I noted with interest recently how the Daytona Beach News-Journal ran a gushing piece of public relations trivia on the new New Smyrna Beach Police Station that included Chief Ron Pagano’s "plan" to save money.
I had to put the paper down for a minute as I thought the reporter, Mark I. Johnson, had somehow confused my suggested reorganization plan for the city police that I submitted to the City Commission last July, over Chief Pagano’s objections, with whatever press release that Pagano had given him.
But no, there it was in black and white, that Chief Pagano had been planning this reorganization since he got here and that he would be saving the taxpayers about $240,000 annually. Funny, I thought, even the alleged savings amount was similar to my plan that that was blatantly disregarded by the entire City Commission, City Manager, and city budget staff.
The facts are, however, that at that budget workshop meeting in July 2009, Chief Pagano made no reference to any savings plan or department reorganization, instead choosing to keep his highly paid four commanders while at the same time eliminating five, first-responder patrol officers, which in essence reduced public safety in the city. So what does this have to do with inverted pyramids? Well most police agencies are staffed so that the number of people at various levels gets smaller as you move upward in the organization.
This is because accepted management theory says that you need fewer bosses than workers. But that seems to be opposite here in NSB, as Chief Pagano has steadfastly refused to reduce his commanders from the current four to my suggested one, which would bring the department more in line with contemporary police management structures.
After all, we only have about 50 sworn personnel in the entire department. Having four second-tier level commanders is an excessive supervisory ratio. So it appears that rather than the expected pyramid, Chief Pagano comes from the school of inverted pyramid policing, at a cost we cannot afford here in NSB.
Of importance also is the fact that Mark I Johnson, who wrote the story for News-Journal, should have known the claimed plan was not true since he was at those same NSB City Commission Budget Workshops in July where I presented the written reorganization plan and he was given a copy.
Mr. Johnson got another copy in September when he interviewed me during the recent primary election campaign. A little investigative journalism on Mr. Johnson’s part, would have prompted a couple of questions to the Chief, one of which should have been "where was this plan last July when you eliminated five patrol officer positions so you could retain your four commanders?"
So what exactly is the Chief claiming he did? Well he says two of the four commanders have or will be retiring this year and he does not plan on refilling the positions.
Despite the fact his plan is one commander short of my recommendation, it does mimic mine in that respect. Secondly, he is moving Sgt. Eugene Griffith over to supervise the 8-9 detectives formerly supervised by Commander Wade Kirby; a move that is identical to that recommended in my plan, except that I moved one of the current desk-bound sergeants rather than taking a patrol sergeant, further reducing coverage if not replaced.
The problem with both moves is the result, and thus the critical flaw in his "saving’s plan." In the case of the commanders, the positions need to be abolished, not just left unfilled as Chief Pagano seems to want. For you see, unfilled positions always seem to sneak back to being filled positions when the heat is off.
Secondly, according to the article, Sgt. Griffith will be getting a 7 percent pay raise, which begs the question of why. And the answer apparently lies in the "unfilled" position vacated by Cmdr. Kirby; Sgt. Griffith, it appears, is filling a higher graded position and thus is granted the extra pay.
What should have been simply a lateral transfer with no pay increase, has morphed into a new supervisory position graded at the rank of sergeant, but with a pay raise frosting. In fact, since detectives have a lower pay grade in the department’s budget then patrol officers, maybe Sgt Griffith should have had a pay reduction?
And what is the result? The answer is little or no savings beyond the immediate. I wonder how this got by the city manager and our personnel director, but then reality strikes and I realize that I am dealing with a city management style that apparently fails to recognize or respond to any citizen suggestion or assistance or even care about saving tax dollars.
For you see, my plan, in their minds, does not exist. This theory is supported by statements of City Manager Pam Brangaccio, who claimed in correspondence to a citizen in December 2009, that she had not seen the plan.
So another question for the city manager, as well as Mr. Johnson, is why did Chief Pagano sit on this plan for almost six months before he decided to provide Mr. Johnson with the "press release" noted here?
A larger question goes directly to the motive and games at play here. Again, we see little or no effort to carry through on reducing spending and thus taxes that was promised in last year’s election and our city government remains in the hands of the "good ol' boys" with a rallying cry of "we know best" when challenged by citizens.
Any effort to appear to be saving dollars is but "smoke and mirrors."
So my advice to Chief Pagano and City Manager Brangaccio is to get serious with the police budget, starting with turning the pyramid over with the elimination of all three commander positions and a re-think on a pay raise for Sgt. Griffith, who just also happens to be the Teamster’s shop steward.
If you need help with correcting the inverted pyramid, I suggest you look on the reverse of a dollar bill; there is an excellent picture there for reference.
As to Mr. Johnson, what can I say except try asking quality questions as opposed to just repeating a press release next time you write a story.