POLICE, FIRE ASK FOR LARGE SHARE OF TIGHT BUDGET

No one knows better than Lompoc Police Chief William Brown and Fire Chief
Edward Casarez that the city doesn't have a lot of money to play with.
They've both operated with tight budgets in a local economy that doesn't
seem to be getting any better.

But that didn't stop Brown or Casarez from stepping up before the mayor and
city council last weekend at a City Hall budget workshop to stake their
claims for increased funding.

Both men are faced with the daunting task of providing the best public
safety capabilities they can in the face of expiring grant money, new
federal staffing requirements, the need to expand or build new facilities,
expanding to meet population growth and tight budgets.

The city has faced budget shortfalls since the early 1990s when the state
took property tax monies from cities and counties to fund education needs
and now shows no interest in returning any of the funds.

In a move to shore-up dwindling revenues in the face of increasing demands
for more money from city departments, the city asked voters in November
1998 to approve a 2.5 percent utility tax, known as L-98, that would have
generated up to $900,000 per year. Voters soundly defeated the proposition
by a wide margin.

"What are we going to do in the future in terms of policing and addressing
crime problems in this community?" Brown asked the council. "The people of
our organization are certainly its greatest resource, but funding is the
lifeblood of any organization. To provide effective and professional police
services we need resources."

Chief Casarez echoed Brown as he explained that a new federal regulation,
know as 2-In/2-Out, requires that two firefighters remain outside to
provide a rescue capability as two other firemen enter a burning building.
That regulation goes into effect in May and current staffing on a Lompoc
fire truck has a captain, a firefighter and an engineer - only three men -
until other units arrive.

Brown attributed Lompoc's declining crime rate to community policing, the
"Three Strikes You're Out" law, the general state of the economy and the
dedicated service of police employees. But he noted that narcotics activity
was on the rise.

"Narcotics in our community are a pervasive problem and they are
intertwined with most of the crime in our community," he told the council.
"Narcotics arrests have increased 275 percent in the last decade while the
overall arrest rate has increased 9 percent.

Brown disbanded a special 4-man narcotics squad late last year in the wake
of the L-98 defeat, in addition to deleting several other positions to
bolster his patrol staffing. Brown has indicated he would assign two of his
requested additional police officers to a new narcotics investigation unit
if the new positions are approved for the new budget cycle.

Brown's contention is that Lompoc must have more police officers to keep
the crime rate down. He cites the fact that Lompoc has fewer police
officers per population than either Santa Maria or Santa Barbara.

Lompoc would have to have 63 officers to equal the current staffing levels
of the Santa Barbara Police Department, according to Brown. Lompoc
currently has 46 authorized positions and two of those are unfilled due to
budget constraints.

Brown also cited statistics showing Lompoc's population growth of more than
29 percent since 1989 contrasted with only a 4.7 percent increase in
additional police officers - almost 9,000 more residents and only two new
officers.

The police department's requests for capital outlay, program changes and
capital improvements total $1,133,847 for the two-year budget cycle.

Figures for the police and fire departments' requests for current salaries
and other expenses were not provided by the two departments or the city.

Brown also noted that four current positions - now funded by grant money -
are due to expire within or close to the end of the budget cycle: a
D.A.R.E. (drug prevention) officer in June 1999, a bicycle officer in
November 1999, a C.O.D.E. (education and diversion) officer in June 2000,
and a Crimes Against Women detective in June 2001.

Casarez echoed many of Brown's concerns as he gave the council a video
presentation of fire department services, including fire suppression, fire
prevention, public education, EMS-Rescue, arson investigations, hazardous
materials calls, emergency services, Cal-OSHA requirements, confined space
rescues and training.

Casarez said, in an interview Thursday, he anticipated more demands for
service as Lompoc grows, citing the new Allan Hancock College campus that
would put added stress on a department that was downsized in 1994.

Current staffing levels for the fire department authorize a fire chief, two
battalion chiefs, one secretary and 21 suppression personnel.

Casarez told the council the department needed the addition of a battalion
chief and three additional firefighters.

The department is also asking for $35,000 a year to update its personal
alarms, pagers and fire hoses and purchase computers, defibrillators and
furniture.

The fire department is also asking for $750,000 for the relocation of
Station 2, currently located in the 1100 block of North D Street, $200,000
for a new fire truck equipped to handle city and wildland firefighting
chores and $100,000 for renovation of existing facilities.

Both Brown and Casarez realize they face tough going in the face of limited
revenue.

"The reality is that community policing, though much more effective and
progressive than traditional policing, is manpower intensive," Brown
stressed. "As crime rates go down, quality of life goes up."

"We have to be responsive with taxpayer's money," Casarez added. "My
concern is that we're just going to end up doing what we have to do."