Thursday, April 20, 2017
By Sarah Lehr
CAMPBELL
City Council unanimously gave final approval Wednesday to an ordinance cutting pay for dispatchers.
The legislation creates up to six positions for part-time “civilian clerk-dispatchers” earning $10 an hour without benefits.
The city has previously used part-time auxiliary police officers, who earn between $11.75 and $14.50 hourly, to run dispatch.
Proponents say the change will cut costs and allow the city to put more police officers on the street.
Council first introduced the ordinance in February, but then amended the legislation at the request of Mayor Nick Phillips, so three current dispatchers will be grandfathered in without losing status and pay grade.
Additionally, council approved an amendment to its legislation regulating animals and fowl.
Among other changes, the city will now prohibit tethering pets outside under harsh conditions.
The ordinance forbids keeping an animal outside when a severe weather warning is in effect. It also prohibits using a tether that causes “unnecessary discomfort” to an animal.
Violation is punishable as a minor misdemeanor upon first offense. If an animal is injured as a result of the violation, the penalty is a first-degree misdemeanor.
“Twenty-seven months ago a dog lost [its] life at the end of a chain in the city of Campbell, and I made a promise to that dog that it would never happen to another dog in the city,” animal-rights activist Jason Cooke of Brookfield told council. “You’re providing a much-needed protection to the dogs in the city.”
Cooke was referring to the case of dog found dead and frozen in January 2015 after being chained to a doghouse outside a Reed Avenue home. The case came to a close in November 2016 when a judge sentenced a woman for misdemeanor violation of the city’s ordinance regulating the confinement of animals.