I am truly, truly surprised that this is going on in the HFC. Does anyone realize that there's been a recession going on? It's been in the papers and everything.
Lindsey McPherson today brought us this article that I thought was so important, I am posting this bad boy NOW rather than stick it in the queue. So, apparently, when our local law enforcement officers have been brought in to work as glorified security guards....errr, mainatin public safety... nobody, but nobody, from inside the county, is ever charged. Only entities from outside the HFC ever get charged, though the article is silent on how much or what percentage of the staffing costs are reimbursed.
This is brilliant. So I could hold a special event-- say, the Marshmallow Man 5.3K-- and I could just have as many of HFC's Finest as I want, making sure all my runners don't become road pizza. And my cost? Nuttin'! At least not as Mr. Event Organizer. As Mr. Howard County Taxpayer, I definitely do pay.
And we're not talking about chump change here, as the figures in the article show. There are literally millions of dollars of unreimbursed overtime being charged to the county.
As a side note, I wonder how our fair county is protected when half the damn force is hanging out at Merriwether? Have to wonder how many FTE (that's "full-time equivalents") of police positions exist because of the need to keep the county covered from a safety standpoint while the Clyde's 10K is going on.
Look, I ran the Clyde's 10K, and I love the race. I don't think organizers of events should be shouldered with reimbursing 100% of the costs. But, Geez Louise, they should be paying SOMEthing.
And let me ask another question. Why has it taken until now for all of this to see the light of day? Frankly, this is ridiculous. In a time of furloughs and budget austerity, threatened cuts to "police, fire, and teachers", and people complaining about programs like my good buddy Healthy Howard, missing the opportunity to recoup even a quarter of these overtime costs seems inexcusable.
So, great-- there's a workgroup being convened to study the problem. I'll save the time and trouble. Charge event organizers 50% of the anticipated costs of police overtime! Easy enough. At the very least, find out what other local jurisdictions do and follow suit.
But pursing your lips, rubbing your chin and looking all pensive while thinking about this super-complex issue is nothing short of insanity. This policy is something that is broken about Howard County. Fix it. Now.