Letter: Unjustified Attack on Chief Harman's Raise

To the Editor:

I would like to respond to an anonymous flyer denouncing a recent vote by the Kensington Police Protection & Community Services District Board to give Police Chief/General Manager Greg Harman a salary increase.

The flyer, which was handed to me at the Colusa Circle Farmers' Market last week, is filled with misrepresentations.  It states that Harman is given 59 paid days off a year when his contract states that he can receive no more than 25 annual vacation days.

The missive also faults the chief for failing to hire additional officers with funds from Measure G.  But the purpose of this tax assessment, passed in 2010, was to provide additional funding for the police department because past assessments had no provision for inflation. The measure did not include a mandate for additional officers.

The flyer purports to be from a group called “Kensington Residents for Fiscal Responsibility.”  But nowhere does it state the actual people behind these charges or a way to contact this mysterious group.  We should place little stock in these anonymous attacks.

I am pleased with the work Chief Harman has done to address traffic issues and believe my Colusa Circle neighborhood is safer as a result.  I have been impressed with the public accounting he has given of Kensington operations.  A moderate salary increase seems warranted to keep his able leadership in place.

And I have no problem associating my name with this view.  Our community is ill served by others unwilling to do the same.

Rodney Paul
Kensington, CA
 

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