I took several public relations classes in college. The field never interested me as far as a career, but I always loved the case studies we’d dissect in class. I loved reading about how the Exxon Valdez oil spill was handled, or talking about behind-the-scenes work done to make a new personal hygiene product appear to be a must-have item.

Now several years out of college, I find that I can do my own case studies just by taking a look around.

The city has pulled out all the stops in its PR work in recent years. The new council chambers may as well have come equipped with a "made for TV" label. Two cameras monitor the mayor, council and citizens at meetings. Microphones abound and the media center in the middle of the chambers allows video, overheads and slides to be presented on a big screen. All this technology connects directly to the fiber system, so the city cable manager can direct the live show from the production van outside.

The city has a number of commercials touting its parks and golf courses, among other things. The cable access channel produces the meetings, as well as shows where city officials interview one another about the important and not-so-important inner workings of city government.

All the TV work has a very professional appearance, thanks in large part to cable television program manager Kirk Eastman and his right hand man, Cory Oelberg.

But the small screen isn’t the city’s only professional-appearing medium. City officials also put a lot of effort into print. The monthly Currents newsletter comes out in full-color, glossy paper. It provides a monthly rundown of City Hall’s view on things and helps spread public notices.

The Public Safety Department released its annual report last month. The document usually comes out in late winter and includes crime and fire stats, and gives a short rundown of goals and accomplishments. This year the document came out months later. It had been through numerous edits and went to press in heavy, full-color magazine stock paper. In the past, the report was printed on standard white paper and bound together with staples or cheap bindings. This version cost $5,000 to produce, and will be distributed widely to businesses and elsewhere in the community to attempt to bring around public opinion in support of changes in the Public Safety Department.

The report contains color photos or graphics on 34 of 35 pages, and includes a bevy of statistics and brief stories about Public Safety accomplishments.

In part, the glitzy annual report is printed in response to a groundswell of opposition to changes in the police and fire divisions.

Firefighters and police officers along with their friends and families have used some of the oldest tricks in the book in their campaign to reform Public Safety. They work the grass roots and leave the polished approach to the city.

Opponents of changes in Public Safety have swamped the Call the Courier column with calls and filled our mailbox with letters to the editor. They air their views in public forums at council meetings. And they chat up neighbors and acquaintances, anyone who cares to listen. Public Safety opposition has also taken to a newer medium – the Internet. Cedar Falls Utilities Commonline chat room is dominated by anti-Public Safety talk.

My communications professors would have had a field day with all the techniques employed this summer by candidates, city officials and angry Public Safety workers.

First of all, there are the mayoral candidates, each a case study in and of themselves.

There’s Stan Smith, currently a city councilman. All mayoral candidates get out and shake hands and pound on doors to meet voters. But for Smith, the meet-and-greet technique isn’t just a campaign ploy, it’s something he practices regularly in his 5^th Ward to keep up on what people think about issues. To him, the technique is as natural as waking and breathing.

Jon Crews, a veteran of many campaigns, has tried-and-true methods to get his message out. First, he passes out campaign literature to as many people as he can. He shows up for any city event of importance to keep in contact with voters. He sends press releases to the Courier for current events in the city. And Crews has a solid core group of supporters who send letters to the editor and proudly stake out "Crews for Mayor" signs in their yards. All those techniques have helped Crews earn a formidable number of votes in any election he has entered.

Dave Maxson outfitted two vehicles with "Maxson for Mayor" stickers. The cars scream "elect me." He also has used the traditional door-to-door method, along with manning a booth at the Sturgis Falls festival to help make his name and face known.

And Dale Hassman has just entered the race. His tactics aren’t fully known yet, but he will surely make be calling on his extensive business contacts to support his run.

Once the mayoral elections are over and if the Public Safety brouhaha ever settles down, maybe I’ll give one of my favorite professors, Ellen Mrja, a call and give her some food for thought on locally based public relations. Then again, maybe I’ll just send her a videotape and a brochure.

Jon Ericson covers Cedar Falls for the Courier

Cedar Falls – Two Cedar Falls police officers were injured in the early morning of Labor Day, feeding more fuel to the fire of police complaints about being short staffed.

Officers Keith Lemka and Todd Wilson sustained injuries during a chase and scuffle early Monday during a hectic night that found the three officers who were on the streets scrambling to get from one call to the next.

Both Lemka and Wilson are back at work, but some officers pointing to the incident as an example of how the current Public Safety Department policy puts officers in danger.

