensington. It may not be necessary to bifurcate the roles, particularly since we live a low crime area and our police department is relatively small. Presumably a qualified police chief should have the time to function well in both capacities. Problems on the police force and shortcomings in community services in the past may have been due to other issues, and not to the organizational structure itself.

In fact, this has been the conclusion of an ad hoc committee composed of two KCSD board members, a retired police manager, and two community members. This ad hoc committee has been meeting for several months and after much research and debate on the issue has come up with a preliminary recommendation to stay the course.

Conclusion

Kensington is at a crossroads. We are starting the process of hiring a police chief. Before we do that we need to define the role. We can continue with the same organizational structure used in the past - a structure that has been endorsed by the ad hoc committee after much serious thought on the issue - or we can create a position of town manager to take care of some of the functions historically assigned to a dual police chief/general manager. If you have some thoughts on this issue, one way or the other, please comment. Your community will benefit from your input.

Thank you for participating and thanks to the organizers of Kitchen Democracy for making this discussion possible.

I look forward to serving as a newly elected director on the KCSD board.

Bill Wright

Addendum, January 7, 2007

I am extremely encouraged by the number of well-considered responses to the issue that I raised here last month regarding the dual role of the police chief and general manager.

As you may know, this discussion is timely as we are now beginning the recruitment process to replace the acting (temporary) police chief/general manager.

While most of the responses here on Kitchen Democracy have not been in favor of having the police chief continue to be the same person as the general manager, there have been some valid issues raised by those who think the position should stay joined. The two recurring questions that give pause to the possibility of splitting the role among two different individuals are these:

1. Do we, in Kensington, have enough non-police issues and tasks that detract attention from the duties of the police chief?
2. Can we financially afford to have both a police chief AND a general manager?

If the board is going to bifurcate the roles, as suggested by the majority of the voters, these two questions will need to be addressed.

To address the first question we should come up with a list of non-police functions for which this district is responsible. The ones that I can think of include adequate fiscal monitoring and oversight of Bay View Refuse and that company’s ability to service our waste and recycling needs; pro-active project management, renovation and leasing of the annex building; maintenance and upkeep of the park and its play structures and sports facilities, setting up and maintaining two-way online communication between the district and the community; and day-to-day advocacy of Kensington issues with the county and other government agencies. There are other issues that I haven’t thought of and I encourage you to write about others that you feel need to be addressed.

In regards to the second question there may be ways to readjust job responsibilities such that the two functions are separated but that no new costs are incurred. One option is that the board may want to consider hiring one full-time dedicated police official to spend half time as a police chief and the other half as a patrolling sergeant. (It may be easier to find and recruit such a person. The two recruiters that the board interviewed for the search indicated that it will be difficult, “but not impossible” to find one person qualified to take on both roles.) Through normal attrition we could therefore reduce a sergeant staff position by half time. This would leave the overall strength of the police force at the same level. The funds recouped from the half-time staff position could in turn be used to hire a part-time district manager to address non-police issues.

Again, I encourage your additional thoughts on this issue. The board will be discussing the job description of the new police chief at an upcoming meeting.

Bill Wright
Director
Kensington Police Protection and Community Services District