I have reviewed the new Police Officers Assn. contract that was unanimously approved last night by the City Council.
I think that in these uncertain times, it is a very good contract for the police officers and the city. The contract appears to maintain a status quo for the police officers who are on the front lines protecting this community.
These officers have not received the big pay raises and benefits police management has received in the last few years. I am glad that in these hard times they will be able to hold what they have.
The only problem is that, with the deficit the city faces, money has to be cut somewhere. I hope city government will start to trim the unnecessary staff of police and city management instead of threatening the community with eliminating police officer positions.
I Will Not Mourn if…
I agree with Steve Gourley (School Board President and former City Councilman) that these cuts in positions should have been done a long time ago.
Going one step further, a lot of these positions never should have been created in the first place.
I admire Mr. Gourley for taking responsibility for some of the decisions he made while on the City Council that have put the city in the position it is in today.
For too long, decisions in Culver City have dealt with what is best for the individual, not for the community.
I, too, am responsible for some of these issues facing the city today. For my first 20 years at Culver City, I stood by, in silence, as bad decisions were made that hurt the community, Why did I remain silent? For my own personal well-being and gain.
The following is a response my brother wrote about honor and integrity in the military. But it is something anyone entering a career in city government could use:
“The reason honor and integrity are so stressed to those entering the arena of combat is simply because these two vital characteristics will not be so much needed when one salutes and says ‘Yes, Sir!’
“The true requirement for having them will come when one must look a superior in the eye and say:
“Not ‘no, Sir, but hell no, Sir.’
“Men of no understanding will say ‘He fell on his sword.’
“But true men of honor will say with pride, ‘He held the sword of honor high with courage, and did not sacrifice his integrity for a coward’s way out.’
“Promotions and accolades can, at times, be achieved by mere servitude(or 'survivortude') the decades roll and old men gather, it is the name of he who had the courage to say no that is remembered in hushed tones of reverence.
“The battlefield sometimes requires less courage than that small space in front of the desk of a man who is wrong, and you know it.
“Major Mark A. Smith, USA Ret.”
City Councils, City Managers, department heads and employees will come and go. The community always will be here.
At the end, the community’s well-being is most important.
Mr. Smith, a retired Culver City police officer, may be contacted at scsinvest@sbcglobal.net
