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Sarasota City Manager Robert Bartolotta cut $8 million from the city's projected $10.2 million
deficit last week when he announced elimination of 89 jobs, with the Sarasota Police Department bearing one-third of the staffing cuts.
27 Sarasota city positions were cut while another 62 open positions were eliminated. "The police force reductions, however, did not include
"street level" officers and will not affect resident safety," Bartolotta said. Police Chief Peter Abbott said his focus will be on keeping
the same number of officers out patrolling the streets. "These are the cards we were dealt and we're going to play them as best we can," Abbott said.
According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune, a major study of the police department organization was used as the basis for many of the reductions. For certain police force positions, for example, civilians
can provide the same quality of service at a lower cost due largely to reduction in pension and
annual training costs. That report suggested that the staffing cuts would result in a loss of service. However, some of the changes suggested, such as closing the front desk at night,
should "not threaten public or officer safety," the report concluded.
The Police Department is not the only agency affected. Among other positions cut were: city manager's executive assistant, skateboard park
attendant, manager of landscape operations, manager of information technology and director of the Planning Department. Mayor Lou Ann Palmer said
Bartolotta worked for weeks to streamline the city's operations, a job he was charged with when the City Commission hired him last June. The
process involved tough decisions, she said, and some of the cuts may upset groups of residents once they learn that certain services will be reduced.
The city has to trim its budget over the next two years as state tax reductions take effect. Tax changes approved by the Legislature have reduced the property tax bills of homeowners.
Residents across all of Florida have been yelling for reductions in property taxes. Now they will see what that translates into in the way of reduced services. Hopefully, as the city of Sarasota is demonstrating,
the reductions will be made with care, stripping away non-essential or marginally-essential services first. If it proves to be true that, for example, the police department cuts do not affect
Sarasota's "on-the-street" police presence, then perhaps these seemingly painful cuts will pay off in a more streamlined and efficient city government.
On the plus side, once these cuts are in place and have been absorbed, Sarasota residents may see that the reductions, while seeming harsh at
first, will not impact important city services as much as alarmists whould have them believe.
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