EDITORIAL: The mystery of Menlo resignations EDITORIAL: The mystery of Menlo resignations (August 24, 2005)

Even if they are not saying so in public, Menlo Park city officials must be concerned about the sudden rash of resignations in the police department, a rash that appears to be affecting the planning department as well.

Police Chief Chris Boyd, who was promoted up from the ranks, said he can't comment on why so many officers are calling it quits. One -- Cmdr. Greg Rothaus -- left for a better job, but several of the others actually took a cut in rank and pay to join other departments. That is troubling, and we hope Mayor Mickie Winkler and City Manager David Boesch are thinking of ways to find out what is going on and how to halt the exodus.

One very speculative scenario is that Chief Boyd is promoting his friends in the department over more senior officers, which might explain why some have decided to leave Menlo Park for the county Sheriff's Office, where they may believe there is a better chance for advancement.

And then there is the "between the lines" speculation rising from a comment by the chief himself; he said that reporters should not assume that the resignations were wholly driven by the officers, implying that some officers may have been invited to leave.

All of this is impossible to confirm because Chief Boyd and the officers involved have declined to talk on or off the record about the issue.

And city officials are quick to point out that several experienced officers have been hired already to fill some of the vacancies, and that other slots will be taken by recent police academy graduates. The department, with 50 sworn officers, is in no danger of being understaffed, they say.

The loss of planners could have more impact, since the department is in the midst of several projects that may be delayed by the changes.

In addition, some sources tell the Almanac that morale is low in some city departments, due in part to the already reduced staff; fewer employees must cover more and more departmental responsibilities.

And the outlook for this year isn't bright either, with Mr. Boesch and other city officials challenging a citizen budget task force to find the equivalent of $2.9 million more in cuts for the next fiscal year. Cuts of that magnitude almost certainly would trigger more layoffs, and continue to raise the stress level of city employees.

As the Almanac noted in last week's assessment of the city's budget woes, caused in part by dramatically lower sales tax revenue for autos, there is a chance that a city-promoted auto mall could save the current dealers on El Camino Real and possibly attract others. The resulting sales tax revenue would help keep the city solvent.

In the meantime, all the city can do is attempt to maintain a frugal spending posture and hope that the economy will turn around before even more employees head for what they think are jobs that are not threatened by layoffs.

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