Wages are set and recruitment begins

By Ginna Young

With time not on their side, members of the Cornell City Council agreed on raising police officer wages, in an effort to retain the experienced staff they have now and to recruit an additional full-time officer. Cornell Police Chief Glenn Rehberg requested about a $5 an hour increase for officers, but members felt that was higher than they could see their way clear to pay.

So, to hash out the fine details, a Finance Committee meeting took place Sept. 14. Council member Sandy Schecklman did some homework on the matter beforehand, to see what other communities the size of Cornell, pay their officers.

“What it came down to, the 2022-23 budget we had, was right in line with everybody else’s,” said Schecklman. “It’s not the high end, it’s not the low end, it’s right in the middle.”

As previously discussed, the chief is having a very hard time hiring a second full-time officer, to cover the shifts. He also can’t find qualified or willing part-time officers, to plug in the gaps.

“We are at a crisis,” said Rehberg. In order to find quality people, Rehberg feels the city should invest in the officers, by offering them a good wage to come to Cornell. There’s also $38,000 in wages that has not been spent from the former second-full time officer leaving earlier this year, as well as some shared revenue money coming.

But, as all can agree, there are many hands out and only so much money to go around.

“I just do think that our officers are underpaid,” said Schecklman. “There’s gotta be fat we can trim somewhere.”

Floyd Hickethier, council member, mentioned that if the city eliminates the need for two part-time “revolving door” officers, which cost over $5,000 each just to train, that would help finances.

“So, that should put more money in the budget for the three,” he said.

It would have been a good thought, except Rehberg did not figure that in his budget.

“We’re in a dire situation here,” said council president Steve Turany. “We’re not the only community going through this, by any means.”

Turany said it is a shame some people support defunding the police and that the rural communities are paying the price for it. Since Cornell has its own police force, Turany says they cannot depend on the county to answer calls, just because the city cannot find police officers.

With that in mind, he was fully behind the plan to raise the wages. Hickethier agreed that it gives Cornell a good shot at getting someone from Chippewa Falls, who doesn’t want to be in the bigger city any longer.

Based on Schecklman’s research and recommendation, at a regular meeting Sept. 21, the council approved raising the wages, based on experience/qualifications, to $26.80 for a starting patrol officer; $28.67 for advanced patrol; $30.30 for master patrol; and $35.75 for the chief of police. The $3 and $4 raises, per hour, respectively, will take effect at the start of the next pay period.

“I think that’s fair, I think that’s competitive,” said Schecklman.

“I think that’s a good place to start,” said Turany.

If all goes well, mid-November would be the soonest an officer could start with the department. While they are one of the last to go down this road for recruitment, the council also authorized Rehberg to advertise putting someone through officer recruitment school, as a backup plan.

With that, the state pays mileage and meals, along with the $5,500 tuition. If the recruit does not finish, they would be responsible for repaying the $5,500 to the city. There’s a deadline date of Oct. 5, to view applications to send to the recruit academy that begins in January, and because they must be an employee of the city, it was agreed to pay the recruit $20/ hour in wages, until the training is complete.

Rehberg expressed his gratitude for the council doing what they could to raise the wages, given the other budgetary constraints. Turany agreed it’s a juggle to make sure all the city employees’ wages are kept where they need to be, but that retaining/recruiting officers is vital.

“We have to protect our community, we have to have police here,” said Turany.