Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio is criticizing the Phoenix Mayor and Council’s decision to cut police, but fully fund their own travel, dinning, PR, and lobbying budgets.
The Councilman sent a letter requesting that Phoenix leadership quit talking about hiring more police and put forward a plan to start hiring police officers.
Sent on Monday, to Mayor Stanton, the City Council and City of Phoenix management, Councilman DiCiccio requested a plan be in place in the next 60 days to hire more police.
DiCiccio says his letter is an attempt to get Phoenix to start the process of strategic planning and provide a starting point for the other elected officials.
“We have all heard a lot of talk from politicians regarding the need to hire more police officers. Now is the time to start acting on that talk by putting a plan in place. Nobody has come forward to start this action,” said Councilman DiCiccio. “By putting a plan in writing, it becomes a promise – a commitment – to citizens and to our Police Department. The idea of raising taxes or increasing fees is not an option since whatever Phoenix takes in new revenue will not be managed correctly as we have seen with the city budget, mismanagement with the property tax and the political theatrics from the meeting last week, where police and their families were subjected to a disappointing political maneuver. Phoenix must focus on strategic functions and make a determination of what our City’s mission is and what is or is not in line with achieving that mission.”
A report by KTAR revealed that the budget includes, “$11 million in new revenue from residents paying higher fees and taxes and $16.5 million in savings from city employees accepting lower pay raises and bonuses than they expected. The city manager said Phoenix faces a $37.7 million budget shortfall.”