7/31/2019 Atherton APOA Letter to Residents
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Atherton Police
Officers AssociationP. O. Box 419
Menlo Park, CA 94026-0419
www.athertonpolice.com/PAC
[email protected] 650-561-6077 Voice
October 29, 2012
Dear Atherton Resident,
Recently, the Atherton Police Off icers Associat ion (APOA)
endorsed ElizabethLewis and Cary Wiest for Atherton Town Council.
We communicated our
endorsement via postcards, signs, and an automated telephone
call from ourAssociat ion President, David Metzger.
The APOA made these endorsements after reviewing responses to
ourquestionnaire that were submitted by all four candidates. We
endorsedElizabeth Lewis and Cary Wiest because they wil l act in
the best interests ofthe Town of Atherton, and you, the Atherton
Resident.
Your Atherton Town Council apparently did not approve of our
endorsements.Mayor Widmer met with our President and encouraged him
to not engage in at i t for tat public dialog, arguing that it
would be harmful to the Town. Yet,
thats exactly what the Council has done.
Some Council Members made statements during public meetings that
were nottrue. And most recently, the Atherton Town Council spent
about an hour ofl imited Town Council t ime discussing our
campaign. They voted to send out aPress Release in response to our
actions. Astonishingly, Mayor Widmer tooklibert ies with his
authorization. He chose to send a letter to every resident witha t
i t for tat response to our campaign information. He was only
authorized topublish a press release. Somehow he unilaterally chose
to spend thousands ofscarce tax payer dollars in response to polit
ical campaign messaging.
In an effort to discredit our messages, The Atherton Town
Council continues toidentify us as Teamsters and suggest this aff i
l iat ion is behind ourendorsements. While it is true we are
members of Teamsters Local 856, theTeamsters have had nothing to do
with our campaign. The Teamsters have notgiven us any f inancial
support or direction. They have not approved or helpedwrite any of
our campaign materials. The APOA members paid for our outreach.We
chose to do this for one important reason: To do what is best for
the Townof Atherton and you, the Atherton Resident.
http://www.athertonpolice.com/PAChttp://www.athertonpolice.com/PACmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.athertonpolice.com/PAC
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The Atherton Town Council claims there have been no discussions
ofoutsourcing the Police Department. This claim is false. Police
Outsourcing wason their November 2010 Town Council Agenda. Jeff
Maltbie, the City Managerof San Carlos, gave a presentation to the
Council and Finance Committee abouthow he was able to outsource the
San Carlos Police Department to the SanMateo County Sherif f s Off
ice. Mr. Maltbie discussed all of the benefits theCity of San
Carlos had realized by outsourcing their Police Department.
In the past year, the Council has outsourced the Building
Department, PublicWorks Department, and Parks Department. They also
laid-off several membersof the Town Administrat ive Staff. The
Council hired a private f irm, MCE, tohandle many of the Towns day
to day operations.
Both Mayor Widmer and Council Member Dobbie have said they want
tosunset the current Parcel Tax. Yet, they havent ident i f ied any
substitute formof revenue. The APOA suspects they want to reduce
police compensation andbenefits to the point where your Atherton
Police Off icers wil l have no choice butto move to other agencies
in order to care for their famil ies. The Counci l wil lthen be
able to impl ement their outsourcing agenda.
If you would l ike more information on any of the items
mentioned in this letter,we encourage you to visit our website at
http://www.athertonpolice.com/PAC .I f you disagree with your
Council s plans, we encourage you to speak directlywith your
elected representatives and attend Town Council m eetings.
The men and women of the Atherton Police Off icers Associat ion
thank you foryour support and look forward to many years of
continued service.
Dave Metzger- President John Mattes- Vice President
Contact Your Council Members:
Bil l Widmer, Mayor 650-530-0078
Elizabeth Lewis, Vice Mayor 650-533-8830
Kathy McKeithen, Council Member 650-321-3633
Jim Dobbie, Council Member 650-327-3946
Jerry Carlson, Council Member 650-321-1327
http://www.athertonpolice.com/PAChttp://www.athertonpolice.com/PAC
