GUADALUPE, Calif. - The city of Guadalupe doesn't have a police chief or a fire chief. But they do have a director of public safety.
Could smaller cities benefit from having one person do multiple jobs?
Guadalupe interim City Administrator Tim Ness says, "I think it's reasonable to assume one person can oversee both departments."
Ness is talking about the city's new interim Director of Public Safety, Gary Hoving. Hoving spent 29 years with the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Department before retiring. Hoving will be asked to be the go-to man for the police and fire departments in Guadalupe. City council will consider finding a permanent police chief, but Ness says Hoving's position might be here to stay. And he says it has worked for other cities.
"Probably the biggest, best example of that is the city of Sunnyvale," says Ness. "Very large city, they've done it for years and years, evidently successfully."
Hoving's pay comes out to over $77,000 per year and he doesn't get benefits. The previous police chief, George Mitchell, was making $89,000 with benefits. And the last fire chief was working part-time and making over $42,000. That's a savings of almost $60,000 per year for the city.
Because having one department head for 2 different departments obviously saves money, Ness says that most small cities could follow in the footsteps of Guadalupe and have their own director of public safety.
"I think we may be seeing a trend, forced by budgetary and finance pressure," says Ness.
Even though he's dealing with two departments, Hoving says it will be a piece of cake compared to his experience with the SLO Sheriff.
"If you compare all the people I was overseeing over there, I have a lot fewer people here than I have had in the past," says Hoving.
