By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
As Wyoming Public Safety officers and city leaders visited block parties and participated in activities for the annual National Night Out event last night, residents headed in record numbers to the polls to overwhelmingly approved the permanent renewal of the dedicated 1.25 mills for its public safety department.
A total of 11,432 people voted in Tuesday’s primary election, which determined party candidates for a number of races. That is 22.9 percent of the registered voters in Wyoming coming to the polls. The proposal passed 7,306 to 2,223.
The percentage turnout was one of the highest the city has seen in the past four primary elections, said City Clerk Kelli Vandenberg. In 2010, when Gov. Rick Snyder first ran, the city had a 20.1 percent voter turnout. In 2012, it was 9.26 percent, 2014, it was 13.5 percent and 2016, when President Donald Trump was elected, it was 10.6 percent.
“In talking to several other clerks in the area, the comment was it definitely felt more like a general election than a primary election,” Vandenberg said.
Indication that it could be busy primary election day started with the absentee ballots. The city received 2,261 absentee ballots which was about 600 more than in 2016. As to why the high turnout, VandernBerg said there could be a number of reasons such as the fact that there was a term-limited governor and this was the first time the Libertarian Party was included on the ticket.
As to the city millage renewal request, VandenBerg said it was certainly a nice surprise to see at the end of a very long night. City officials had no indication as to how the millage renewal would go as there was little commenting, except for a few positive posts on the city’s Facebook page, and no formal opposition presented.
This morning, city leadership expressed gratitude for the community’s continual support and stated they look forward to maintaining the excellent public safety programs and initiatives developed since the initial millage was first approved in 2010.
“We are pleased with last evening’s results and want to thank everyone who came out to vote yesterday,” says Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll. “Over the years, we have worked hard to be good stewards of the funding this millage provides, and it is clear our residents recognize we’ve made good on our promises.”
Public Safety Chief Kim Koster concurs with Mayor Poll’s sentiments, remarking the Public Safety Department’s efforts to work more closely with residents are bringing about excellent results for the community as a whole.
“Safety is at the core of the City’s mission, and the public safety millage allows us to maintain funding for critical services and programs,” Koster said. “We are fortunate to have the confidence of our residents and businesses, who continue to support our officers and firefighters. We look forward to working with the entire community to ensure Wyoming remains safe and welcoming.”
Following are some of the Public Safety Department’s accomplishments since the dedicated millage was first approved in 2010:
- Achieved and maintained Gold-Standard police accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., putting the department in the top one percent of law enforcement agencies nationwide
- Provided a professional public safety response to more than 37,000 calls for service every year
- Implemented efforts to visit every school in Wyoming each school day, totaling 5,738 school visits last year
- Conducted daily and nightly visits to businesses, making 8,606 contacts and 6,852 closed business checks in 2017
- Equipped every police cruiser with an automated external defibrillator, or AED, as well as supplying every officer with Naloxone, which reverses the effects of overdoses
- Increased forensic laboratory capabilities providing faster, more comprehensive results which have contributed to a higher success rate in solving crime
- Reduced response times with the 24/7 operation of the Gezon Fire Station and the addition of two quick-response vehicles, or QRVs
- Added three full-time fire fighters
- Utilized part-time employees to implement a peak load staffing model which employs more staff during times of high call volume
- Crossed-trained and licensed 22 City employees as fire fighters and utilized paid-on-call staff
- Secured grants that allowed staff to become licensed as EMTs and purchase CPR assisted compression device
