Statement on City’s plans for July 29 Trump rally

The City of Erie intends to submit an invoice in advance for expected services rendered for the planned July 29 rally with former President Donald Trump at the Erie Insurance Arena. The invoice will cover overtime costs for extra security from the Erie Police Department.

The City has a duty – and will continue – to provide security for our residents, visitors, businesses, and anyone who holds a public event in the City, regardless of whether they reimburse the City for unusual coverage costs, or not. But the organizers of any event of the magnitude of Saturday’s planned rally that requires an extraordinary presence of police and/or City workers and services – regardless of the event’s theme, number of attendees, or political nature – will be billed by the City in advance.

Erie Mayor Joe Schember on Tuesday said that the City will bill the Trump campaign again for Saturday’s event even though the campaign never paid a $35,000 bill for overtime pay for City workers assigned to cover President Trump’s 2018 event, including police officers.

“I think we have to try,” Mayor Schember said. “We are going to see whether we can get some payment from them in advance this time. It’s important to do this because we’re talking about taxpayer money being used to help make the former president’s visit safer.”