While standing in front of a portion of Tenino Police Department's fleet of vehicles, Police Chief John Hutchings puts on a bullet-proof vest prior to going out on patrol on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012.
Faced with a tight budget, Tenino leaders are considering the idea of dissolving their eight-person police department, which costs the city more than half its general fund.
Tenino Mayor Eric Strawn said dissolving the police department is one of three options for the city.
“It’s merely an option, probably one of three options, that the council finance committee has requested from the administration,” he said.
Another option includes cutting one third of the police department’s budget. The last option is to retain the police department and includes “cutting every other service in the city, i.e. park, quarry pool, museum, library staff, public works staff,” he said.
Early last week, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office was invited to meet with Strawn and the finance committee to discussion budget options, including disbanding the police department and contracting with the sheriff’s office to provide law enforcement services.
Councilor Wayne Fournier said the City Council and Police Chief John Hutchings were not invited to the meeting, but Fournier said he plans request that the budgets issues are on agenda for the next council meeting Oct. 23.
Fournier said hopes to discusses the various options for the budget.
“If the budget is tight, you get out a scalpel and strategically scale back what you can all while putting out a concerted effort to educate the public on what is being done and why,” Fournier said. “This supposed initiative by the administration is not that, this is a one-dimensional approach that is half baked.”
Hutchings, a former Olympia police sergeant who became Tenino’s police chief in July, said he is concerned for his department.
“I don’t want to be here six months and find out it is dissolving,” he told The Chronicle on Thursday.
Hutchings said the city benefits from the local police department with faster response times, more availability and overall community involvement.
The Tenino Police Department, made up of four full-time officers, the chief, a non-commissioned office staff member and two reserves officers, cost the city $523,094 in the 2012 general fund budget.
Hutchings said rather than cut hours or the whole department, he said he could afford to cut cell phone and fuel use. Hutchings is also planning to sell one of the department’s seven cars.
Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza said the city of Tenino and city of Rainier, which contracts with the Tenino Police Department, have both submitted formal requests for a proposal of services.
“Unfortunately the economic crisis has made it really hard for these small towns to maintain law enforcement,” Snaza said.
Snaza said he does not yet know how much it would cost the cities if they chose to contract with the sheriff’s office.
Hutchings said the city of Tenino is paid $215,000 a year from the city of Rainier for 40 hours of coverage a week. That money goes into the general fund, Hutchings said, and funds the police department.
While the city of Tenino decides how to balance their budget, Hutchings said he will keep fighting for his officers.
“If I can’t advocate for them,” Hutchings said, “It would be cowardice.”
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Nisqually Valley News Reporter Steven Wyble contributed to this story.
