John Gaccione

04/24/19

Annexation…yes of course what a brilliant idea! 

The good folks up at Headquarters have determined to play on the fears of annexation by the dreaded El Cerrito as a way to stir up opposition to any form of contracting for police services. 

Yet another absolutely brilliant scheme to protect our own locally controlled private police department. Can I get an amen?

Our asset on the KPPCSD Board is capable of manufacturing some sort of document filled with colorful charts and graphs highlighting a few of our established positions. Familiar arguments, such as the Matrix data presented is incomplete and somewhat misleading. The Matrix report missed the qualitative, initiative factor to police work. And historical cost analyses do not support any financial advantages to contracting. Our standard boilerplate.

Alongside these familiar arguments continually discrediting the Matrix study and final report, the document displays a 2009 clippings from LAFCO regarding the potential for annexation. Plus selected clippings related to Kensington and El Cerrito history from the Stege E-Book “Where the Sewage Meets the Sea”. This information is essential in order to link the old fear of annexation with current issue of contracting.

Very few people will bother to decipher the tedious charts and graphs, but many people will become alarmed at the prospect of Kensington being annexed by the dreaded El Cerrito. Our asset on the Board has been diligently making the connection between entering into a contract with El Cerrito for police services paves the way for annexation. 

Over 40 years ago folks in Kensington liked to say, “Everybody likes the way it is now. They don’t want it to change.” And now one of our newest Board Directors echoes the same reluctance to change when he notes our police department has been the same for 50 years. 

Yes, of course if it ain’t broke why fix it? The faithful have a locally controlled private police force paid for by the taxpayers of Kensington. They like the way it is and they don’t want it to change!

“If there is one eternal truth of politics, it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.” (John le Carre)

Keeping K-ville Unchanged like it always was since 2009