Ron was on KEX last week, offering an account of unusual revision on how the Portland Public Schools handed off policing the schools to the City - claiming it was the result of "greater efficiencies and coordination." From the October 19 Mark & Dave Show:

When I went on the board the school district had its own police force, I didn’t think that made sense, we’ve got police all around us, and so we worked out with the city for the city to take over the policing duties for the school district. That saved money for everybody, as well as some greater efficiencies and coordination.

Ron has an interesting interpretation of "working it out" with the city. Press accounts from the time report that Saxton-hired Ben Canada gave the the City a one-day ultimatum: either pick up the tab or I'm shutting the school police down.

As the Portland Skanner reported on May 16, 2001:

Mayor Katz, in a May 8 memo to the school board and district Superintendent Ben Canada, criticized school officials for their sudden decision to "unilaterally discontinue" paying for its school police force.

City officials said the move took them by surprise when Canada called to notify city hall of the decision the day the school district budget was scheduled for a vote. Portland Public Schools had faced a 20 million budget deficit, which officials said triggered the decision.

Katz agreed not to simply fund the school police for the school
district, but rather to absorb the school police into the city's police bureau. "The mayor really was left with no other choice," [Mayor's Katz police liaison Elise] Marshall said.

Portland's city government also faced a significant shortfall this year. "We are having to basically ask the Portland Police Bureau to absorb a 2 million cut," Marshall said.

And these cuts actually hurt neighborhood services and response time, as the Oregonian reported on May 9, 2001:

Katz said the district had given the city little choice but to take over school police when the district said last month it planned to drop the 19-officer force to balance its budget.

Katz warned that absorbing the school officers into the Portland Police Bureau could come at a cost to neighborhood policing efforts and "further exacerbate fatigue of officers."

"Last year we eliminated nine officer positions," she said in memo faxed to the school board and Superintendent Ben Canada. "Taken together, these impacts could increase the time it takes to respond to calls for service."

Another example of how Saxton's promised efficiencies are little more than cuts to important public services.