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Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council <br />April 19, 2016 <br />Page Two <br />The jail employs about 80 of our Association members, many of whom were born and raised in Santa Ana. There <br />are also numerous residents of the City among the jail employees who are our members. There are food service <br />workers, nurses, counselors and teachers who will lose their jobs if the jail is closed because you do not accept <br />the contract amendment. When you consider that you will have a cost of $3,000,000.00 per year whether or <br />not you close the jail, the negative economic impact on your loyal employees makes approving the contract not <br />only the most compassionate course of action, but the most fiscally prudent course of action. <br />Finally, it appears that there is a marked increase in crime in the City. Our officers are making more arrests and <br />handling more calls for service every day. Even if the booking operation of the jail is kept open, we expect that <br />there would be an impact on the amount of time that our officers are out of the field when taking suspects to jail. <br />This letter is not written for the purpose of arguing the issues raised by those who advocate on behalf of <br />detainees and others. We want to emphasize that those issues are best addressed elsewhere. We also want to <br />emphasize that by accepting the federal contract amendment and continuing to operate the jail, you will best <br />serve the needs of the detainees, the citizens of Santa Ana and our members. <br />Thank you for your consideration. <br />Very truly yours, <br />GERRY SERRANO <br />VICE PRESIDENT <br />SANTA ANA POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION <br />GS/rr <br />SAPOA-bete ntionCenterLetterTaM ayor&CityCouncil.April19,2016Ag and a <br />Copy: City Manager, Chief of Police, Jail Administrator <br />