Several dozen public safety supporters protested Tuesday night outside City Hall while the Vallejo City Council enacted a change of the guard inside.
The issue drawing an at times angry packed house and a parade of speakers to an otherwise uncontroversial meeting concerned external review of police and firefighter operations and contracts.
Also Tuesday, new Councilmen Bob Sampayan and Robert McConnell as well as re-elected Councilwoman Erin Hannigan were sworn in for four year terms. Sampayan and McConnell are replacing outgoing members Joanne Schivley and Michael Wilson.
On the public safety measure, the council had made no decision as of press time Tuesday, and was still hearing public comment.
While the resolution, backed by Councilwomen Stephanie Gomes and Marti Brown, was modified late Tuesday with seemingly toned-down provisions, union officials questioned the issue's timing. Vallejo Police Officers Association President Mat Mustard said Monday the public safety review proposals should have come later, with the Nov. 17 shooting death of Officer Jim Capoot still fresh in the minds of his fellow officers.
Gomes and Brown said last week that it was time to get down to business, and noted the likely support the initiative would have with the election of two new council members.
The modified resolution called for the creation of a permanent seven-member public safety committee, rather than a temporary fact-finding group. The committee would be
charged with "exploring," "reviewing" and "compiling" information and making recommendations to the council. Committee duties remained similar to the previous resolution, with a focus on fire and police consolidation, police training and standards, cost cutting, citizen safety improvement and address of citizen complaints.
One item, however, was shown as being deleted: A review of public safety contracts.
Gomes addressed the item's removal, saying that new Councilman Sampayan and her own potential for conflict of interest was questioned by the VPOA.
Sampayan retired as a Vallejo police sergeant while a member of the VPOA, in 2006. Gomes is married to Tony Pearsall, also a retired member of the Vallejo Police Department. But Gomes said his last position was with a middle-management union, rather than the public safety union -- removing any conflict.
"I see this as an attempt to silence elected members of the City Council," Gomes said. "We agreed to strike this for now because we want to make sure we're following the law to the letter."
Contact staff writer Jessica A. York at (707) 553-6834 or [email protected].
Copyright 2011 - Times-Herald, Vallejo, Calif.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
