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THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2010
Volume 9 Issue 181
Santa Monica Daily Press
ST. MONICA BASEBALL MOVING ON SEE PAGE 3
We have you covered
THE WE’RE ON TWITTER @ SMDAILYPRESS ISSUE
Police union objects to cuts BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer
PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY With the City
ume of planes, including jets, flying over their homes during the test. Noise complaints at SMO skyrocketed after neighborhood groups publicized the FAA’s test, with an estimated 3,500 received since May 1, an airport official said. The complaints are being forwarded to the FAA, which expects to complete a final report on the test route by early August, according to Ian Gregor, an agency spokesman. “At that time, we will decide whether to move toward making the [test route] permanent,” he said. “If we move toward mak-
Council set to vote next week on a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the Santa Monica Police Officers Association is objecting to a proposal contained in the spending plan that would eliminate two lieutenant positions. The SMPD’s budget proposal, which Chief Tim Jackman outlined at a public hearing in May, calls for reducing the number of budgeted lieutenant positions from 13 to 11. The positions would be eliminated through attrition, not through layoffs. In an e-mail to the City Council on Monday that was obtained by the Daily Press, Sgt. Jay Trisler, the POA’s chair, argued the proposed staffing reduction could hurt the department’s efficiency. “We feel that the lieutenants provide oversight and management controls which have helped with budget issues,” he wrote. He also said if the proposed reductions are adopted the SMPD’s ratio of lieutenants to police employees would increase to 1 to 37 — higher than the ratios at comparable departments in Pasadena, Huntington Beach and Irvine. Even after eliminating the positions, though, SMPD would still have more lieutenants to sworn officers than the departments in each of those cities, according to data Trisler cited. City Manager Rod Gould on Wednesday defended the police department’s budget plan as a way to save City Hall $500,000 per year without hurting the department. “We don’t think this diminishes what we can deliver from a service standpoint, otherwise we wouldn’t be making the recommendation,” he said. With City Hall facing a $13.2 million deficit, Gould has recommended $8.1 million in spending cuts across departments to help close the gap. Trisler said he hoped the council would either restore the positions, or in a worstcase scenario, opt to freeze them instead of eliminating them from the payroll. He said if the positions are budgeted but left unfilled, the department could add two lieutenants
SEE SMO PAGE 8
SEE CUTS PAGE 9
THAT SINKING FEELING
Fabian Lewkowicz FabianLewkowicz.com Members of the Millcreek Junior High School (Bountiful, Utah) Jazz Band get buried in sand after performing at the Santa Monica Pier Tuesday.
FAA stops test flight path BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer
SMO A day after the Federal Aviation Administration ended its 180-day flight pattern test that sent some small propeller planes taking off from Santa Monica Airport over neighborhoods instead of over less-populated areas, residents said they didn’t detect an immediate drop-off in noise from flyovers. “I’m not noticing an overwhelming peace and calm over Ocean Park now that the test is over,” said Planning Commissioner Ted Winterer, a resident of Ocean Park, which along with Sunset Park
has been ground-zero for airplane noise complaints. Thousands of noise complaints have been filed with airport officials since the test began in December, with residents contradicting the FAA’s claim that fewer than 10 flights per day were affected by the experimental test route. The FAA said the test, which required some small propeller planes to turn northwest toward the Santa Monica Pier after takeoff rather than flying directly to the coast, helped reduce delays at SMO and LAX by keeping the smaller planes out of airspace shared with jets. Residents said they noticed a high vol-
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