Councilors question take-home vehicles… again
July 22, 2010
Belen City Councilor Mary T. Aragon on Monday night questioned whether or not police officers should be allowed to continue to take police vehicles home, citing weak gross receipts tax revenue and continuing budget problems.
The issue came to the forefront of debate in late March as the city began cutting back on employees’ vehicle use to help reduce the city’s budget deficit.
In early May, former Police Chief Mike Chavez resigned in a deal that allowed his salary to be put toward continuing to allow police officers to take their vehicles home.
Despite the deal, the issue is again under discussion by the city council because of continuing budget problems.
At Monday night’s city council meeting, Interim Police Chief Dan Robb defended the take-home vehicles as a necessary incentive for keeping good officers working for the city.
Typically in discussions a distinction has been made between police vehicles taken home outside of Valencia County and taken home within Valencia County.
In general, the council has been more supportive of allowing police officers who live near Belen to take their vehicles home to enhance response time.
In addition to police vehicles, Aragon also questioned vehicles still being taken home by the city’s airport manager and engineer, despite the ban in March.
Councilor Lorenzo Carrillo also expressed skepticism about continuing to allow police officers to take their vehicles home.
Since the beginning of the month, the city has been more closely monitoring the city’s gas consumption to ensure vehicles are being properly used.