Does City Have Right to Decide Careers?

What in the world is this new Oxnard city manager trying to do?

He has presented a plan to put more police officers on the street. Sounds good, right? Keep reading. Instead of hiring new police officers, which would be wonderful, he thinks it would be a good idea to just dissolve the Oxnard Fire Department (which is already cut to the bone), take all of the firefighters, give them a gun, some training, and wham! Instant fire/police officers. Oh, the politically correct term would be “public safety officers.”

I have been married to a firefighter for over 20 years. To suggest that he is in any way interchangeable with a police officer is totally absurd. Both professions require skill, training, education, and experience. Even though my husband holds a degree in fire science, he is still constantly going to classes and seminars to keep up with all the latest technology in his field.

And all of a sudden the city that he works for is considering telling him that they have decided his career will now be a different one? Would a plumber like to be told: “OK, now that you’ve been doing this job so well for many years, we’ve decided that from now on you will be an electrician”?

I find it amazing that the City Council has the power to make a huge change like this one without the vote of the people.

Kathy Richardson

Ventura