Commentary: Council should stay out of police hiring process

Re. “Mayor calls for police hiring plan,” Sept. 19:I worked in human resources for many years and know that recruiting and hiring qualified personnel is very difficult.

The ability to increase your work force successfully requires the employer to have the following: a good reputation, a stable, healthy work environment, competitive salary and benefits, and room for growth with the security of long-term employment.

Seems pretty simple, right?

So how does Costa Mesa rate? Let’s review.

Over the past few years, the city has gotten a lot of negative press. Our mayor has publicly referred to our employees as greedy and as union thugs.

We’ve witnessed a hiring freeze and a mass exodus of long-term personnel and management leaving for other cities or jobs in the private sector, or taking early retirement, because they no longer wanted to endure the stress of a hostile work environment.

Specialized areas of the Police Department have been significantly reduced or eliminated, lessening opportunities for growth.

The pay and benefits are currently comparable to other cities. However, the mayor has continually stated that current contracts must be redone and significantly reduced. If that isn’t enough to scare away potential applicants, let’s throw in a lawsuit against the police association (rank and file police personnel) for good measure.

The proposed meetings are a knee-jerk reaction to Tuesday’s City Council meeting to assert power and act as if a solution is readily available and Police Chief Tom Gazsi, who has decades of law enforcement experience, is not just sitting idly by and doing nothing as his department continues to dwindle.

This is not only disrespectful to Gazsi but will be a complete waste of everyone’s time, considering it can take up to a year to properly test, qualify and hire sworn police personnel.

If the mayor truly wants to assist the Police Department in hiring, he could admit he doesn’t know everything, stop the name calling and vilification of our police personnel, drop the vindictive lawsuit and let the chief do his job without continual interference.

Maybe then the Costa Mesa Police Department might become a more attractive place to work again, and the qualified applicants will come.

SUE LESTER is a former Costa Mesa City Council candidate. She lives in Costa Mesa.