The public backed the blue in Cobleskill Tuesday night.
Speaker after speaker slammed Mayor Becky Terk and trustees for their handling of the Police Department and policies that left some shifts unmanned.
Some seated and many lining the walls of the fire hall, about 75 people attended the village board meeting, many of them protesting the board’s decision to limit police overtime.
That action came at a special village meeting June 27 that some speakers called a secret meeting.
Despite Tuesday’s protests, Mayor Terk stood by the overtime limits, saying village taxpayers can’t afford the expense.
Most speakers believed otherwise.
Officer Brendan Collison said the short-handed department has three vacancies, and the money for those salaries––$225,000, he said––could be used for overtime costs.
“This whole overtime thing is completely false,” Officer Collison said, adding that because of the overtime limit, there were no officers on duty from 9pm Friday until 7am Sunday.
Resident Nancy Van Deusen agreed, saying that “the money’s available” and “it’s not about the budget.”
Ms. Van Deusen also called village officials actions “so disrespectful to them [police officers] and village residents.”
Retired State Trooper Al Woodin criticized Mayor Terk’s past statements that the State Police and Sheriff’s deputies can cover Cobleskill when necessary. If the single trooper on duty at night is in Gilboa, Mr. Woodin said, he can’t reach Cobleskill in an emergency.
He estimated that State Police in Cobleskill respond to 5,000 to 7,000 calls per year, and the Cobleskill PD, 4,000 to 5,000 per year.
“There’s no way troopers can pick up those calls,” Mr. Woodin said. “Your problems are only going to get worse unless you come up with a viable solution.”
Asking state police and the Sheriff’s Office “to pick up the slack? That’s laughable,” said resident Vic Taylor.
Dale Nunamann wondered why the overtime costs were suddenly an issue and didn’t come up two or three years ago.
Others attacked the village’s June 27 meeting, with resident Ruth Van Deusen saying, “in essence, it was a secret meeting.”
Mr. Taylor said the board’s June 27 action should have come at a regular meeting.
“It was an extreme over-reach of power to hold a meeting like that,” Mr. Taylor said.
Police Chief Justin Manchester wasn’t invited to the June 27 meeting, and Mayor Terk apologized Tuesday night, saying, “That’s on me.”
Calling himself “a targeted person” because of the overtime he’s accumulated, Officer Collison said he’ll file a personnel complaint against Mayor Terk and requested “an outside investigation.”
He also submitted his own resignation, which had been planned, and that of Sergeant Joelle West.
In response to the criticism, Mayor Terk pointed to the county’s study of the Cobleskill PD and Sheriff’s Office merging or sharing services to make law enforcement more efficient and affordable.
Mayor Terk said 87 percent of the village’s general fund budget goes to the Police Department, a figure that’s too high for village taxpayers.
“We need to meet the needs without overwhelming finances,” Mayor Terk said. “We can’t afford what we have.”
Resident Wendy Cook backed her up. It’s a financial issue, Ms. Cook said, and a law enforcement merger may be the only feasible answer.
Although some have claimed village officials want to get rid of the Police Department, that’s not the case at all, Deputy Mayor Howard Burt said.
“This is about how we afford adequate police protection going into the future,” Mr. Burt said.
The village board took no action, and Mayor Terk said the overtime limit would remain in effect until rescinded by the trustees.