Police bids might be difficult to compare

Three months of intense controversy is one very noticeable result of City Council’s Nov. 1 split 3-2 vote “to serve notice” on Brea “of termination of the police services contract” in 18 months and seek service proposals from “surrounding agencies,” including Brea.

But expect the fervor—and political danger to sitting council members—to increase exponentially when proposals are opened and evaluated after the March 15 due date.

An understandable lack of specificity in the seven-page request for proposals issued by the city might make an “apples to apples” cost comparison tricky and add to the rancor already evident among the warring parties involved in the issue.

Yorba Linda’s request asks proposers to “indicate staffing, supervision, communications, vehicles, equipment and supplies needed to provide law enforcement services to the city.”

But other than noting the city wants to “continue the same level” of services currently contracted under Brea “but at a more effective cost,” the number of officers needed to provide the services isn’t listed, leaving specific staffing open to varying interpretations.

That’s good in the sense of allowing an opportunity for innovative personnel options, because salaries, benefits and pension funding make up the bulk of any police budget.

However, comparisons among proposals will be more difficult to make, if staff levels are different in each proposal and the efficacy of fewer employees won’t be evident until one or more years into a contract with a new provider.

Unless the city uses an even-handed formula for evaluation, inevitable cries of “foul” from advocates of continuing with Brea, shifting to the Sheriff or, less probably, contracting with another city such as Anaheim or Placentia will mar the process.

Similarly, the request asks responding agencies to outline the number of patrol beats to be provided for different shifts, the responsibilities of managers and supervisors, and, a key component in any proposal, “the expected response time by patrol staff” to crime reports.

Among the other services that must be addressed in responses are traffic law and parking enforcement, investigations, training and public outreach. Facilities, vehicles, equipment, insurance and indemnification and start-up costs are other factors to be included.

The Brea contract provides 6,053 monthly hours costing about $11 million for 2011-12 (compared to 7,186 hours for some $6.6 million in 2000-01), including 3,406 for patrol officers (equal to 2000-01), 588 for traffic officers (down from 809), 882 for detectives (down from 956) and 294 for community service officers (down from 441).

This issue could dwarf the 2005-06 Town Center imbroglio, which resulted in the “right-to-vote” Measure B initiative, petition-forced rescinding of higher-density zoning in Old Town and a wholesale change in council members in the 2006 and 2008 elections.

Should council choose another agency to police the city beginning May 3, 2013, look for a petition drive to overturn the vote and, possibly, a movement to recall council members who vote to jettison Brea police--just “politics as usual” in Yorba Linda

City cites payoff prediction for Black Gold

In a fast-changing economy, forecasts of financial trends, including predictions of future revenues and expenses for municipal-owned operations, can be chancy, but city officials who keep an eye on the Black Gold Golf Club have made an interesting calculation.

The city predicts Black Gold will reach a major milestone in the 2036-37 fiscal year, when “all the years of net losses will be fully offset by net income,” after loans from the city treasury are repaid and construction bonds retired.

The forecast came at the tail-end of a six-page review of Black Gold finances for the 2010-11 fiscal year presented at the final City Council meeting for 2011. And as my Nov. 17 column noted, the facility’s recent bottom-line “has improved markedly.”

Projections for the next 25 years “from our current low point” employ “a conservative increase in revenues of 3 percent per year and 2 percent for expenses,” the report from Parks and Recreation Director Bill Calkins stated.

The “overall costs to operate the facility,” which opened in 2001, “have resulted in a net loss and will continue to do so” until 2022-23, after which all net income will be used to pay off loans from the city made since 2000, according to the report.

“Shortly after the city loans are repaid, the bonds will be paid off and the majority of depreciation will end…[and] operations will see a significant increase in net income” leading to 2036-37, when the years of net losses will be offset.

Total loan repayments will be about $6.6 million, including principal and interest. The bond sales totaled some $21 million in 1999 and 2000, with a refinance in 2003, which removed restrictive bondholder reporting requirements and reduced the interest rate.

“It is also anticipated that with the additional catering revenue from the Community Center projected over the same time period, we will be able to repay the city loans a year earlier, as well as achieving a…break even of net losses and net income a year earlier,” the report concluded.

Last year, council approved Black Gold catering and banquet services as primary caterer at the Community Center, and authorized $400,000 for renovations to the center kitchen, which is expected to boost the center’s rental revenue, listed as $203,000 in 2009-10.

Private-business caterers still can rent the center for clients separately or use Black Gold staff and supplies as part of a package, deemed “cost effective” by golf and city officials.

Black Gold’s food and beverage income is a bright spot in the facility’s financial picture. While green fees dipped again in 2010-11, food and beverage revenue met estimates and catering department income flourished at 12 percent above the previous year.

Overall, revenues were 92 percent of what was expected at the beginning of the 2010-11 fiscal year, including green fees at 84 percent, driving range at 110 percent, merchandise at 99 percent, “other pro shop” at 86 percent and food and beverage at 100 percent.

Of course, a past unmet forecast was that Black Gold would return $1 million annually to the city treasury within five years of opening, well before the scheduled bond payoff date.

