Zumbrota leans toward keeping police force after union talks

ZUMBROTA, Minn. — Rising costs had officials here weighing whether to disband the police department, but negotiations on Wednesday between city leaders and the police union may have saved the local force.

The city of Zumbrota, about 20 minutes north of Rochester, considered contracting with the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office after the sheriff's department hired away two of Zumbrota's seven full-time officers.

Under the proposed deal between city leaders and police, Zumbrota would hire one of those two positions back.

"The bottom line is we're trying to find a way to keep our community policing but make it affordable for taxpayers," Zumbrota Mayor Todd Hammel said.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, city officials said they were "confident" the union's terms were reasonable and would help keep police in place.

The city has canceled a previously announced information session at a Zumbrota City Council meeting Thursday, as well as a town forum set for Oct. 30.

The council will hold a closed session instead on Thursday to discuss the union's terms. Hammel said he expects the council to announce its decision on Nov. 7.

City leaders and union police officials condemned some of the negative backlash Hammel and other city staff received over the past few days as the community reacted to the news, calling for any threats and personal attacks to stop.

"These attacks do not support the values of our members and do nothing to further the discussion," union officials said in the city's statement.

Zumbrota sits just east of Hwy. 52, with another highway serving as the north-south thoroughfare through the city of 4,000 people. With a mixture of local businesses downtown and franchises near Hwy. 52, several longtime residents say Zumbrota police are needed to combat rising crime from outside the community.

"It's like a piece of your family," Mary Goodman said of the police department as she sat with friends at the Coffee Mill Cafe on Wednesday. "They work for all of us that live here."

Goodman was shocked to read in a local Facebook group on Sunday about the city's police issues. She lives in town near a gas station along Hwy. 52, which she said is a hot spot for drug deals and shady meetings.

"We need our police department," Goodman said. "We don't need to be borrowing one from someplace else."

Carol Jackson, who with her husband opened the Coffee Mill in 1984, pointed to full police reports in the local paper as proof Zumbrota needs a community police presence rather than county patrols.

"When you call the police you aren't going to have anybody coming as quick," she said.

The issue came down to money. Goodhue County and other cities are offering better pay to police as law enforcement in Minnesota faces a workforce crisis. Agencies across the state are having trouble filling vacancies as officers leave the profession in droves with fewer students coming in to replace them.

Hammel and other city leaders found out at the end of August that Goodhue County was interested in hiring the Zumbrota officers. City officials met with Goodhue County Sheriff Marty Kelly to learn more about the county's hiring process and what it would cost if the county took over policing services.

City leaders weren't exploring their options until it became clear last month the two Zumbrota employees were leaving.

It would have cost at least $200,000 to refill those positions and offer a $4 to $6 per hour raise for officers, which would bring their pay in line with other nearby communities. A contract with Goodhue County — which polices five other communities — costs about $128,000 this year for about 42 patrol hours each week.

It's unclear how much the proposed deal with the city's police union will cost Zumbrota.

The city of Goodhue, just a few minutes north of Zumbrota on Hwy. 58, contracted with Goodhue County in August after its police force quit. The sheriff's office is in charge of policing Goodhue through December, at which point Goodhue officials will have to decide whether to rebuild the city's department or contract with sheriff's deputies for 2024.

Zumbrota Police Sgt. Tony Pasquale, a union steward for the department, said on social media on Sunday that Zumbrota police were surprised when they found out about the city's budget issue last week.

"After the unexpected death of retired Officer Gary Schroeder in April, the last thing that our membership expected to hear was that their positions may be eliminated," Pasquale wrote in a statement. "We take great pride in providing a high level of public service as community caretakers for Zumbrota's residents, businesses and to those who come to visit our beautiful city every day."