Windsor’s annual growth report, released in December last year, showed that while many projects have been delayed and the population of Windsor decreased for a second year in a row last year, growth is, one way or another, on the horizon in Sonoma County’s fourth largest city.
Alongside the growth report, at their Dec. 15 meeting, the Windsor Town Council received a five-year report on infrastructure and services, which asks whether the Town of Windsor has the infrastructure required to serve its projected population, based on anticipated growth. While Windsor hasn’t hit its anticipated 1.5% annual growth in a decade, there’s reason to think the town could grow closer to this rate over the next decade.
The infrastructure report found that the town has adequate services to account for growth in all but two areas: police and fire services.
Chief Michael Raasch on the Windsor Police Department’s needs
The Town of Windsor spends the lowest amount ($276) per capita on its police services compared to other Sonoma County municipalities, in large part because it contracts with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office to staff its police force, according to Windsor Police Chief Michael Raasch. The budget for 2021-22 is about $8.7 million, and for 2022-23 about $8.9 million.
But according to Raasch’s report to the Windsor Town Council, included in the infrastructure and services report Dec. 15 but dated in August, Windsor needs two more police officers to adequately serve the community.
The Windsor Police Department (WPD) currently has 21 sworn officers — including 14 patrol officers, one traffic officer, a K-9 officer, three sergeants and the chief — and three additional civilian administrative staff.
Raasch’s report showed Windsor falling substantially short of the League of California Cities (LCC) recommendation that municipalities have 1.4-1.6 sworn officers per 1,000 residents; Windsor only has 0.75 officers per 1,000 residents.
In a recent interview with SoCoNews, Raasch said the LCC recommendation is unattainable for many cities, and that there isn’t a need to double the number of sworn officers in Windsor to meet that metric.
“It’s not always attainable — I don’t want to mislead the public. That’s the standard that they recommend. If you look at the report, it sounds like not enough, but we’re able to provide a high level of service because we can rely on a high level of service from the sheriff’s department,” Raasch said.
Because of the WPD’s relationship with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, Windsor doesn’t need as many officers as an independent department might, with officers knowing deputies outside Windsor will provide back up as needed.
Furthermore, Raasch said that the WPD contracts with the Sheriff’s Office for detective services, budgeted as a 0.4 full-time detective, as needed, and can rely on his own detective experience and that of his three sergeants to handle more complex investigations. WPD has a lot of experienced officers, Raasch said, further reducing the need for staff at the level recommended by the LLC.
“We bring that experience to Windsor, which is really helpful,” Raasch said. Having experienced deputies on staff makes training easier, and, since Raasch said employment with the WPD is coveted within the Sonoma County law enforcement community, the department is able to be selective with its staffing choice.
“We normally don’t take new people. We want people who are experienced and self-sufficient,” he said.
He emphasized that the WPD’s average response time, one of the objective measures the council uses to evaluate the department, is below the county average, at 5:32 minutes in 2019.
The WPD exceeds expectations of all other metrics, including when looking at the arrest clearance rate and crime rate.
The only way to improve performance concerning staffing would be a budget decision left to the Windsor Town Council, but the actual staffing would be done by the Sheriff’s Office. In fact, falling below the LLC’s recommended ratio is the only performance measure that the WPD failed to meet, according to Raasch’s report.
Raasch, who became police chief last spring, but who had worked in Windsor as a sergeant for three years, said he has been rethinking the request for two new officers he placed in August, saying that a single new officer could cost the town an additional $250,000 per year, considering salary, pension obligations and other costs.
Now he thinks the department would benefit the most from a single additional traffic officer.
“What we need is another traffic officer. The most complaints we receive are about traffic related-things, such as speeding, loud exhaust, loud music, that type of stuff. We only have one designated person working traffic right now,” Raasch said.
At the Jan. 19 Windsor Town Council meeting, Windsor Sam Salmon lamented that the WPD has been unsuccessful in traffic calming efforts while discussing a plan to enhance the Old Redwood Highway Corridor.
