1. This won’t be a “blog” per se. It isn’t meant to be a place to post all commentary or opinions. Everyone is invited to send in a note, but don’t be offended if it isn’t posted. There’s other sites that are perfectly content to drag through what they believe to be wrong with every issue at every turn. This is about what was done, why and where do we go from here. We won’t talk about two and three year old issues. If the desire is to engage in those discussions then look somewhere else.

2. This isn’t the Board of Commissioner forum. MJ has a City Manager form of government. The Board makes policy; the staff implements. I’ll be happy to pass your comments along to the Board, either good or bad, but the intent of this medium is to address how we could better enact policy and improve city services.

3. The narratives will be directly from me, your city manager. I won’t hide under some pseudonym or other persona. My name is Randy Robertson. My phone number is 754-2552. I am your City Manager. If your issue or concerns involves another department of the city (Public Works, Police, Animal Control, etc.) I will invite the appropriate team member to provide some comments, but it will still be done under the auspices of the City Manager.

4. I will try and be as timely as possible, but this is another one of the “additional duties” for which civil service is renown.

5. The City Staff is here for you. The desired outcome is for us to have a positive relationship with the citizens we serve, but we all know that always won’t happen. Everyone has an opinion. It is the staff’s responsibility to work through the opinions and emotion, meet the requirements of the laws and rules under which we operate, and hopefully serve the greatest number in that process. It is not an exact science. The more we have a relationship with you, the better we can meet your expectations.

6. Finally, this is about telling our story. Hopefully you will be able to sort the myth from reality or see the issue through a different set of lens. I hope you will find this of value and participate.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Update: 3/30/09

Hello MJ:

A recent question came up from a member of the community regarding the Mt. Juliet’s Alarm fee. First, the fee certainly isn’t new. The governing ordinance was passed in 1997, so for nearly 12 years (August 1997) both businesses and private homes that have alarms have had this fee. A second issue pertained to why the fee existed. I can’t speak to the thoughts of the Board in 1997, but I would note that the overall intent of an alarm fee in any municipality is to help the police provide better response. Just like a fire department responding to an alarm, knowing where an incident is occurring (through activation of an alarm) is invaluable to our officers.

Possibly a bigger issue related to alarms is the number of false calls we receive. I asked Chief Garrett to run some numbers from this year and what he reported was of concern to me, and should be to you. From 1 January to 25 March 2009 there were 288 alarm calls responded to by the Mt. Juliet Police Department. Of the 288 calls, 116 were false alarms. That over 40%. On any given day there are likely between 3 or 4 patrol officers on duty in Wilson’s County’s largest city. Every false alarm essentially means a Police Officer must consume valuable time, fuel and energy on a matter that should never have occurred. There are some businesses that have had 4 or more false alarms within the last year. While the Chief is actively starting a campaign to cite those who “habitually” have false alarms, again, the time and effort dedicated to that activity could be far better invested.

Mt. Juliet Police Department is one of the lowest manned (e.g., number of police officers compared to the population of the city) forces in middle Tennessee. By virtually every manpower measure used by professional Police Departments, the MJPD should have between 60 to 70 or more sworn officers; we have less than 45 total personnel, and only 27 in the Patrol Division. As a comparison, I understand Lebanon has over 70. A false alarm is a big deal. Please register your alarm. Ensure that when it is activated that the alarm first goes to the MJPD and then to either the business owner or a private security company. The MPJD’s job is your safety and security. Help them help you.

Have a great week.

R. Robertson
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