No city cops: Deltona votes to keep contract with Sheriff's Office

By Al Everson
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Nov 5, 2008 - 1:48:13am

By a mandate at the polls, Deltona will keep the Volusia County Sheriff's Office as its law enforcement agency, rather than establishing its own city police department.

After a hard-fought campaign, a majority of Deltona's voters rejected the idea of severing the city's relationship with the Sheriff's Office.

Deltona voters said "no" to creating a city police department, 19,429 votes to 15,823.

Deltona, now the largest city in Volusia County, has contracted with the Sheriff's Office for police services since it became a city in 1995.

In recent years, complaints about an alleged lack of patrols and efforts to solve crimes prompted some citizens and city officials to consider starting a police department.

A consultant hired by the City Commission said a police agency could be organized for about $12 million, and the commission agreed earlier this year to ask voters what they wanted to do.

The commission also decided to make the Nov. 4 vote binding; in other words, a no vote means the commission may not act independently, against the wishes of the voters.

Mayor Dennis Mulder, a leading proponent of a city-run police force, accepted the voters decision to retain the status quo.

"No matter what happens, my job has been accomplished. When I ran for office, I promised we would get this thing on the ballot, and let the voters decide," Mulder told The Beacon, as he joined friends and allies in watching the results at the Deltona Inn.

Seeing the likely defeat of a proposal he had championed, Mulder said the voting puts the issue to rest for "a couple of years."

Mulder's predecessor, John Masiarczyk, was on the opposite side of the police issue. He favored continuing the Sheriff's Office contract.

"They put up a strong fight," Masiarczyk, said, referring to the pro-police faction. "I think it goes to show the people are satisfied with the sheriff."

Masiarczyk is an ardent supporter of Sheriff Ben Johnson, who kept his position in the Nov. 4 election with 73.45 percent of the vote.

Johnson had challenged the estimated price tag of starting a police department from scratch. He said Deltona would spend closer to $20 million in the first year, rather than the $12 million the consultant projected.

Masiarczyk also expressed elation over the level of grassroots civic interest in the police debate.

"It shows that people are starting to get concerned about Deltona," Masiarczyk said.

While he is against forming a Deltona police department now, Masiarczyk would not rule out resurrecting the idea in the future, perhaps after the economy improves and the city's fiscal outlook brightens.

Former City Commission candidate Ed Gable, who had also favored a city-owned police department, conceded the questions about costs probably had prompted voters to say no.

"I think a lot of it has to do with the downturn in the economy," Gable said, as he assessed the vote. "It's hard to educate people in so short a period a time. Whatever they're for, that's fine."

— al@beacononlinenews.com

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