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Vote No on Measure A. It will cost at least $12.5 million over the next 5 years for <br />services Riverside now gets for "free" from the Riverside County District Attorney. <br />Given this cost, why would Riverside create a new bureaucracy that duplicates <br />services now provided by the county? In fact, Councilmembers Burnard, Davis and <br />Melendrez all voted against bringing this to voters. <br />First year City Attorney says local control would increase the prosecution of <br />misdemeanors in Riverside. But the Riverside County DA's office already has a 90% <br />misdemeanor prosecution rate in the City of Riverside. Prosecution by the DA is <br />done with well- trained professional prosecutors at no cost to the City. <br />Anew, expensive apparatus is not needed. It doesn't matter if a small fraction of <br />other California cities let City Attorneys handle misdemeanor prosecutions. Those <br />cities, including Los Angeles, are not islands of low crime rates. Riverside needs to I <br />mind its own store and avoid excess spending - particularly at a time of <br />multimillion - dollar deficits that the City must address. <br />The Mayor and some Councilmen seem to think a new City Prosecutor's Office will <br />directly address citizen complaints. The fact remains that the Police enforce the <br />law; a City Prosecutor won't reduce crime in Riverside. <br />Unlike the appointed City Attorney, our elected District Attorney answers to the <br />people. Coordination between the DA and local law enforcement has worked well <br />for many years. Continued cooperation would save taxpayers $12.5 -$25 million or <br />more over the next 5 years by preventing creation of a new bureaucracy and trying <br />to substitute for the currently effective DA's prosecutors. <br />With the rising price of pensions and other costs, Riverside needs to eliminate <br />duplication and cut needless spending. Measure A would bloat spending instead, . <br />and is nothing more than an Expensive Local Boondoggle. A new bureaucracy will <br />do nothing to cut crime in Riverside. <br />Vote No on Measure A. <br />RECEIVED <br />QtY of Riverside <br />City Clerk's Office <br />