The citywide priority
Competitive pay must cover the whole workforce: police, fire, EMS, dispatch, public works, utilities, inspectors, planners, permit staff, mechanics, school employees, and other hard-to-fill positions. Public service fails when only a few visible job titles receive attention.
Police staffing
My goal is to make Chesapeake number one in Hampton Roads for police starting pay and hire enough officers to attain a clear staffing guideline. Based on that guideline, Chesapeake needs approximately 41 additional officers. This campaign commits the city to funding and attaining that staffing level.
Educator and school-employee pay
Chesapeake should also lead Hampton Roads in educator starting pay. The plan must include classroom assistants, bus drivers, custodians, food-service workers, nurses, specialists, and other employees who keep schools operating.
Publish the comparisons
Every budget should compare starting pay, experienced-worker pay, vacancies, turnover, overtime, and benefit costs against nearby cities and school divisions. The public should see which positions are losing workers and what it costs to leave them unfilled.
The budget rule
Employee compensation is an operating expense. It must be funded with recurring revenue, not bonds. Competitive pay and safe staffing should come before discretionary capital projects that produce good photographs but do not improve daily service.