Posted on 03/29/2008 10:22:23 AM PDT by USMC Brat
Department monitors increasingly raucous rallies at Marine center BERKELEY — In the last six weeks, the city of Berkeley has spent more than $210,000 on police overtime to try and keep the peace during protests at the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting center and Old City Hall, a police official said Thursday. Police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said police department overtime from Feb. 12 to March 22 was $210,814.13. The city spent roughly $93,000 Feb. 12 during an all-day protest at Old City Hall that drew about 2,000 anti-war protestors and military supporters, she said. By comparison, the 186-officer department spends between $2,500 and $3,500 per week on overtime during a normal week, Kusmiss said. At that rate, typical overtime spending for six weeks ranges from $15,000 to $21,000. On Jan. 29, the Berkeley City Council called the downtown Berkeley military recruitment center "uninvited and unwelcome intruders," sparking national outrage. Amid heavy criticism and threats by Republican lawmakers to withdraw federal funding, council members on Feb. 12 moderated their position, saying they oppose the war in Iraq but support the troops. Rallies before the council's vote drew thousands to downtown Berkeley. Since then, CodePink, The World Can't Wait: Drive out the Bush Regime and other groups have continued to hold weekly protests at the Marine recruiting center. Police have continued to monitor those protests, which in recent weeks have become increasingly raucous. Kusmiss said anywhere from three to 80 officers have been working overtime during the various rallies, with the most officers on Feb. 12. On Monday, police arrested four CodePink protesters during a rally to mark the 4,000 U.S. troop death in Iraq. Kusmiss said police are needed at all types of demonstrations in Berkeley. "We feel it's important to have some measure of presence at any type of protest or demonstration," Kusmiss said, adding that the department is worried about the "co-mingling" of CodePink with the groups the World Can't Wait and the Answer Coalition, which police say, unlike CodePink, chain themselves to buildings and purposely antagonize police officers. On Thursday, Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, said there is no a need for so many police in front of the recruiting station. "It's a bit of an overkill," she said. "I don't know who they are protecting." Kusmiss, however, said the protests often attract others with differing points of view. "Having (police) presence ensures that peace and community safety will be maintained around the Marine recruiting center," she said. Benjamin said the weekly protests will continue until the recruitment center leaves town. "If people are concerned they should put pressure on the (recruiting center) landlord to break the lease," Benjamin said. "The recruiters are the ones who should have never come in to Berkeley. If whomever in the city wants to stop the protests, they should encourage the recruiters to leave. Democracy comes at a price." Meanwhile, a group of golfing war veterans is so miffed at the Berkeley City Council for taking a swing at the Marines that they are relocating their annual fundraising golf tournament outside Berkeley. The Lafayette War Veterans Golf Committee will move its third annual golf tournament from Tilden Park Golf Course in Berkeley to a still-undecided location, the group announced Thursday. The tournament is scheduled for Sept. 22. The Lafayette War Veterans golf committee has raised more than $60,000 the last two years to help people who have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and are being treated at the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center at the Veterans Administration hospital in Palo Alto, tournament organizers said.
Marine Recruiting Protests Cost Berkeley PD $211K
/snip/
Kusmiss said the money to pay for the nearly $211,000 in police overtime costs will come from the city's general fund, not from the Police Department's budget.
Kusmiss said that in addition to police overtime costs, the city has other overtime costs associated with the protests for services by other departments.
She said the Public Health and Environmental Health departments both have had extra overtime costs, but she didn't have the specific numbers.
Berkley could save a lot of money by just stepping out of the way and letting the Marines take care of the problem themselves as they see fit.
Ping
Another confirmation that it would be prudent for the Berkeley City Council to rescind thier Jan 29 resolutions!
It kinda make you want to see more activities happening in Beserkeley. Each code pinko is costing the city thousands of dollars.
This may even qualify as a “Dog, meet your fleas” moment.
and if you think the cost of cops is something;
just ask the local businesses what they have lost...
If ya wanna get a Lefties’ attention, hit ‘em in the wallet!
They’ll scream like pigs every time...
Send the bill to “Code Pink”.
Other cities that have been caught spending huge sums for police prescence at demostrations have made new in sending the bill to the agitators involved. They should do it and let it go through the court system for publicity and warning to all agitator groups. It will then stop.
I like how they total patriots and traitors into one lump sum. Must mean the America haters were outnumbered.
Send him the bill.
Her—Medea Benjamin..
Wanna bet these same bozos wanting the military out of their town were protesting because the National Guard wasn’t in New Orleans sooner. Some folks only get up in the morning to see what they can whine about that day.
Well, haven’t seen a picture to verify that yet. Of course with these it sometimes takes a DNA test.