As the graveyard shift reported for duty Sunday night, four officers arrived, a typical patrol number for a Sunday. However, the community service officer scheduled to work the station desk called in sick, meaning one of the patrol officers had to stay in the station. That left three on the streets.

The night turned out to be extremely busy, with fights, loud parties and disorderly conduct breaking out in many areas of town.

Wilson and another officer, Tim Eich, became tied up at a disorderly call at Club Shagnasty’s at 1:35 a.m. Monday, only one of a series of similar calls that shift. As Eich was preparing to transport a person arrested in that incident to the county jail, Lemka radioed for help at 1:53 a.m. He was engaged with a van that had been chasing a car at high speeds through the Parkade in downtown Cedar Falls.

Wilson sped off to assist Lemka, and on arrival both officers had to run after the driver who fled on foot. In the process of chasing down the suspect and a subsequent scuffle to make the arrest, Lemka sustained a pulled groin muscle and an abrasion on his hand. Wilson reported a sore neck and back after the incident.

The suspect was arrested for operating while intoxicated, driving while barred and interference with official acts.

Wilson and Lemka were treated at Sartori Memorial Hospital. Wilson missed two days of work last week, while Lemka did not miss any.

According to the county dispatch center, Wilson had requested additional assistance as the foot chase began, but a sheriff’s deputy was not available. A state trooper, however, heard the call for help on the radio and responded.

By the time the trooper arrived, the drunken driver situation was under control, but a fight had broken out at Toad’s Bar and Grill, which the trooper and a sheriff’s deputy who arrived later handled.

Officers say lack of immediate backup put the officers in danger. Later in the shift, some calls to intervene in load parties were stacked up because officers were occupied with getting those arrested booked into the county jail.

Another officer was called in to the shift about 3:30 a.m., and reported shortly after 4 a.m. However, by the that time, the busy part of the night was over and calls had settled down.

Rick Ahlstrom, deputy director of police operations, said the decision to staff three officers was a judgment call made by the captain.

"There was some consideration into holding someone over because the community service officer called in sick, but the duty captain, absent any other information, did not find that appropriate at the time," Ahlstrom said.

He noted that officers on the shift earlier that night had not reported heavy activity, so the captain didn’t have reason to expect a busy night

Cedar Falls Beat
by Jon Ericson, Courier Staff

October 18, 1999

How would Andy handle situation?

One candidate says dump the Public Safety Department. Another says keep it. Yard signs dot the landscape, encouraging voters to eliminate it.

Hardly a City Council meeting goes by without someone using the public forum to bash Public Safety.

Gallons of ink and precious minutes of on-air time have been dedicated to the issue

To an outsider, say Andy Griffith, all the hullabaloo might seem a bit ironic. After all, doesn’t Cedar Falls, for the most part, remain quite similar to Andy’s hometown of Mayberry?

Personal public safety, not the politicized Public Safety, seems to be hardly an issue. Cedar Falls remains a very safe place for its residents.

Old Andy wouldn’t hesitate a minute to let Opie walk down Cedar Falls streets to the ol’ fishing hole. Aunt Bea would feel free to let her pies cool on the front porch with little fear of neighborhood thugs running off with them.

And the non-fictional people who actually live in Mayberry, er, Cedar Falls, seem to have the same attitude.

I often see young University of Northern Iowa coeds running or walking alone well past dark.

One of the biggest draws for the city is that people feel safe here. It’s often cited when people are asked why they stay in town. It’s repeated even more often by people who return here after moving to one of the coasts.

Police are generally treated better here than in other parts of the country. People say hi to them. Cops know people in neighborhoods.

The city’s firefighters frequently draw raves for their professionalism and prompt response from those unfortunate enough to become a fire victim.

But Public Safety again takes center stage as the November election draws near.

Although I profess to be no expert on the "Andy Griffith Show," I don’t recall Andy ever being at the center of an election with such an emotionally charged debate as the one over public safety here.

The issue is featured prominently in the mayoral debate, where two candidates say they’ll work to get rid of the department, one would keep it and the fourth says the issue needs resolution, but he hasn’t presented a concrete plan for retention or elimination of the department.

Despite all the rhetoric, a decision to return to separate police and fire departments ultimately rests not in the hands of the mayor, but the City Council.

The Public Safety Department was established by city ordinance back in 1986. To eliminate the department would require the ordinance be changed. And only the council can make that vote.

Sure, the mayor holds some cards in this game. The mayor can put the issue before the council. His opinion usually exerts some sway over the council as well.

But the final results rely on the judgment of the council.

