Wells Fargo
Account #9918672768

Contacts:
Detective Tami Gray – 480-782-4341   tami.gray@chandleraz.gov
Kathleen Smart – 480-782-4121              kathleen.smart@chandleraz.gov

Dear Chandler Residents,

On behalf of the men and women of the Chandler Law Enforcement Association, we are asking for your help in preserving police services in Chandler.  Officers feel, like most of you, that our city government should invest in public safety instead of city construction and salaries of top leaders.  The council is meeting Thursday night to decide if police services take precedence over wasteful spending.   We are asking YOU to help us.

Chandler government is invested millions and millions of dollars in some unnecessary projects.  Now Thursday, the council is again voting on over $4 million dollars in expenditures for services outside of their core government responsibilities.  Three percent (3%) of their expenditures on the agenda go to police services.  These are typical spending habits of our city government.

Top officials in Chandler have invested in themselves by receiving pay increases or no cuts to their budgets.  City management feels construction in Chandler is a “fiscal crisis” instead of fulfilling promises to police officers and their department.

Meanwhile, Chandler officers are losing their homes and livelihood due to major salary adjustments over the last two years.  Law enforcement are being denied workman’s compensation claims and we currently have 20 officers on light duty status as the result of injuries sustained responding to calls.  Many times our department is below minimum staffing requirements.  Police officers are distracted due to quality of life issues and inadequate staffing levels; all key issues that do affect police services.

Self serving, top city officials continue spending your money on personal projects, while claiming there is no money for core services, like public safety.  Chandler officers would like to see adequate staffing in their department and promised merit increases to better provide police services to their community.  We are asking you to contact your council members and voice your support for the Chandler police officers who are dedicated to serving you.

This matter is of essence, and these topics will come before the council  on Thursday, July 29^th at 7:00pm.  Please consider contacting the Chandler City Council or attending the council meeting.

We thank you for your continued support for your Chandler police officers.

Sincerely,

Shawn Hancock

President, Chandler Law Enforcement Association (CLEA)

Three ways to contact your council members:

1. Attend the council meeting July 29th at 7pm

2.  EMAIL:

boyd.dunn@chandleraz.gov; matt.orlando@chandleraz.gov; bob.caccamo@chandleraz.gov; jack.sellers@chandleraz.gov; trinity.donovan@chandleraz.gov; jeff.weninger@chandleraz.gov; rick.heumann@chandleraz.gov; mayor&council@chandleraz.gov

3. PHONE: 480-782-2200 or 480-782-2206

WHAT YOUR TOP CITY OFFICIALS ARE DOING

• No budget or salary decreases to top Chandler officials.
• The city’s manager’s office increased their budget by 205% ($3 million).
• Vice-Mayor and Council salaries were increased by 48% this year.
• Build an $80 million dollar city hall with expensive upgrades that rivals cities three times our size.
• Furnish that city hall with $1.7 million dollars in furniture.
• $10 million to narrow Arizona Avenue after widening it 8 years ago.
• $500k of taxpayer money to fix their mistake of losing a federal grant.
• Former city manager and “colleagues” taking expensive trips to Canada on the taxpayers dime just months prior to his retirement.
• Monetary donations to private interest groups and business owners.
• Hiring back retired labor relations staff to negotiate against employees.
• Took back police department savings, and put it in the elusive “general fund”.
• Implemented pay raises and re-classification of jobs for themselves and friends.

POLICE ARE TAKING CUTS FROM EVERY ANGLE

• .85% pay cut last year which is still ongoing.
• A police department that is being operated with sometimes below minimum staffing.
• Reduction of on call detectives to respond to major crimes.
• Aging fleet of vehicles
• 10% increase in health care premiums, making it more difficult for young officers to make ends meet for their families.

Please help us ensure Chandler residents and businesses receive the best police services!!

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.

CHANDLER, Ariz. — Amid heated contract negotiations with the city, the Chandler Law Enforcement Association sent a letter to the Chandler Mayor and City Council on Monday that accuses city brass of balancing the budget on the backs of the rank and file.

The letter said that while the council and vice mayor got a 48 percent pay increase last year that bumped their salaries to $20,000, and the mayor’s salary went up nearly $10,000 to $36,000, many officers took a cut to their benefits.

“The burden is not being shared equally,” said Shawn Hancock, president of CLEA, which represents about 260 rank and file officers.

Hancock said officers were promised merit increases until they reach the top of their pay classification at time of hire.

“We took that hit last year while no top city officials took any cut of any kind. Now, we’re being asked to do it again this year if we want those merit increases, and we feel like we’ve given enough and taken enough cuts,” said Hancock.

Hancock said some officers are being asked to give up holiday pay and sick leave accrual, which would save the city about $370,000.

The mayor said the city simply doesn’t have the money to offer the increases folks are used to.

“What has happened was that the merit increase was so automatic that police officers were hired expecting this. No one expected the downturn that we’ve seen. We’ve just asked all employees to work through this,” said Chandler Mayor Boyd Dunn.

The union also took issue with multi-million dollar construction projects, including the new city hall facility currently under construction.

“It rivals cities three times its size with all the expensive upgrades. They also voted to put $1.7 million of furniture in to furnish it new,” said Hancock.

“There’s ongoing money and there’s one-time money, and some of the projects, like City Hall, is from savings we’ve built up over 20 years,” said Dunn. “You need to keep your one-time money separate from ongoing money because one-time money will run out.”

The city council is expected to discuss the issue at a council meeting Thursday.

“We want you to know that we support your efforts. We were motivated to email the city council because of the flier we found on our front door yesterday…GOOD LUCK!”

> Tim and Veronica

> Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 9:57 PM

> Dear Mayor and City Council Members,

> As residents of Chandler, we are writing to you to express or dismay over the city budget cuts which are adversely affecting the  members of the Chandler Police Department.  Among other things,our Police force is suffering from inadequate salary, increased health care premiums and reductions in the number of on call detectives. Surely the morale of these brave men and women has been undermined by the above.

> One of the reasons we moved to Chandler nine years ago was the excellent reputation of Chandler Police officers.  We have been consistently impressed with the professional demeanor of Chandler Police officers on the occasions we have interacted with them.  They are a reassuring presence in our :::::::::::::: neighborhood.

> We ask you to reevaluate the city budget and find ways to accommodate our officers reasonable requests. They are an integral  part of the fabric that makes Chandler a wonderful city in which to live.

> Sincerely,

> Tim & Veronica :::::::::::::::

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Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 11:33 PM