POINT ARENA CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
AGENDA ITEM: X A
MEETING DATE: 8/23/2022
TITLE
Approval of 2022-2027 Contract Between the City of Point Arena and the Mendocino County Sheriff for the Provision of Law Enforcement Services
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Approve contract with Mendocino County Sheriff
ANALYSIS
The City receives approximately $125,000 annually from the Citizen’s Option for Public Safety (COPS) program - a community oriented policing grant program of the Department of Justice - to cover law enforcement services. The City, having determined that hiring a law enforcement employee would be beyond the City’s financial capacity, has for the last number of years use these funds to contract with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office to provide law enforcement services to the City. The annual amount of the contract is $100,000.
Earlier this year, Sheriff Kendall requested a meeting to discuss our expiring contract with the Sheriff’s Office. Your City Attorney Ginevra and I met with Sheriff Kendall and Undersheriff Brewster on July 13, 2022.
Sheriff Kendall’s main concern was ensuring the continued usage of their offices at the Veteran’s Building. This was never in question and has been included in Section 4 “Obligations of the City.”
Giny and I relayed the continued concern about ensuring that adequate presence of the Sheriff’s Department is maintained in the City. We expressed the concern about Point Arena contributing its COPS funding but not having a deputy on the South Coast to provide services.
Both parties agreed that the lack of a resident South Coast Deputy is a serious problem.
Sheriff Kendall expressed that there were potential candidates, but that locating housing was a significant barrier to assigning a deputy. Some solutions were discussed including the City possible contributing a portion of its “overage” for a housing stipend once a resident deputy is identified. The City also suggested that non-resident deputies could spend their overnights if a location could be found. Section 2.11 and 2.12 seek to address this issue.
The contract also requires a yearly meeting in June with Sheriff Kendall to discuss the contract and quarterly meetings with the Coast Commander Lt. JD Comer to discuss law enforcement needs in the City.
In essence, this contract is an extension of the prior contract.
Your City Manager wants to note that the City has established an effective working relationship with the Sheriff’s Department over the last two years and they have been responsive to concerns on specific incidents and in general.
FISCAL IMPACT
$100,000 in COPS grant funding.
ATTACHMENTS
Proposed 2022-2027 Contract with Sheriff
CITY MANAGER SIGNATURE
_________________________________
Paul Andersen, City Manager