The Ventura Police Officers Association says Neal Andrews "is a decent man."
But they also say he misses meetings and wastes taxpayers' money on "field trips."
The fact is that he has not missed more council meetings than other council members in spite of his service on a national policy committee and a regional committee that has served the city in a number of important ways and that has brought recognition to the city and millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs to the regional economy. Anyone who regularly watches council meetings would know that.
As far as the "blanket" travel requests, service on the national committee requires an agreement to attend four meetings a year. Before Neal accepted the appointment, he asked the council to approve all four meetings, which they did. Neal thought it was appropriate to know he had their support before he accepted the appointment. As a result of that appointment, of course, he does probably travel out of state more often than other council members. Neal is the only council member who holds an appointment to a national policy committee.
The reasons Ventura did not receive stimulus money to hire more police officers, in spite of Neal's best efforts in Washington, were that Ventura did not have enough local crime to qualify for the funds and that the police declined to apply for a micro-area grant that would have focused on gang activity, despite Neal's urging that they do so, again because they believed they did not have sufficient crime even in any micro-area to meet the criteria.
We know he has served the citizens of Ventura well.
-- Louis & Beverly Cunningham, Ventura