Send the bill to Code Pink.
Are you kidding? These Chardonnay swilling, Tofu munching leftist loonies” on the city council waved all of Code Pinko’s protest fees. IOW the City Council put CP up to this.
I say let ‘em eat it and when they go broke they can work for free(like that will ever happen).
The tournament is scheduled for Sept. 22.
Reminds me of a friend of mine who has always said:
"Pigs are in the Parlor with the money's green."
Ain't that the truth!
Most Excellent...
I have no problem with the moonbats of Berkely bankrupting themselves.
Acting like morons seems to have a real world cost.
“I say let ‘em eat it and when they go broke they can work for free(like that will ever happen).”
Yes, and I hope they KEEP RIGHT ON eating it too!
Until they remove their favoritism from the pinko’s they should have to pay and pay and pay for their decision.
mmmkay... the picture I pasted over from the article has since been removed. Sorry to everyone.
There are countless pics of Medea Benjamin on Google Image Results.
Medea gives all of us born in 1952 a bad rep!
Checked her out. Really into the pink mode, especially down to the chipped and chewed on pink nail polish.
HA! HA! HA! According to the Ma-ya money is no issue. This is beautiful...$211K. Wonder what portion of the city budget is set aside for Police, I sense a budget buster on the way. Well, keep spending Berkeley...it’s so much easier than admitting you were wrong and apologizing to our fine Marines.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but personally I think this is awesome! I hope the bucks keep piling up.
Here's an interesting March 29 tidbit from Susan Duclos at Wake Up America:
On February 4, 2008, the Government Affairs committee had a meeting where they discussed plans to withhold business license taxes to protest the resolutions' effects on their business.
/snip/
Garrett says the Chamber officials have met with the Mayor, who is an active supporter of Code Pink, and attends their rallies wearing a pink hat (see third photo down) and has heard nothing to indicate that the council intends to apologize to the Marines, saying, "They aren't looking like they are going to budge, but that doesn't stop us from working diligently to try and come up with a solution that is going to protect our businesses."
Councilmembers Kriss Worthington, Laurie Capitelli, Betty Olds and Gordon Wozniak did vote on a motion to send a formal apology to the Marines. That motion was put forth by City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, when, after the motion was defeated, said, "When our council adopts such outrageous language, we owe an apology for using that language. More importantly than words, I think we need to show some genuine, positive, practical support for our veterans."
The businesses of Berkeley are laying the blame directly at the feet of the city council as another member of the Chamber of Commerce's board, Mark McLeod, who is also the president of the Downtown Berkeley Association says he believes the Berkeley City Council should have considered the implications of its actions before voting for the resolutions.
McLeod stated, "The council can't operate as an isolated unit-the university, council and chamber have to realize they're all members of a large, complex community and have to act with a realization of the effect of their actions on all members of the community."
It does appear the business community is trying to take charge of the situation in Berkeley. They've heard the 'Boycott Berkeley' message loud and clear, unlike their elected city officials.
Until such time as the Council rescinds the resolutions they approved on Jan 29 and apologize to the Marines and all branches of military service the ire of the nation is aimed at Berkeley. Keep up the pressure!
Let’s hope the villagers storm a Council Meeting and demand an apology then take Berkeley back for America by voting these traitors out of office.
Now that Move America Forward has endorsed the "Boycott Berkeley" movement the pressure has increased. It's "official." Melanie Morgan has screen designs and a bumper sticker at her site.
Good news, the more the better!
UPDATE
Marine Protests Cost City Over $200,000
By Jane Shin
Contributing Writer
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Berkeley officials say more than $200,000 from the city’s general fund has gone toward the protests concerning the Marine recruiting center controversy.
Since Feb. 12, the city has spent $210,814 from the general fund as part of overtime costs to provide additional support and safety for the protests, said city spokesperson Mary Kay Clunies-Ross.
The controversy stems from a Jan. 29 decision by the City Council to call Marine Corps recruiters in Downtown Berkeley “uninvited and unwelcome” intruders.
When the council met on Feb. 12 to reconsider their decision, more than 2,000 protesters had gathered outside the City Council chambers.
Advertisement
Approximately $93,000 of the $210,814 went towards providing enforcement that day, Clunies-Ross said.
The council voted to rescind the language calling the recruiters “intruders,” but did not apologize for their vote.
Since then, protests from both
pro-military and anti-war groups have continued in front of the center.
Overtime costs for police who must monitor the protests have cost the city $205,924. The remaining $4,890 went towards food for the officers, Clunies-Ross said.
Since the $200,000 is taken from overtime costs as part of the general fund, more anticipated spending for routine things are cut, said Lisa Caronna, deputy city manager.
