Dear Dallas:

So I hear you're having trouble keeping up with the repairs on the massive fleet of patrol cars. This got me to thinking - which sometimes leads to trouble, I'll admit, but this time I do wonder if perhaps I'm about to make too much sense. In the Dallas area, we have a plethora of community colleges. Instead of hiring a bajillion mechanics - which you've already said is going to be a daunting task - would it not be a better thing all the way around to perhaps partner with one of those colleges that already offers an auto mechanics certification program to offer a satellite program at the city garage? I'm no expert, but it seems to me that the cost of one instructor to oversee the work the students do, and entry into the work-study program to pay the students, would allow for a steady influx of students to help with some of the more routine maintenance, as well as the more difficult stuff needed to become ASA certified. It seems to me that it would be worth looking in to, wouldn't it?