SAN BERNARDINO – A move to ask the Sheriff’s Department to submit a bid to police the city was dropped Monday at the request of Mayor Carey Davis.
The move was made without any substantive comment, but Davis released a statement the afternoon of the meeting that said he’d ask for the move toward potential outsourcing be tabled indefinitely.
“At the beginning of the meeting, I will be requesting that the item be pulled/tabled indefinitely,” Davis said in a news release delivered about an hour and a half before the meeting was scheduled to begin. “In my opinion, the item is premature and potentially unnecessary at this juncture.”
Negotiations continue with the San Bernardino Police Officers’ Association, he said, and the city had already received a valid bid — in early 2013 — that can be updated and presented to the bankruptcy court.
“In listening to the expressed public concern, I want to stress the City Manager’s purpose in seeking this item was to update a cost-bid to provide information to the Council, to the Bankruptcy Court and to me,” he said. “It was not a vote to immediately outsource to the Sheriff’s Department. This information is needed as we compare the provision of services in our community.”
Previously, Davis had said that through their opposition to Measure Q — a ballot item changing how police and firefighters are paid that voters rejected — the police and fire unions’ leaders had narrowed the options available to the city, and the city would consider the possible benefits of outsourcing.
On social media, the police union had asked people to come to the meeting to show their opposition to any move toward outsourcing.
“This action is evidence of the Mayor’s deep contempt for your decision in the most recent election cycle (Nov. 4) where Measure Q was soundly defeated,” they wrote.
Ryan.Hagen@langnews.com or follow Ryan on Twitter: @sbcitynow.