City scrutinizes long-term trash contract

The police services agreement with Brea isn’t the only municipal contract that’s under scrutiny by City Council: a firm was hired last month to perform a three-year audit on the company that’s hauled away Yorba Linda trash for more than 50 years.

Council gave notice to Yorba Linda Disposal in 2010 that the city was “not renewing the automatic time extension portion” of a 20-year contract approved in 1995. The pact was automatically extended one year each July 1, unless one of the parties decided otherwise.

The automatic extension clause, which kept the contract in force for 20 years at a time, is the reason the agreement is termed “evergreen,” so the city’s 2010 notice puts a potential end date in 2029, since one more year was added annually from 1996 through 2009.

The audit approved Dec. 20 is labeled a “financial and performance audit” and will cover three fiscal years ending June 30, 2010, at a $37,455 cost to the city by Willdan Financial Services of Temecula, which won the contract over three other proposals.

Findings are expected to be presented to council in May and will include reviews of the accuracy of the trash company’s biannual rate adjustment requests, customer billing and city invoicing, revenue sharing from recycling and calculation of the city’s franchise fee.

Most residential customers, with one black, green and brown container, pay $58.68 each three months, and the city takes a five percent franchise fee from the firm’s total income.

Revenue from refuse collection fees is expected to be $4.78 million for the 2011-12 fiscal year, according to figures in the city’s operating budget, with another $450,000 estimated income from recycling and $100,000 from interest and billing fees.

Interestingly, a $427,238 fund balance at the end of the 2009-10 fiscal year, representing revenue remaining after all costs were paid, is expected to dwindle to zero for the current fiscal year, again according to the city budget.

At the same time council notified the refuse company the city was dropping the automatic time extension provision, members also voted to “initiate negotiations to the agreement in 2015 to include new enhancements….”

Council is looking for no-cost trash service at city-owned buildings and donations to help fund events, such as Fiesta Days and the July 4 program, a 2010 city report stated, adding a company official indicated “willingness…to potentially add various enhancements….”

Mayor Mark Schwing, who cast lone council votes against residential and commercial fee hikes in May, told me, “My interest is that other cities getting current bids on similar contracts are getting rates considerably less than Yorba Linda residents are now paying.”

Yorba Linda Disposal, founded in 1959, was hired officially when the city incorporated in 1967. The local hauler was bought by Taormina Industries in 1988 and is now owned by Republic Services, which operates 348 collection companies in 40 states.

Yorba Linda Disposal also serves 1,103 Country Club and Fairlynn county island homes. The city assumed control of pickup from the county in 2009, collecting the franchise fees and cutting monthly rates 53 cents.

My fearless predictions for 2012

This year marks the 15th my column has appeared in the Yorba Linda Star, and the unexpected longevity has motivated me to add an annual feature to run each January: a list of predictions for the upcoming year, based on years of observing local government.

Here’s the first installment forecasting events for 2012. Should any take place, look for a self-congratulatory column next December; if not, they’ll disappear quietly into the ether.

--My first prediction about a new contract for police services comes with a caveat. Just last month I thought another five-year agreement with Brea would be signed before the current pact expires June 30, with a fairly substantial cost reduction for Yorba Linda.

But dueling mass emails and websites--sadly anonymous, except for high-sounding committee names--and rhetoric at City Council meetings add animosity to the issue.

An agreement with Anaheim or Placentia is unlikely for a variety of reasons, leaving the county sheriff as the only viable option to continuing the 42-year arrangement with Brea. Ill will could derail a deal with Brea, with Sheriff Sandra Hutchens picking up the pieces.

Although my bet remains on Brea, signing a county contract would decimate the Brea department, which grew slowly as Yorba Linda’s population increased. A yo-yo-like return to Brea in five years would require an implausibly fast renewal of the Brea force.

Should council shift to the sheriff, a new contract wouldn’t take effect until mid-year 2013, leaving plenty of time for an initiative petition aimed at overturning the vote or gathering signatures to force a recall election against selected council members.

--My second prediction involves the 2012 council election with three seats on the ballot. Even without a dismissal of the Brea police department, interest by potential contenders will be high, especially for the seat to be vacated by termed-out incumbent Jim Winder.

One major candidate will be Kennith Peterson, a 17-year resident and attorney with an office in Placentia, just west of city limits. He’ll be endorsed by Councilwoman Nancy Rikel, seeking a second term, and Mayor Mark Schwing, running for a fifth term.

Peterson, who picked up nomination papers in 2010 but didn’t file, will be supported by Councilman John Anderson and Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Representation.

--My third prediction also involves the 2012 municipal ballot, which will include “yes” or “no” votes on rezoning property identified by council for densities up to 30 units per acre.

Measure Z, which would have allowed rezoning of one property, a 3.2-acre Savi Ranch parcel, lost by 197 votes in 2010, despite a supportive voter pamphlet argument by four council members, a $44,752 “Yes on Z” campaign and no money spent in opposition.

This year residents will vote “no” on 11 properties on the ballot, despite a city-run “information” process, and no council members will sign “pro” arguments.