Editor,

A sincere thank you for Kira Erickson’s reporting on Langley City Council meetings. Since we can’t all attend the meetings or ask questions, how else are we to stay informed, to know what our city government is doing?

And, thanks to her reporting, I learned about the council’s debate on how many police officers Langley needs.

I’m sorry to learn that the majority of the council so quickly dismissed Councilmember Cyr’s research of how other similar jurisdictions staff their police departments, with Councilmember Gill going so far as rejecting Cyr’s findings as not “remotely right” without offering any countervailing data of his own.

Cyr raises a good point that deserves a thoughtful, well informed and respectful discussion. When it comes to staffing public safety, Langley is an outlier compared to similar sized towns in Washington.

Shouldn’t the council want to better inform itself, to examine whether other models might be more appropriate and perhaps more cost effective?

I agree that the city doesn’t need another citizen committee to address the question. That’s why we have a city council — to debate and adopt a well considered policy and budget.

Kim Drury

Langley