In a
recent news story in the Yuma Sun the Mayor of San Luis proposes that the new police chief should be paid less than the previous holder of the position. The City of San Luis was paying Police Chief Rick Flores over $100,000 in pay and benefits, even though when he was hired in April 2010, he was not certified by the State of Arizona as a law enforcement officer. Eventually the City was forced to terminate the contract, when it became apparent that Flores was unable to be certified.
Now Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla advises that the City of San Luis is close to hiring a new candidate that is in fact certified to be a law enforcement officer in the State of Arizona. He further proposes that the new chief will be paid less than the unqualified Flores was. The reason stated is that due to economic conditions the City can not afford to pay such a salary.
This had me wondering how 15 months ago the City could afford to pay an unqualified officer over $100k, but now the Mayor says that a qualified experienced Arizona Law enforcement officer should be paid less. How was the City of San Luis so flush in April 2010 that they could afford to bring in an uncertified out of state candidate to run the police force? It would seem to me that if 100k is too much to pay in 2011, that it certainly was too much to pay in 2010 for a unqualified police chief.
