Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Friday, May 11, 2007
Lewiston council votes to cut police force
LEWISTON, Minn. — Against residents’ requests for a town hall meeting, the Lewiston city council voted Wednesday to scale back its police force by a third.
Prompted by Mayor Lee Rain, the 10 p.m. decision came from the whispered motions of council members Bruce Boynton and Richard Ahrens while about 30 residents crowded the city hall to voice their concerns.
“If you all would have shut up, you would have heard it,” City Administrator Barb Hampel told the crowd later.
The city council approved a personnel committee’s package of recommendations, which included using five part-time officers for only sick and vacation time or special events.
The city’s remaining two full-time officers, Police Chief Mark Dungy and Officer Robbie Floerke, will be scheduled during “warranted” times, like the start and close of school and weekend nights.
“We needed to make some cuts,” Boynton said after the meeting adjourned. “If the time is scheduled efficiently during high crime times, that’s enough.”
Minutes before the city council’s decision, Rain declared several residents out of order because they were talking. Rain ordered Officer Floerke to escort one man from the meeting.
“You’re jeopardizing the children and the safety of this community,” the man had said.
The council approved paying Dungy an hourly wage instead of his current salary but did not set the hourly rate. Half of Dungy’s time will now be spent working nights and weekends instead of his regular daytime shift.
Dungy said he scheduled the five part-time officers to work 260 hours in the next two months. He said there’s no way he or Floerke can pick up the slack.
“We’ll keep doing the job we can do with what the city provides us,” Dungy said.
Dungy and Hampel will meet Friday to set a new police schedule.
The council decided to wait to install police equipment in a recently acquired second squad car, which has been parked in the city’s garage for the past five months. Dungy said $10,000 worth of lights, sirens and a radio arrived Tuesday and will also have to be stored until the council makes a final decision.
Hampel said by cutting police, the city could save up to $22,000 for larger projects such as a new well, street repairs and wastewater treatment.
“It’s better to have our police, but if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it,” Rain said.
Rain said the quick approval of the personnel changes happened because it was a tense issue.
Rain said many residents told him they support the council’s decision.
“The only people that show up at the meetings want to cause trouble,” Rain said. “We can’t have a bunch of vigilantes talking.”
Reporter Amber Dulek can be reached at (507) 453-3513 or amber.dulek@lee.net.
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