“Two hundred thousand dollars is a huge chunk of money for any unforeseen circumstance,” she said. “The overtime we budget for is what we need in a normal course of life.”
Caronna said the costs impact the general fund because the budget is limited and the unexpected cost of $200,000 could have been spent elsewhere.
“Generally, here is $200,000 we could have spent on something else, but we spent it now on ... the protests and Marine center ...,” she said. “We don’t like to spend frivolously, and there’s a shopping list of things that we want to see happen, a million things that $200,000 won’t pay for.”
Some council members say Berkeley taxpayers may be impacted because the general fund comes from various taxes.
“It’s too bad, and it may affect how people feel about tax measures this fall when we vote,” said Councilmember Betty Olds. “It’s our extra money, and there isn’t too much of it.”
Councilmember Gordon Wozniak also expressed concern over how taxpayers would be affected.
“I don’t think it’s fair to have this thing going for (long)... It’d be a huge burden for Berkeley taxpayers to cover,” Wozniak said. “You can make your point without being there every day or every week.”
http://www.dailycal.org/article/101079
"Two hundred thousand dollars is a huge chunk of money for any unforeseen circumstance," [Lisa Caronna, deputy city manager] said. "Generally, here is $200,000 we could have spent on something else, but we spent it now on ... the protests and Marine center ...," she said. "We don't like to spend frivolously, and there's a shopping list of things that we want to see happen, a million things that $200,000 won't pay for."
Berkeley taxpayers and businesses are clearly feeling the pinch from the sins of their City Council. The Council could have easily stemmed the drain on their General Fund if they'd listened on Feb 12 and rescinded both of their notorious resolutions and apologized to the Marine Corps. Hindsight is 20/20.
Still it's better for the Berkeley Council to eat crow while it's Hot... and America's Patriots aren't going to turn down the heat until Berkeley makes amends with the rest of America. Now that Move America Forward has blown the lid off their anti-American and Anarchist City government seeking action from the U.S. Attorney, it's just going to continue to get more unbearable for Berkeley taxpayers.
Since Move America Forward has endorsed the Boycott Berkeley movement, it's 'official'. If I had a business in Berkeley I'd be calling on the City Council to pay my month to month lease. The Council made Berkeley a hostile business environment, they are squarely responsible.
"I don't think it's fair to have this thing going for (long)... It'd be a huge burden for Berkeley taxpayers to cover," Wozniak said. "You can make your point without being there every day or every week."
Wozniak is in a position to help stop the daily or weekly protests. I do hope his comment is directed at Code Pink! With urging from the City Manager, receipts in hand, they should be able to persuade the Council to make amends. The Council holds all the responsibility for draining the general fund and putting Berkeley taxpayers into spending deficits.
"Two hundred thousand dollars is a huge chunk of money for any unforeseen circumstance," [Lisa Caronna, deputy city manager] said. "Generally, here is $200,000 we could have spent on something else, but we spent it now on ... the protests and Marine center ...," she said. "We don't like to spend frivolously, and there's a shopping list of things that we want to see happen, a million things that $200,000 won't pay for."
Berkeley taxpayers and businesses are clearly feeling the pinch from the sins of their City Council. The Council could have easily stemmed the drain on their General Fund if they'd listened on Feb 12 and rescinded both of their notorious resolutions and apologized to the Marine Corps. Hindsight is 20/20.
Still it's better for the Berkeley Council to eat crow while it's Hot... and America's Patriots aren't going to turn down the heat until Berkeley makes amends with the rest of America. Now that Move America Forward has blown the lid off their anti-American and Anarchist City government seeking action from the U.S. Attorney, it's just going to continue to get more unbearable for Berkeley taxpayers.
Since Move America Forward has endorsed the Boycott Berkeley movement, it's 'official'. If I had a business in Berkeley I'd be calling on the City Council to pay my month to month lease. The Council made Berkeley a hostile business environment, they are squarely responsible.
"I don't think it's fair to have this thing going for (long)... It'd be a huge burden for Berkeley taxpayers to cover," Wozniak said. "You can make your point without being there every day or every week."
Wozniak is in a position to help stop the daily or weekly protests. I do hope his comment is directed at Code Pink! With urging from the City Manager, receipts in hand, they should be able to persuade the Council to make amends. The Council holds all the responsibility for draining the general fund and putting Berkeley taxpayers into spending deficits.
Like most liberal fools, the City Council thought nobody would care what they did. They have forgotten that there is a REAL America out beyond their gates and we will not put up with this BS and their harassment of our brave Marine Corps. The picked the wrong fight with the wrong people and now it has come home to bite them in the tushes. ;) Boycott Berkeley!
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