Council to vote on police contract for Merced College

The Merced City Council on Monday will consider a contract to provide police services to Merced College in exchange for use of the college’s pool and classrooms for training exercises, the agenda shows.

The contract will be for one police captain who will act as the college’s police chief. The captain will be paid by Merced Police Department, and the college will reimburse the city each year for about $172,700. The agreement will last until 2019 with the option to be extended one year to 2020.

The agreement gives police Chief Norm Andrade authority to choose who to appoint to the position, though the college president will be allowed input. The agreement also notes the captain will work closely with the college president, who will provide supervision on response to the needs of campus facilities.

The agreement also gives the Police and Fire departments access to the college campus for training or neighborhood watch meetings.

College officials announced in July that they allowed the old contract with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office to expire because college and sheriff’s officials could not agree on renewal terms.

The contract renewal with the sheriff’s office that expired added a caveat giving the sheriff full decision-making power over the campus police chief. Sheriff Vern Warnke added that language, he said, after Merced College President Susan Walsh tried to pressure sheriff’s Sgt. Vince Gallagher, the former campus chief, to arrest a board member and to investigate faculty.

Campus leaders have denied those claims.

Previous contracts allowed the college president to demand a change in the sheriff’s sergeant position, according to college officials.

The same week the sheriff’s contract expired, the college announced retired Merced police Capt. Tom Trindad would serve as interim college police chief. Trindad, who worked for Merced Police Department for 28 years, worked at Merced College as a patrolman early in his career.

The council also will consider a grant for nearly $700,000 to help the homeless and low-income residents through aid for various programs and organizations.

Also on the agenda is a request for funding to repair a storm drain along Black Rascal Creek that was damaged over the winter and poses a flood threat.

The City Council will hold a 5 p.m. study session to discuss maintenance, community facility districts and community facility district parks.

Open session of the meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers on the second floor of the Merced Civic Center, 678 W. 18th St.

This story was originally published September 18, 2016 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Council to vote on police contract for Merced College."