A Maplewood woman said on Facebook a week ago she wants the city’s Proposition P funds to go to more police officers, not social workers, as some in the group, Maplewood Community Builders have stated. She encouraged like-minded folks to come to the Maplewood council meeting Tuesday and express their opinion. Many from both sides came.
City council members took the first votes on the city budget, which includes using the Prop P funds for two new officers. The third and final vote is scheduled for the next meeting. There have been no ‘no’ votes.
Some from the Maplewood Community Builders spoke first. Sarah Cheatham Oberle said she supports the efforts of the group, including such things as hiring a social worker for the police department. Police officers don’t have the complete skill set to deal with people, and a social worker on staff would improve the department’s service, she said.
Dorothy Stratman Lucey said she has lived in Maplewood since 1973 – since “drug houses” were on Sutton Boulevard. She said she appreciates the progress and the role police have played, but that Maplewood needs to remain a “welcoming community.” She said the city has to stay on top of “working to accept different cultures and backgrounds.”
Jiyra Walker said she wanted to discourage hiring more officers, possibly spending the funds on things like bike patrols and training for domestic encounters. Others from the group promoted holding off hiring more officers until more study can be done to determine the best way to spend the funds.
Supporting the budget as it is – for hiring more officers – were Maplewood residents and business community members, including David Bentele, president and CEO of Citizens National Bank, the owner of Maplewood Pawn, and a woman who said she works in retail.
Also, previous Maplewood mayor, Jim White, said for the city to spend The Prop P funds on anything other than officers and police equipment would be a ‘shameless betrayal’ of the voters, like him, who approved the funds for what they were intended for – more officers and police equipment.
Later in the meeting, council member Jennifer Schmidt said it’s possible to hire the extra officers and still do things like research or start up an advisory commission. She said, as a lawyer, the language in the proposition didn’t clearly state the funds had to be for officers.