At it’s creation, the City Council unanimously voted to establish the department. Other votes regarding the department also saw strong support among the council members.

If the city elects two council candidates who vow to eliminate the department, a majority of those on the council would remain who had previously voted their support of Pubic Safety.

If Stan Smith were elected mayor, it’s possible a third anti-Public Safety candidate could fill his vacant council seat. That still would leave the anti-Public Safety forces a vote shy of a majority. The only way to then gain the majority would be if the support of one of the current council members wavered. If elections show the people truly don’t want the department, then it’s possible one or more council members would allow public opinion to sway them to the other side.

The scenario creates a lot of drama in what may have been a very ho-hum election season (see Waterloo).

In light of the drama, a request by city Public Safety employees to hold off on naming an interim replacement for departing Public Safety Director Jay Kohl seems only sound.

It would seem a gesture of respect to the departments detractors.

The Public Safety director’s job rests primarily in planning. The police and fire divisions would not suffer much with a couple of months without such long-range direction. And the three deputy directors could take up the slack from kohl’s departure.

Or, if a replacement’s absolutely necessary, maybe Andy would loan us Barney Fife for a couple months.

Jon Ericson is the Courier's Cedar Falls city government reporter

Cedar Falls Beat
by Jon Ericson, Courier Staff

Wake me when it’s over

Sometimes we lie in bed in the morning, in the middle of a dream.

If it’s a good one, we wish it won’t end. The alarm clock can snap us out of it, but we’ll hit the snooze button, hoping to drift back into the dream.

If the dream is a bad one, we’ll leap out of bed and go after our day.

At times the long drawn out affair that is the debate over the Cedar Falls Public Safety Department seems like an illusion as well.

The facts all seem a little fuzzy. The characters warped into over-hyped heroes and villains.

And then came Nov. 2, when the ballot box seemed to serve as the alarm clock.

Bzzzzzz… Time to wake up.

Out go two members of the City Council. In come two men determined to get rid of the Public Safety Department. Two mayoral candidates were left standing, both claiming they would take down the department.

It seemed the alarm had sounded, and we would soon be back to our workday lives under the protection of a police department and fire department.

Oops, this time it appears our hand slipped, punched the snooze and drew us right back into this dream.

On Wednesday, the City Council held a planning session, and one of the main topics was the future of the Public Safety Department.

A plan to split into separate departments was championed by Stan Smith. The plan came complete with organizational charts and a reputed savings of $30,000 in the fire department and $86,000 in the police department.

Gone would be the public safety director and the deputy director positions. A police chief and fire chief would take over.

However, many on the council seem wary of the numbers. Through years of debate on the issue, the figures on the personnel savings, overtime and management costs have become warped and jumbled.

For many months, the city’s police and firefighters have claimed that numbers presented by former director Jay Kohl were held together by smoke and mirrors.

City administration have maintained that alternate figures presented by opponents of the Public Safety Department were just as deceiving.

Now some of the veteran City Council members think it’s time a dispassionate third party steps in to sort through the morass.

Elaine Pfalzgraf recommended the city go with a consultant to evaluate the situation. She and some others on the council thought it a good idea to remove the politics from the situation.

The consultant would be drawn from recommendations by the Iowa League of Cities, then chosen by people both supportive of and opposed to the Public Safety Department.

The idea seems to have the approval of four of the council members. The new lions on the council, Vern Kolpek and Joe Turner, along with the old lion, Smith, would rather the council not drag its heels and get on with dismantling the Public Safety structure.

Mayor-elect Jon Crews, who, when pressed, vowed during the campaign to rapidly present a new ordinance to the City Council for it to disband the Public Safety Department. All along, he had said the ultimate decision lies with the City Council.

Now he says if the City Council choose to go the consultant route, and it appears majority does, he must go along with its wishes.

The whole situation leaves Smith fuming. He viewed the election as a referendum on the Public Safety Department. Now the victors may have to wait on the spoils, and possibly not enjoy them at all.

So after 13 years of the Public Safety Department, many of them highly turbulent, we have come down to roughly the same problem as before.

It’s a "he said – she said" proposition. And we still haven’t established any baseline facts from which to work.

If the consultant idea is such a good one now, why was that not the case many months ago before the issue shaped the election? Why wasn’t it the case two years ago when Jay Kohl was hired and people at the time asked to review the need of the position?

Maybe the city hit its snooze button back then. We could have missed the snooze button, yet a lot of us could have gotten some more restful sleep.

Jon Ericson is the Courier’s Cedar Falls government reporter