(Jackson says City Council cares about employees)….He was speaking at a recent Town Hall Meeting.

The El Centro Chamber called the meeting to explain Measure P funds, approved by El Centro voters in November. Measure P was a half-cent sales tax increase. The City Council has said they wanted to spend the increased funds on a new library, new police department and other projects. The Chamber and the El Centro Police Officers Association has asked the Council to reconsider that plan. They say the city needs to hire more police officers and take other security measures first. Jason Jackson was the only City Council member to attend the recent Town Hall meeting. He said the Council just did not have the money to spend on hiring any new employees. Jackson said, as an example, there was a little known fact that the city had been hit by a $6 million penalty two years ago. He said the debris from the Barbara Worth Hotel Fire in the early 1960’s had been deposited in the Cruickshank landfill. He said the state discovered the debris two years ago, and ordered the city to pay a $6 million fine or $10,000 per day until the debris was cleaned up. Jackson said that was an example of an unexpected expenditure the city faced. Jackson, however, did not say why the new tax increase funds could not be used to hire new police officers.