Another issue for the department is the small size of police facilities, brought up in the talks around the Civic Center project, which would involve a complex public-private relationship with developer Robert Greene that would ultimately fund a new Civic Center while placing a hotel and convention center on the current Civic Center site.
Raasch said that it can be tight in the police station when all staff are present, and that the department could benefit from a secure parking area, an interview room with audio and video recording capabilities and a conference room.
Fire Marshal Cyndi Foreman on Sonoma County Fire District
It’s common for cities in California to operate their own fire departments — one funded through municipal funds. But Windsor has a unique relationship with the Sonoma County Fire District (SCFD), which grew out of the Windsor Fire District but now includes unincorporated areas near Santa Rosa, Calistoga, west county and will likely soon absorb the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District as well, according to SCFD Division Chief/Fire Marshal Cyndi Foreman.
Windsor is the only municipality served by SCFD, which complicates funding and, sometimes, relations.
At the Dec. 15 council meeting, Foreman addressed council members asking for the town to find a way to contribute regular funding to the district, which prompted a tense exchange between Foreman and the council ending in calls for a joint meeting to get everyone on the same page. Council members rebutted Foreman’s claims that Windsor was outgrowing existing infrastructure following a report which said growth was well under goals — and had been for 10 years.
They also challenged claims in a letter from Chief Mark Heine that they said suggested the town had not contributed to the district, when it recently helped fund construction of a fire station and purchased the district a 75-foot ladder truck; Mayor Salmon called the letter “unacceptable.” Foreman asked for the town council to find a mechanism to provide continued funding for staffing and facilities, which sources from the Town of Windsor said was not possible, as the SCFD is funded by a parcel tax and its boundaries exceed municipal borders.
SCFD includes roughly 31,000 parcels, with 9,000 (29%) of parcels located in Windsor. According to Foreman, how Windsor could contribute to the district is something to be worked out collaboratively over the coming months and years.
Foreman emphasized that the disagreement had been resolved, and that the district and Windsor have long had a good working relationship.
“We continue to work very strongly with the Town of Windsor and department heads to support each other. We have in the past had funding to assist with the construction of Station 2 and the ladder truck that was purchased,” she said. She said she, Mark Heine and Salmon are planning to have initial talks about working together more closely, and that joint meetings between the District Board of Directors and the Windsor Town Council are a possibility in the near future.
With growth coming in the next 10 years however, Foreman said Windsor will need a new fire station.
“The recommendation is to have one fire station per 10,000 residents. Windsor has two stations and the town is creeping towards 30,000 residents,” she said. While Windsor will not go underserved presently, Foreman said the coming growth puts the district at “the tipping point.” If growth proceeds as planned, Foreman said firefighters responding to calls from south Windsor will have to be tasked from an under-equipped station in Larkfield.
Windsor, she said, is one of the busiest areas of the district with pressing fire prevention needs, which the district provides directly to the Town of Windsor and the Town of Windsor only. In other areas under its protection, the district contracts with the county for fire prevention services like fire safety inspections.
Other needs expressed by Foreman include additional funding for paramedic firefighters, which cost more but can provide emergency medical services in the field, and additional vehicles, including pick-up trucks and an even higher ladder truck.
Responding to concerns Windsor’s contributions will be funding areas in the increasingly larger and larger district, Foreman said, “One thing to keep in mind is that as a fire district with a municipality within its boundaries, funding within the fire district is used within the fire district. We can’t say that if we get $10 from Windsor that $10 will go towards the Widsor. It goes to support the greater good of the fire district at large.”
She said that through consolidation, the district has been able to better serve the county concerning its communal wildfire problem and that services will continue to be expanded.
Responding to sentiment in the community that they have lost their local fire district, Foreman said, “It’s so in the forefront for us to make sure that each and every one of the communities in our fire district doesn’t feel lost in the shuffle. I personally feel like the Town of Windsor has benefited from this consolidation, and I don’t think they’ve been lost in the shuffle. We really try hard to stay connected and engaged. The benefit to the community far outweighs.”
