Ione City Council Sees Scully Petition To Nix Ione Police Dept.

Wednesday, 17 February 2010 17:00

Ione City Council Sees Scully Petition To Nix Ione Police Dept.

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Amador County – The Ione City Council waived attorney-client privileges Tuesday night to have its attorney explain a voter initiative drive that seeks to transfer law enforcement from the Ione Police Department to the county sheriff. 4 of 5 city council members spoke against the initiative, calling it a waste of city time and an unfounded effort. Mayor Skip Schaufel said that “while the initiative process is a right and we have to follow the letter of the law, I don’t think it is right to misuse it.” Councilman Lee Ard strongly criticized the effort, and Councilwoman Andrea Bonham said as a downtown business owner, she has had numerous positive contacts with Ione Police. She keeps a list near her cash register of all of the Ione police officers’ cell phone numbers, given to her to call if she needs help. Vice Mayor David Plank said: “we’ll do what we have to do to protect our police department.” Councilman Jim Ulm said he would not comment until he sees “how it plays out.” Ione resident and long-time police department critic Jim Scully is mounting the petition drive, with which he seeks to force a city-wide vote to do away with the Ione Police Department and contract law enforcement through the Amador County Sheriff’s Office. City Clerk Janice Traverso said the petition drive must have its signatures and paperwork back to the city by the first week of August. City Manager Kim Kerr said Scully must collect signatures of 10 percent of registered city voters to place the initiative on the ballot. The Amador County Registrar’s office said Wednesday there were 2,042 registered voters in Ione as of February 16th, when the office ran its latest report. The signature drive would take 205 valid signatures to place it on the ballot. Kerr said the council can tell city residents to “not sign the ballot initiative if they truly want to protect the city.” Scully’s effort to transfer law enforcement from the city to the county is not a new idea. She said in 2007, Scully requested the city council to place the same initiative on a city-wide ballot, but the council unanimously declined the request, in the November 2007. The city council discussed the initiative drive in closed session Tuesday, then in open session it waived attorney-client privileges, so City Attorney Kristen Castanos could inform the public about the issue and the process. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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