Page One

Facing the loss of one quarter of its four-person staff, Berkeley’s Police Review Commission (PRC) is positioning itself for a fight. 

“There’s tremendous concern that it will be next to impossible for the PRC to operate with three people,” said Commissioner Michael Sherman. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz has proposed across the board staffing cuts to city departments to reduce a $7.5 million structural budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year. 

The PRC, established by a voter-approved initiative 32 years ago, conducts public hearings on charges of police misconduct and considers policies to govern police protocol. 

Under Kamlarz’ proposal first issued last year, the commission would lose one of its two administrative positions, leaving it with a secretary, an investigator and an administrator. The plan must still be approved by the council when it finalizes next year’s budget this June. Sherman said he and fellow commissioners would lobby hard against the cut. 

“I feel like four is the bare minimum that office can survive with,” said Former PRC Secretary Barbara Attard. “What you’re going to do is burn out the staff and lose the institutional memory.” 

PRC administrators are responsible for, among other things, preparing transcripts of commission hearings, a time-consuming task, according to Attard. “It’s going to bog down cases because the transcript won’t be ready.” 

“There will definitely be some lag time,” said acting PRC Secretary Dan Silva. The PRC receives an average of 50 complaints against the police every year, according to commission records. Until the mid 1990s, the commission was staffed with three investigators, two administrators and a secretary. 

Since the city has been slow to look for a replacement for Attard who left in December, the PRC has been operating with three staffers, with Silva doing double duty as investigator and secretary. 

“There’s no way he will be able to deal with police policy issues if he’s also the investigator,” Attard said. She questioned why the city has hesitated to look for her replacement. 

“They’ve already saved about $30,000 this year by not filling the position,” she said. “That’s almost as much as they could save by eliminating a staff position. 

Kamlarz said city policy is to hold off on filling positions until the department and the city determine how to complete its tasks most efficiently. “We’re looking at every vacancy as an opportunity to reorganize,” he said. 

As one measure to ease the commission’s load, Kamlarz has struck a deal to outsource police appeals of PRC findings to an Oakland-based hearing board. Kamlarz said the appeals, which are being heard by a panel of city staffers, were backlogged. He anticipated the new arrangement would cost the city about $40,000. 

Kamlarz has proposed cutting 35.3 city staff positions by the start of the 2006 fiscal year in July. Besides the PRC, other departments that face the loss of positions currently filled include the city clerk’s office, one position; Finance, one position; Health and Human Services, three positions; Housing, 0.5 positions; Parks, one position; Planning 0.75 positions; Police, 7.5 crossing guard positions; Public Works, one disability services specialist position; and Fire, the equivalent of 10.5 positions from the closure of a fire truck. 

›