In regards to the Simi Valley Police Officers Association not being willing to accept a pay cut.

We live a city whose greatest claim to fame is the fact that we always rank high in the safest city category.

During the last election cycle our incumbent City Council members touted how they had a hand in making that happen—I pointed out that the only way they had a hand in it was to pay the police officers who actually do the job.

Our City Council and mayor approved a large pay increase for our police department soon after the election, stating that it would put our police department on parity with surrounding agencies.

Now the city has fallen on hard times. Sales taxes are down even with the fabulous mall on the hill, and foreclosures are at a record level. So now our city government would like to take back some of that money from our police.

I say find some other way to balance your budget. The whole point of government, if there is one, is to provide for the safety of the citizens first and foremost. For a local government, that would be police and fire protection first; everything else is secondary.

So I agree with the Police Officers Association that the 40th birthday party—which I took part in but didn’t get any cake— was a huge waste of money.

The city still wastes between $500,000 to $1 million a year in police overtime, making officers drive to the Angeles Forest to qualify with their weapons because the city didn’t get off its butt and accept land that Waste Management was offering free of charge for use as a police range because someone or some group wanted to make a political statement about the landfill expansion.

Remember, most police officers do the job that no one else wants to do.

So I say to the City Council and to the mayor, find some other way.

Maybe we could get rid of the parking enforcement detail that likes to cite cars at back-to-school night and let the police write the parking citations. Maybe their experience can bring a little more common sense to bear. That would save some dollars. Mike Judge Simi Valley