Draper's new police force may not get Salt Lake County's support for joining the valleywide police and fire dispatch agency, unless they need that support.
Still bitter about cities that contract with the county sheriff's office for law enforcement not having a vote on the Valley Emergency Communication Center's board of directors, the Salt Lake County Council has decided to send a message by voting against allowing former contract city Draper to join VECC. That vote, however, is expected to be symbolic, since there would still be enough support among other VECC agencies for Draper gaining a seat on the VECC board to negate the county opposition.
Should other cities oppose Draper, the county may actually support Draper, instead hoping to demonstrate their displeasure with their earlier postponement of a decision.
"They need to be on VECC, but the issue is about VECC's attitude towards the county," Councilman Steve Harmsen said. "They need some consistent thinking . . . the contract cities are getting short-changed."
The County Council's concerns stem from a 2002 decision by VECC to give the county three votes when they join the dispatch center, instead of what the council wanted, one vote for the county sheriff and one for each of the contract cities. The council dropped the issue after the six contract cities — Taylorsville, Bluffdale, Herriman, Holladay, Riverton and, at the time, Draper — said they did not want a vote.
Now that Draper has formed its own police force, it has asked to join VECC and have a vote, something Councilman Michael Jensen said all cities should have, regardless of how the money gets to VECC. Since the VECC board determines how to spend the money from the various agencies and the contract cities are paying their fair share, they should all have a vote.
"I don't think that the majority of the council is opposed to Draper having a vote," Jensen said. "It showed us that our original point was valid, that every city who belongs to VECC deserves a seat at the table."
Draper City Manager Eric Keck said that gaining a vote on VECC "wasn't even contemplated" when the city looked to form its own police department, so any fears about a vote motivating other cities to leave the sheriff's service are ridiculous. Primarily, the city created its own department because the cost was less.
"We have our own police force, and we should have our own voice," Keck said. A vote against Draper "is very petty . . . it seems almost retaliatory."
Keck said that contract cities do not need or want a voice because they have a contract with the sheriff, and pay them to represent the contract cities' interests.
"When you contract, you absolve yourself of making those decisions," Keck said. "You just paid the contract, and they handled all of the policies and procedures."
Not all County Council members want to oppose Draper, and fear the the county will only create animosity between the county and city leaders. Councilman David Wilde, prior to the May 24 meeting in which the council tabled a vote on Draper joining VECC until Tuesday, warned that the council's attempt to make a minor point to result in major differences between the county and cities.
"To not vote on this would be a slap in the face of Draper," Wilde said. "It will only create more divisiveness between us."
E-MAIL: jloftin@desnews.com