Saturday, October 16, 1999
Clearcreek on its 3rd levy try
Police force down to 6 officers
BY SHEILA McLAUGHLIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CLEARCREEK TOWNSHIP — In a community where the defeat of two levies has spurred an exodus of police officers, even the boss has to wait for service these days.
Earlier this month, it took the township's lone officer on patrol about an hour to arrive at Trustee Ed Wade's house after he reported his car stolen.
The officer was in Lebanon at the time, dropping off a suspect at the Warren County Justice Center.
Recent resignations have left the department with five officers and an interim chief, allowing only a single officer on patrol for each shift, compared to two before.
“I felt bad. The officer was apologizing because it took so long. But he couldn't do anything about it,” Mr. Wade said.
That incident was a reality check for Mr. Wade, and a symptom of financial uncertainty as voters go to the polls for the third time in a year to decide the future of their 25-year-old police force.
Voters in this northern Warren County community of 9,500 residents face an additional 1.5-mill levy. Pared back from the two previous attempts, the issue would add $322,000 a year to the annual $750,000 provided by two existing levies.
The same residents balked at a replacement 6-mill levy in August and the same levy plus an additional 1.8 mills last November.
For now, the department is operating at below 1994 staffing levels when the force had eight officers, and half what it was at its peak, with 11 officers in January 1998. Then, three officers were being paid with federal grants, which have either expired or are on hold because of the dwindling staffing levels, Administrator Dennis Pickett said.
Complicating matters, the township can't attract candidates for the vacant positions because the department's future is uncertain.
Mr. Pickett said residents have a choice on Nov. 2: They can continue to pay for eight full-time officers with existing levy money, or have a force of 11 by approving the additional funds.
“My pitch is that the people wanted it, the people were angry, the people formed it. It's had ups and downs after all the resignations. The bottom line is the choice is up to them,” Mr. Pickett said.
Bill Byrd, a long-time resident who led the drive to form the township department in 1974 after a rash of break-ins and slow service from the sheriff's office, thinks the issue has a better chance at passage.
The issue will cost the owner of a $100,000 an extra $46 a year, coupled with the $100 they now pay for police levies.
Mr. Byrd has worked on each levy campaign, and even told trustees a year ago that the first levy was headed for defeat.
“I told them I didn't think it was right. At that point in time our police force was intact. So, it was hard to justify,” he said.
This time is different, Mr. Byrd said.
“Now the levy will get the police force back to where it should be. It will give us the protection we need without all the frills,” he said.
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