by Edythe Jensen, July 27th
Read more: Arizona Republic
Chandler’s police union is lashing out at city spending in a last-minute campaign for merit raises that’s expected to come to a head at Thursday night’s council meeting.
Allegations of unfairness and broken promises are at the heart of the union’s impasse in contract negotiations, said Shawn Hancock, president of the Chandler Law Enforcement Association. In a lengthy letter to the mayor and City Council, Hancock accused the officials of breaking pay promises made to new officers during recruiting and “spending like a drunken sailor” when it comes to pet projects like building and furnishing a City Hall.
He faulted the council for pocketing pay raises last year when the recession was taking its toll on the municipal budget. And he criticized former City Manager Mark Pentz for not reducing his own compensation and taking a taxpayer-funded trip to Canada months before he retired in June.
City spokeswoman Nachie Marquez said Pentz’s trip to Canada was for an international city manager’s meeting for which he paid more than half his own expenses after municipal travel allocations were cut.
At a recent candidate forum, Councilwoman Trinity Donovan defended her support for raising council pay from $13,000 to $20,000 a year, saying Chandler paid its elected leaders less than other cities. The lowest annual pay for a beginning police officer is $51,438.
Hancock said the union’s fight is not about giving raises to everyone on the force; only half would be eligible for merit pay increases that are promised new officers as career advancement if they did their jobs well.
In memos to the council, Human Resources Director Debra Stapleton said the city made several offers to the union, including one that would have given merit raises if CLEA agreed to eliminate a personal holiday and cut sick leave. According to an earlier budget memo, giving all municipal employees merit raises over the next five years without reductions elsewhere would create from $4 million to $7 million budget shortfalls every year.
Hancock challenged the assumption and said it’s a matter of spending choices and favoritism. He accused “self-serving” city officials of spending money “on things that politicians can put their name on . . . while claiming there is no money for core services like public safety.”
Hancock took a shot at Chandler’s recent “All America City” award: “I can’t help but wonder how much was spent on pushing ourselves for that title, not to mention to pins given to every employee and the celebration to follow. City officials brag about having the best Police Department in the Valley, but then turn their backs when times get tough.”
During earlier budget hearings, all city employees were told they may not get raises for five years because of looming deficits and revenue shortfalls. Chandler is cutting more than 100 jobs through attrition, retirement incentives and voluntary separations to avoid layoffs.
However, a slip-up by city officials this year forces Chandler to give firefighters merit pay raises this year when no one else will get them. That’s because the Chandler chapter of United Phoenix Firefighters did not open negotiations at the end of the previous contract and officials didn’t notice. Under city law either the union or the city has to open negotiations or the terms of the previous contract are automatically renewed for another year. The 2009-10 firefighters contract included merit raises.
Under the voter-approved 2004 “meet and confer” charter amendment, municipal labor unions may go directly to the council with demands if they can’t agree with negotiators. Strikes are prohibited and the council has final say.
