Atherton Police Officers Association

P. O. Box 419 Menlo Park, CA 94026-0419 www.athertonpolice.com/PAC info@athertonpolice.com 650-561-6077 Voice

October 29, 2012 Dear Atherton Resident, Recently, the Athert on Police Off icers Association (APOA) endorsed Elizabet h Lewis and Car y W iest f or Atherton Town Council. W e communicated our endorsement via postcards, signs, and an automated telephone call f rom our Associat ion President, David Met zger. The APOA made these endorsements af ter reviewing responses to our questionnaire that were subm itted by all f our candidates . W e endorsed Elizabeth Lewis and Car y W iest because they will act in the best interests of the Town of Atherton, and you, the Athert on Resident. Your Atherton Town Council apparently did not approve of our endorsements. Mayor W idmer met with our Pr esident and encouraged him to not engage in a tit f or tat public dialog, arguing that it would be harmf ul to the Town. Yet, thats exactly what the Council has done. Some Council Members made statements during public meet ings t hat were not true. And most recently, the Atherton Town Council spent about an hour of lim ited Town Council time discussing our campaign. They voted to send out a Press Release in response to our actions. Astonishingly, Mayor W idmer took liberties with his aut horization. He chose to send a letter to ever y r esident with a tit f or tat response to our campaign inf ormation. He was only author ized to publish a press release. Somehow he unilaterally chose to spend thousands of scarce tax payer dollars in respon se to political campaign messaging. In an eff ort to discredit our messages, The Atherton Town Council continues to identif y us as Teamsters and suggest this aff iliat ion is behind our endorsements. W hile it is true we are members of Teamsters Local 856, the Teamsters have had nothing to do with our campaign. The Teamsters have not given us any f inancial support or direct ion. They have not approved or helped wr ite any of our campaign materials. The APOA members paid f or our outreach. W e chose to do this f or one important reason: To do what is best f or the Town of Atherton and you, the Atherton Resident.

The Atherton Town Council claims there have been no discussions of outsourcing the Police Department. This claim is f alse. Police Outsourcing was on their November 2010 Town Council Agenda. Jeff Maltbie, the Cit y Manager of San Carlos, gave a present ation to the Council and Finance Committee about how he was able to outsource the San Carlos Police Departm ent to the San Mateo Count y Sherif f s Off ice. Mr. Malt bie discussed all of the benef its the Cit y of San Carlos had realized by outsourcing their Police Department. In the past year, the Council has outsourced the Building Department, Public W orks Department, and Parks Department. They also laid -of f several mem bers of the Town Adm inist rative St aff . The Council hired a pr ivate f irm, MCE, to handle many of the Towns day to day operations. Both Mayor W idmer and Council Member Dobbie have said they want to sunset the current Parcel Tax. Yet, they havent ident if ied any subst itute f orm of revenue. The APO A suspects they want to reduce police compensat ion and benef its to the point where your Atherton Police Off icers will have no choice but to move to ot her agencies in order to car e f or their f amilies. The Counci l will then be able to implement their outsourcing agenda. If you would like mor e inf ormation on any of the items mentioned in this letter, we encourage you to visit our website at http://www.at hertonpolic e.com/PAC . If you disagree wit h your Councils plans, we encourage you t o speak directly with your elected representat ives and att end Town Council m eetings. The men and women of the Atherton Police Off icers Association thank you f or your support and lo ok f orward to many years of continued ser vice.

Dave Metzger- President

John Mattes- Vice President

Contact Your Council Members: Bill W idmer, Mayor 650-530-0078 Elizabeth Lewis, Vice Mayor 650- 533-8830 Kathy McKeithen, Council Member 650- 321-3633 Jim Dobbie, Council Member 650-327-3946 Jerry Car lson, Council Member 650- 321-1327