David City votes on police department

DAVID CITY -- The question on the special mail-in ballot for David City voters is a simple yes or no: “Shall the City of David City, Nebraska, own and operate its own police department?”

The path to the special election, however, was anything but simple.

The City Council set the special mail-in election in December after council members deadlocked on another longstanding issue: whether to build a new police station after the current station was sold in September to egg processor Henningsen Foods.

The six council members got hung up on three options: build a new station, build a city hall/police station, or bring the police station into the current city hall.

Doubts about the future of the David City Police Department first arose last April, when the city proposed to sell the police station.

Then, citizens worried about the department’s possible demise said voters, not the council, should decide such a drastic change. Now, that wish has come to fruition.

Since Jan. 21, David City voters have been casting ballots �” by mail or by hand delivery �” to decide whether the city of 2,500 continues to operate a police department.

The deadline for returning ballots to the Butler County Clerk’s Office is 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Since the council approved the special election in December, the public debate on the issue has gone quiet. A handful of yard signs urge voters to keep the department, but organized and vocal campaigns have not developed for either side.

Mayor Dana Trowbridge has said that if the department is kept, rebuilding it will be a challenge for two reasons: The city has an “antiquated” pay scale that can’t compete with other cities, and a “cloud of negativity” remains over the city following a failed mayoral recall effort.

Supporters of the police department counter that the city could rehire officers who either were not reappointed or who resigned. Police Chief Steve Sunday resigned in November after being told he probably would not be reappointed. Another officer followed him out the door. The department now has two officers on staff and gets patrol assistance from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

If voters decide not to keep the police department, the other option is a Sheriff’s Office contract to patrol the city. Sheriff Mark Hecker, with the county board’s blessing, would hire three additional deputies to provide 24-hour patrol coverage for the city.

The county proposal would cost the city $240,000 per year. By comparison, the police department’s budget is $437,000 for 2009-10.

As the deadline for casting ballots approaches, more opinions have come forward.

County Supervisors Max Birkel and Bill Kozisek wrote a letter to The Banner-Press expressing their support for the county proposal. They said the sheriff’s office staff could assume the patrol duties without adding facilities.

“We believe contracting with the county is a fiscally better solution for the law enforcement services for David City. In our opinion, residents will only notice a change in the color of cars and uniforms,” the supervisors’ letter stated.

Opponents of closing the police department also have voiced opinions. Former sheriff Leo Meister wrote that the police department should be kept and that the council, not voters, should decide the department’s future. He said the mayor is to blame for the negativity in town because the mayor successfully challenged the recall effort, which was disqualified in District Court.

Steve Gaston, an organizer of the failed recall effort, alleged that the city’s police budget was inflated and misinformation was presented to sway the voters against keeping the department. The cost of the county contract would be dramatically higher than has been proposed, he wrote.

The voters will have the final say.