Letter to the Editor: Reverse the Police and Fire Cuts on October 20th

Editor’s Note: The following letter was submitted by Redding resident Bruce Russell. The views expressed are those of the author.

Dear Mayor Littau and Council Members, 

I am writing to urge you to reconsider the decision to cut police and fire services and to vote to reverse those cuts when the budget returns to the Council on October 20.

I understand the City faces a serious budget deficit of about $7 to $8 million. No one is suggesting that the problem can be ignored. Difficult decisions must be made. However, cutting public safety should not be the first solution considered. It should be the last. According to Council Member Tenessa Audette, the approved reductions include additional cuts to police and fire, despite other potential savings not being fully developed or presented to the Council. 

Like many residents, I am deeply concerned that the City continues to target police and fire while avoiding the larger issue of personnel costs throughout the organization. Public safety is the foundation upon which everything else depends. If our neighborhoods become less safe, businesses suffer, property values suffer, and the quality of life that attracts families and employers to Redding suffers.

The reality is that Redding is not Sacramento, San Jose, or the Bay Area. We are a working-class North State community. For many years, the City successfully attracted qualified employees while maintaining financial stability. Twenty years ago, City finances were generally sound. Today, they are not.

In my opinion, one major contributor to the current crisis has been the steady growth of compensation costs over many years. More recently, the city granted significant salary increases during a period of unusually strong revenues. That revenue surge was temporary, but the salary obligations became permanent. What may have appeared affordable at the time is clearly proving unsustainable today.

If personnel costs are a major cause of the deficit, personnel costs must be part of the solution. Before eliminating another police officer or reducing fire protection, the Council should seriously examine alternatives such as:

• Elimination of non-essential administrative positions

• Long-term hiring freezes outside of police and fire

• Furloughs and temporary/permanent compensation reductions

• Consolidation of departments and management positions

• Elimination of vacant non-public-safety positions

• A comprehensive review of salary and benefit growth

None of these measures are easy. No employee wants to hear about reductions, and no elected official wants to make those decisions. But leadership requires making difficult choices when circumstances demand it.

What concerns me most is the apparent willingness to reduce frontline public safety while other options remain available. As Tenessa Audette noted, residents were told that more cuts to police and fire were necessary even though additional vacant general fund positions and other savings options had not been fully examined. 

Redding already struggles to attract physicians, specialists, and other highly skilled professionals. Public safety is one of the first things those professionals evaluate when deciding where to live and work. If crime increases, if response times increase, or if the community develops a reputation for declining safety, recruitment becomes even more difficult.

The citizens of Redding expect the City to provide essential services first. Police protection and fire protection are not luxuries. They are core functions of government.

I am also deeply concerned about the closure of Fire Station 3. Redding covers approximately 60 square miles and serves roughly 90,000 residents. As our community continues to grow and faces increasing wildfire risks, the discussion should be about where additional fire protection is needed, not about eliminating existing fire stations. Closing a fire station may save money on paper, but it reduces emergency response capacity and leaves residents with fewer resources available when seconds matter most. According to Council Member Tenessa Audette, the approved budget reductions include the closing of Station 3 as part of the fire department cuts. 

I respectfully ask each of you to reconsider your vote, place public safety at the top of the City's priorities, and exhaust every reasonable alternative before reducing police officers and firefighters. The path to a balanced budget should not begin with making the community less safe.

Thank you for your service and for considering the concerns of the residents you represent.

Respectfully,

Bruce Russell

Redding CA