NORMANDY PARK, Wash. – Why not? That’s what some residents of Normandy Park are saying after learning a group of fellow citizens has set up a GoFundMe page to prevent police department layoffs.
The campaign was launched by grassroots group of citizens, business leaders and some elected officials as a way to make up for the revenue lost when voters turned down a property tax measure earlier this month.
Organizers hope to raise $276,000 dollars to pay for two police officer positions and a records clerk position for one year. Without the funds the city will have to eliminate all three positions.
“I would be happy to contribute to it,” said life-long resident Tom Le Pinske. “Any campaign to save our police and give revenue that our city needs to prosper and to protect our citizens I am all for.”
Le Pinske voted for the property tax lid that failed.
He says a strong and capable police department makes the quiet beach community such a wonderful place to live.
“Our officers care, they do an exceptionally good job, and I think we cannot afford to lose any of them,” said Le Pinske.
Others, however, are not so sure about turning to crowd-funding to pay for public services.
“It seems a little funky and weird,” said Pete Heckman, who also voted in favor of the property tax measure.
Yet, he says he’s wary of asking a relatively small number of people for money after a majority made its decision.
“I think with city services it could be a slippery slope, because suddenly you’ve got only a certain amount of your population doing the hard work,” he said.
While Heckman said his family does not plan to donate, he has no objection to organizers attempting the unorthodox approach.
Long-time resident David Leaming agrees they should try.
“People are doing it, so give it a shot. There’s no harm in it,” Leaming said. “If it can be sustained? That’s an entirely different thing. If you’re always going to GoFundMe for the police, well that’s not going to work.”
Campaign organizers say the $276,000 would buy time to put a property tax increase on the ballot a second time. City leaders believe a measure could succeed if they do a better job explaining it to the public.
Those who set up the GoFundMe page plan an all-out blitz in the next couple weeks to make the community aware of the effort.
Organizers plan to mail flyers, make visits to all 2,600 households in Normandy Park and hold town hall-style meetings. They also plan to create contests and said major employers like Alaska Airlines, Boeing and Microsoft will match employee donations.
If the crowd-funding effort fails, layoffs would happen January 1st.
But, city leaders said any money raised would help retain the positions for at least awhile, all depending on how much comes in.
The money, according to the city, would not be used for any other purpose except to pay salaries and benefits of those three positions.