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THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE HAS APPEARED IN THE RECORD June 12, 3002

Brome Lake police officers
prompted turnabout


Little did we know that despite the long public debate followed by the unofficial referendum, the key to Brome Lake's police option was in the hands of only seven unelected citizens. Yes, I'm referring to the fraternity members of the Brome Lake Municipal police. Not only did they have the final word, they succeeded in having council reverse itself and back the SQ option.

Without putting it in such words, this is precisely what was revealed at the special June 6 council meeting and confirmed at the town hall press conference. The simple fact is that our police changed allegiances from the municipal to the SQ option. Why, because they realized that their career program including job security and pay opportunities was more attractive with the SQ. As one officer explained, " Our first choice was made with our heart because of how we felt and still feel about TBL. The final one was made with our head ".

TBL simply couldn't afford to offer a package similar to that of the SQ without risking a hailstorm of protest by those who insist on keeping their property taxes from climbing through the ceiling. Instead of the municipal option costing an estimated $200,000 more per year than the SQ, the difference could have jumped to as high as $400,000 or more by the time all of the job description demands were met.

No surprise

The switch by council didn't exactly come as a surprise. As both sides were miles apart in their negotiations many of the local residents suspected that it was just a question of time. Just in case I'm giving you the impression that I'm disappointed by the reversal -I'm not. I wrote a number of columns expounding on just why the SQ was the best choice for TBL and I haven't changed my mind. Despite the survey results and council's original decision I remained convinced that it was far from a done deal seeing that it required the Public Security Minister's approval. I thought that perhaps Quebec would sweeten the pot in order to entice TBL to reverse itself and follow the SQ route. Instead, it turned out that the SQ offered TBL slightly improved police coverage. In retrospect, our efforts to convince each other as to which option was best suited for TBL were as much a waste of time as our unofficial referendum. Instead of trying to convince our council we should have spent more time lobbying our police officers.

Change uniforms

We never realized that by offering municipal police officers the right to change uniforms, the government was granting their unions a bargaining chip that would dramatically upset the balance of power. When it comes to finger pointing, let's not forget that TBL had retained a firm of experts to weigh the pros and cons of our police dilemma before launching a survey to see what the residents wanted. The purpose was to obtain an independent evaluation of what both police options would cost. With what we now know either the firm failed to anticipate all of the police demands or we weren't given all of the facts. How about last September's information meeting when Mayor Stanley Neil made it clear why he favored the municipal option. He wasn't alone. We were told that every officer with the exception of one felt the same way. Then came the results of the survey, which proved that 72 percent of those who responded (only 2881 out of 4300 property owners bothered to vote) wanted to maintain their municipal police.

I suspect that many of the residents who supported the municipal option in order to maintain the personal rapport with our local police officers, feel let down. Little did they expect at the time of survey that they would eventually jump ship. Don't get me wrong; I'm not blaming our police officers. They had every right to look after their own interests. However, had they been able to get their act together a year ago - it would have saved us a lot of trouble and expense. Public consultation?

Should TBL council have called for another public consultation before making the final decision? After all, if the principle was important the first time, why not now, particularly in light of the survey results? The two councilors who voted against the police reversal, requested a public meeting to discuss the issues. Were it to be conducted with an independent panel of experts on the subject of costs I would be the first to agree.

There is at least one good reason why a second survey/referendum/ public consultation was not necessary. Based on how many of the TBL residents reacted to this year's 36 per cent across-the-board property tax hike, the councilors must have realized they could never sell an additional 10 per cent increase or more just to match the SQ package. Although we will never know for sure, the reactions to the council's turnabout seem to depend as much, if not more, on economics than on questions of principle. Those who are less fortunate are breathing a sigh of relief having avoided, at least for the time being, the necessity of facing another police tax increase.

As for the property and business owners in the Knowlton region that would have been prepared to pay more to keep our municipal police nothing prevents them from complementing police coverage with more private security.