07242011 - News Article - Snyder says cops have his back

Snyder says cops have his back
Post-Tribune (IN)
July 27, 2011
http://infoweb.newsbank.com

Jim Snyder strolled up to my front door last month accompanied by Portage police officer Ross Haynes, which surprised me a bit.

I heard that the city’s police officers backed Snyder for Portage mayor, and he also nabbed the official endorsement of the department’s Fraternal Order of Police — a rare accomplishment in my city for any mayoral candidate.

But it caught my attention for cops to actually go door to door with Snyder, the Republican candidate who lost by only 302 votes to incumbent Olga Velazquez in 2007.

“We’re behind him,” said Haynes, a longtime officer in the city.

Snyder also received an endorsement from the city’s firefighters, and he is confident of getting a similar endorsement soon from the city’s streets and sanitation workers.

“All 14 firefighters who live in the city are behind Jim Snyder,” he said confidently.

Snyder claims the city’s police officers are supporting him because they want respect from their administration and the ability to communicate openly with the mayor’s office, among other policy issues.

Portage Police Chief Mark Becker is at least one officer who is not supporting Snyder, and he believes the FOP endorsement vote is deceiving.

“If you review those in attendance at the FOP meeting when the endorsement vote was taken, you will find that approximately only a third of our active officers were present,” Becker said. “Also, plans to take the vote were not made known to all of the members, which may not have been in accordance with state FOP standards.”

“I am a member of the FOP and I was not told of the intended vote,” he added, noting that not all the officers in attendance voted in favor of the endorsement.

However, police officer Troy Williams, who’s been on the force for 15 years, said the FOP vote was indeed a unanimous vote.

Last Saturday, he too campaigned door to door with Snyder and confirmed that the overwhelming majority of his department is backing him.

“Jim Snyder has the type of leadership we’re looking for,” Williams said.

Another officer told me that “80 to 85 percent” of the police department is behind Snyder.

“It does say something if you are the current mayor and all the city departments are publicly endorsing another candidate,” the officer told me, asking for anonymity.

‘Public safety’ campaign cry

Regardless of exactly how many officers are behind Snyder, “public safety” has become his war cry during the campaign battle leading up to Election Day on Nov. 8.

He routinely reminds voters that the city’s police station was “closed” to the public on Jan. 1, 2010. What he means is that citizens must use a phone in the station lobby to talk with police or call 911.

“We should have a police station that has its doors open all the time,” Snyder said.

Becker said he has clerical personnel on duty from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on a more limited basis on Saturdays. Other police departments in the county also have a similar set up if not on a more limited basis.

“I fail to understand how a records clerk sitting behind a desk at 2 a.m. equates to increased public safety?” Becker asked. “Our crime rates are down (and) we consistently reach out to the public to help us identify problem areas.”

Snyder, a city resident since 2002, is a proud Republican who is pro-life regarding abortion, admires Ronald Reagan and believes in gun owners’ rights.

Although I never brought it up during our chat, he told me a few times that although he attended Fairhaven Bible College in Chesterton in his youth, he no longer is affiliated with the controversial church.

He’s also showed confidence in unseating Velazquez, citing several issues he has with the city under her reign. For starters, outsiders view the city as “anti-business” in regard to attracting and catering to new firms, eateries and factories.

“You don’t think that Olive Garden, Chili’s, and Chick-fil-A, for example, know how hard it is to do business in Portage?” he asked rhetorically. (Yet don’t be surprised by a pre-Election Day “surprise” of a Meier store coming to the city, he hinted.)

He also routinely reminds voters on his campaign trail that the city’s newest development project on Central Avenue is nothing more than a pricey unemployment office.

“You can call it a university center, and Ivy Tech has its name on the sign and will be there someday, but right now it’s a $6.1 million unemployment office,” he said, referring to the Workforce One building being built downtown. “Is that the best way to spend taxpayer dollars?”

Since meeting Snyder on my driveway last month, I’ve talked to dozens of Portage residents. Many are still on the fence regarding their choice for mayor, so next week I will talk to Velazquez for a follow-up column on these issues. Stay tuned.