The city of Gillett will be protected by four full-time police officers, at least for the remainder of 2014. With a 4-2 vote on Jan. 20, the City Council approved an 11-month contract for Karl Goerlinger, promoting him from part time to full time, effective Jan. 21.
Goerlinger, a part-time officer since March 2013, replaced Ben Hicks, who resigned Dec. 31 to take a position with the Marinette County Sheriff’s Department.
Hicks was promoted from part-time to full-time employment in 2011 when the city accepted a federal grant. The grant financed the full-time position for three years, with the condition the city cover the fourth.
The city’s 2014 budget included $61,000 for the position, and a majority of the council and Mayor Irene Drake saw the need to fulfill this obligation, despite objections from two aldermen.
Rick Raatz and Tod Anderson voted against the limited-term employment of Goerlinger, which was the second time in three months the aldermen opposed a funding decision approved by the council. In November, they voted in opposition to the proposed tax levy.
They said paying for the position with taxes and garbage fees depletes funds that could be spent for infrastructure projects or used to build reserves for capital projects.
“Unless we allow the city of Gillett Public Works Department to build some capital, our infrastructure will begin to crumble into disrepair,” Anderson said in an email to the Times Herald.
Raatz said the resignation of Hicks provided a second chance to look at Police Department statistics and reconsider funding for the position.
“I felt that it was an opportunity to review this to see whether or not the city needed to fill the position,” he said.
Anderson said the hours of a fourth officer could be distributed to part-time employees at a substantial savings.
The aldermen encouraged the city to file a hardship appeal with the Department of Justice, which could have released the city from its commitment. As a consequence of the hardship appeal, the city would be ineligible for a grant for one year.
Drake disagreed.
“It’s kind of hard to do now, when we have a balanced budget, and it’s in the budget,” she said. “I could see if we had had a tornado come through and take out half of the city. That’s a hardship, but we found the money in the budget.”
The Police Department provides 24-hour coverage six days a week and 20-hour coverage for the seventh. Goerlinger was one of three part-time officers in the department; two of them applied for full-time employment.
Raatz and Anderson said their objection to Goerlinger’s hire had nothing to do with his qualifications or anticipated job performance.
Goerlinger is a 2007 graduate of Peshtigo High School and 2010 criminal justice graduate of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. He was employed by the Department of Natural Resources as a park ranger at Governor Thompson State Park and the Peshtigo River State Forest, Crivitz, from 2011 to October 2013. He also worked as a water patrol officer in Crivitz in 2013 and as a part-time officer with the Lena Police Department.
“The Police Department staff is excited to have him on board and work with him on a full-time basis,” Gillett Police Chief Jess Keplinger said.
Goerlinger will earn $18 an hour, plus benefits.
Funding for the position will be reviewed when the city prepares its 2015 budget, according to Drake.
“We’re going to have to see what the people want. If they want that almost 24/7 coverage, then we need to find a way to do that,” she said.
“People like knowing when they call 911, they’ll have someone there within minutes,” she said.
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