The City of Niles’ mission states: “We are a diverse and unique community of forward thinking people who believe in the equal opportunity of all our citizens to enjoy our special quality of life.  It therefore is the mission of the Niles City Council to promote this equality, this diversity and this uniqueness through its policies and leadership.”
Ensuring that special quality of life is a never-ending, difficult task for the city council, as is for any governing body.
But the challenge is mounting as the city faces state funding cuts – $450,000 less in revenue for 2012 than the year before. To keep a balanced budget, the city must cut $535,000 for 2012.
No suggestions are off the table, City Administrator Terry Eull has said. During the May 23 Committee of a Whole meeting, he announced his list of suggested cuts for the fiscal year, including eliminating funding to the Downtown Development Authority and the summer parks program and reducing the Fort St. Joseph Museum director position from full-time to part-time.
And people – which account for the majority of any municipality’s budget – are not necessarily safe from budget cuts either. In fact, the city has been reducing its staff for years.
“We’ve cut staff like crazy,” Eull explained. “A lot of people don’t know that. We aren’t replacing people.”
Under consideration for cuts is staffing for the fire and police departments.
While no one is jumping at the idea of cutting from the DDA, parks or the museum, the money has to be saved somewhere. As the cliche goes, tough times call for tough measures, and this year is certainly no exception as the council must approve a 2012 budget in August.
The police department had 19 officers on staff, until officer Ivery Cross was fired after sexually assaulting an inmate. If the proposed budget goes through, there will be 17 full-time officers, Chief Ric Huff said. Five years ago, there were 22 on the force. The NPD may not replace the captain position when Huff moves to city administrator in the fall and Capt. James Millin likely replaces him as chief.
Huff said he has submitted his proposed budget to the city council and is awaiting its approval.
While many question cutting funding to a flourishing entity like the award-winning DDA, the city’s only museum or a summer program for kids, the issue of public safety is paramount.
With 19 officers, the radio of Niles officers per 1,000 residents is 1.7; the state average is 1.9.
While that may not sound particularly high, it isn’t for a city with an above-average crime rate. Niles has higher numbers of rapes, assaults, thefts, robberies and murders than the U.S. average; the ratio of Niles residents to sex offenders is 100 to 1.
When contemplating the effect of cutting two officers from the force, take into consideration when the NPD is needed.
If your business is robbed, how fast will the response time be? Will the suspect be brought to justice?
If a friend, relative or co-worker is involved in a motor vehicle accident, how long will it take for officers to arrive on the scene?
If a home on your block is burglarized, if a neighbor is murdered, if a drug deal takes place on your street corner, how would that make you feel if two less police officers were available to handle those situations?
Those are quite a few “what ifs,” but for those who have been in those often life-changing circumstances, they know how vital officers are.
Attracting tourism, businesses and people to Niles is important and should continue to be. But if crime isn’t deterred and public safety isn’t of utmost priority, does that give Niles much to offer?