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 Mayor Bill Anderson reads his plans from the agenda by the light of a lantern during the Senath city council meeting Monday night. [Click to enlarge] |
After a storm took out power in the area, the entire City of Senath was left without power for several hours Monday evening, but Mayor Bill Anderson said the show will go on, and so it did.
Battery operated lanterns lit the room for the councilmen, who didn't seem at all bothered by the dim lighting.
Anderson advised the council that the city has had a problem keeping police officers. "We can't seem to keep any good help," Anderson said. "We've got a problem and we need to figure out what it is and correct it," he said.
Alderman Patsy Davis asked Chief of Police Lester Hunter if he knew why the city was having this issue.
"What is going on Lester?" Davis asked. "Is there something that we are or are not doing that is causing us to be so short handed?"
Hunter replied, informing the board that every neighboring town offers more pay than the City of Senath.
"When other towns are offering officers $10 an hour and we only pay $7, that's probably why we can't keep good help," Hunter said. "They are going where the money is."
Alderman Bud Brooks asked Hunter what kind of benefits the other cities were offering. "There benefits package can't be as good as what we offer," Brooks said. "When you add that into the equation, it comes to more than $10 an hour."
Hunter said he agreed, but that younger men and women look at the actual dollar amount without thinking about the benefit package.
"They're looking at the dollar amount," Hunter said. "These young people don't think about the insurance and benefits and what it adds up to."
The council agreed that, after Hunter retires in September, there would be some changes made to the police department's work schedule so that each officer would have a weekend off during the month, which may also add to the nice benefit package the city offers.
Other business included discussing the possibility of getting the street in front of the school paved. "We received a bid from Pace, in the amount of $24,000, for paving State St., from the corner of Karnes St. to Patricia Circle," Anderson said. "That road needs paving pretty bad because of the high volume of heavy vehicles that travels it."
The council agreed but decided to try and get at least one more bid in before awarding the contract.
Anderson asked the board its opinion on installing a tile on Thrasher St., near Junior Taylor's residence. "Every spring Junior has to deal with that area flooding around his home," Anderson said. "If we can install a tile, we could get drain that whole area there and keep them out of the water."
The board was in support of Anderson's proposal, approving his recommendation.
The next regular meeting of the board of aldermen is scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, July 14, 2008, at the city hall.
While it is true that larger cities have more crime, one has to remember that it only takes one incident to get an officer killed or injured. Domestic Violence calls account for the majority of the injuries or deaths of officers. Senath has its fair share of these. And would you want to have to arrest an individual that is drunk or doped up and is acting violently? What would you charge to go do this for an hour? Think about it. Been there and done that.
First of all I want to say that the officers should be paid more for I think a Police officer needs to be paid generously for putting their life on the line....BUT....have you checked out the going pay in some of the big cities?
Even though the crime rate is not even in comparsion with the big city's crime rates...an officer could lose his life by answering a domestic call right there in Senath, or even during a robbery if there is one.
The chances of that happening are not near as great as they are in the big cities and the starting out salary of the officers in Houston, Texas is $29,164.59 annually.
If you have a bacherlor's degree then there is an added $3,000.00 to that salary.
The highest paid ranking officer in Houston is a little over $52,000.00 annually and that's for a VETERAN officer that has been there for years and years and has worked his way up the ladder!
Like my friend said...you don't get monetary riches out of being an officer, you just get rich in goodness and knowing you are helping others stay safe.
I am not real good with math but I would think that an officer in Houston makes about $14.00 an hour (give or take a couple dollars) and that is not much at all compared with what they face everday of thier life.
Here is the latest crime report on Houston for a year. (2006 because the next report will not be out until Oct. 2008 for the year of 2007)
Actual REPORTED Crimes:
Houston, TX
Population: 2,073,729
Murder: 377
Forcible Rape: 854
Robbery: 11371
Aggravated Assault: 11648
Burglary: 26869
Larceny Theft: 73091
Vehicle Theft: 21093
Making $14.00-$16.00 an hour hardly seems worth the effort doesn't it?
Please don't take this the wrong way...but making $7.00-$9.00 an hour for being a small town officer is not really that bad when you do the comarsion is it?
I wish that the pay was based acorrdingly to the duties and dangers of the job because it is so crazy that a person who goes to an office everday and sits in an air conditioned place and never gives a thought about the crimes being commited makes a ton of money more than the ones who are putting thier life on the line and making it possible for that other person to make that money.
Good luck to all of the officers every where and maybe by seeing this comparsion it will help the officers locally to realize that it is worse in the bigger cities and with not that much more of a pay check.
It IS sad! I understand municipalities have financial difficulties....but it is hard to attract good help to do that job (I am a 20 year veteran of Kennett PD) when much less dangerous/stressful jobs pay more.
Lester has many times approached our officers to work part-time there at Senath.....it is just not worth it, especially on a part-time basis (which usually means lesser benefits).
HOW SAD.....WE PAY THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO PROTECT US 7 TO 10 DOLLARS AN HOUR..YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. IF ANYTHING THEY SHOULD BE MAKING AT LEAST 25.00 AN HOUR STARTING PAY IF NOT MORE. SOMEONE WHO LAYS THEIR LIFE ON THE LINE FOR A PREFECT STRANGER EVERYDAY HE CLOCKS INTO WORK SHOULD BE MAKING A SALARY ENOUGH TO LIVE WELL ON, PLUS HAVE MEDICAL INSURANCE FOR HIM OR HER AND THERE FAMILIES FREE. ALSO ALONG WITH LIFE INSURANCE AND A RETIREMENT PLAN. THERE SALARIES ARE SET BY THE MAYOR AND ALDERMAN IN WHICH THEY SERVE & PROTECT.
YOU THINK THEY WOULD WANT THERE OFFICERS AND THERE FAMILIES TO LIVE AS WELL AS THEY DO. MOST GOVERMENT OFFICAILS ONLY THINK OF THEMSELVES WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY, AS LONG AS THEY ARE LIVING WELL, WHO CARES ABOUT THE OTHERS THAT WORK FOR THE CITY. I AM SO THANKFUL FOR OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT AND IT REALLY UPSETS ME THAT THERE NOT PAID WHAT THEY ARE WORTH. IN MY OPINION THEY ARE PRICELESS.