County councilmember said cutting services doesn’t make sense, public safety top priority
A press release from Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy’s office caught the eyes of Pierce County Councilman Shawn Bunney concerning the sheriff’s department reducing marine services on the county’s largest recreational lakes.
In response, Bunney sent out an e-mail expressing his concerns that Sheriff Paul Pastor’s departmental budget includes reducing law enforcement presence on Lake Tapps and other area waterways.
In his e-mail, Bunney respectfully requested Pastor at least maintain current patrol schedules.
In an interview Friday, Bunney said he was surprised by Pastor’s e-mail to McCarthy for plans to decrease summer lake patrols by approximately 28 percent after the council kept the sheriff’s department funding intact.
The new budget reduces general fund spending this year by $8 million – from $289 million to $281 million.
Bunney stated the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department budget was increased from $57 million in 2008 to $59.87 million this year – a 5 percent increase. He said less than $200,000 was budgeted for marine services and reducing the service will put “public safety at risk.”
“It’s not a question on whether we need more funding for law enforcement,” Bunney said. “It’s a question of how we prioritize the resources we have today.”
Bunney said ensuring citizen safety is top priority, regardless of whether on our streets or our waters. He said he feels disorderly conduct and drunken driving threatens our safety on the roads and in our communities, they pose the same threats to the public enjoying our recreational water resources.
The councilman said he didn’t believe reducing marine patrols is the best place to cut services. Bunney said he didn’t feel boating should be the “least important aspect of his job out of $60 million.
“It doesn’t make sense that it would be the least important,” Bunney said.
May through September patrols would be virtually eliminated and only one marine services boat would patrol Lake Tapps from June through August instead of the usual two boats, Bunney stated in his e-mail.
In his e-mail, Bunney wrote: “Why target an important first responder force like Marine Services for substantial reductions while leaving other non-first-responder portions of your budget completely intact? I also noticed your department is planning a $75,000 expenditure for a new 19-foot boat. Perhaps these funds would be better allocated towards lake patrols.”
“He (Pastor) needs to reconsider that decision, if he’s going to reduce marine patrol levels,” Bunney said.
Bunney said he was confident that Pastor – within his $59 million budget appropiation – can come up with the difference, about $40,000, that would be taken away from the Lake Tapps community.
“I hope we can revisit this issue and understand how critical it is to have a law enforcement presence in such a large utilized recreation lake,” Bunney said.
Pastor did not respond to a call from The Courier-Herald by Monday’s deadline.
An annual community for Lake Tapps residents is 7 p.m. May 13 in the North Tapps Middle School commons.
Bunney asked Pastor to join him at the meeting to discuss these concerns with residents.
The councilman believes the council has some authority in how the money gets prioritized.
“But I’m hopeful the sheriff will want to work with me and the Lake Tapps community and to come up with something that doesn’t require us to use the legislative powers to get this job done.”
Reach Dannie Oliveaux at doliveaux@courierherald.com or 360-802-8209.
Sheriff reduces marine services
