Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008 | Mayor Jerry Sanders last year denied a raise to San Diego firefighters, claiming that they were adequately being paid the “market rate.” With this rationale in mind, it’s incumbent upon Sanders to agree this year to bring San Diego police officers up to competitive wages. According to a recent study, career San Diego officers bring home approximately 10 percent less than the average of their peers in other municipal departments. This is unacceptable. More must be done to keep our public safety departments from becoming an expensive training ground for other municipalities to recruit our police officers. In order to keep our staffing levels and morale high at the SDPD, Sanders needs to honor the commitment and sacrifice of our city’s police officers. I advocate shifting the payments of the PETCO Ballpark bonds to the Centre City Development Corporation and the cost of the Convention Center operation subsidy to the Tourism Marketing District, which would go a long way to provide for competitive wages. I’m offering a solution — Sanders should strongly consider it.
Editor’s note: Steve Francis is a candidate for mayor