The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Voters to decide who gets final say on cops' contracts

By Justin Berton

Sunnyvale's Public Safety Officers Association turned in a hefty stack of signatures to the city clerk May 21, giving residents the power to settle a rift between the union and City Hall come November.

The officers association wants voters to allow the two sides to hire a neutral third party to settle potential labor disputes between the union and City Hall.

City Hall wants to maintain the authority to set officers' salaries, a decision city officials said will help to keep the balancing of the annual budget an in-house process.

If voters pass the officers association's initiative in November, the two sides will pay for an outside arbitrator to settle labor disputes and adhere to the ruling, called "binding arbitration."

The officers association is currently awaiting word that the Registrar of Voters has verified 9,000 of the 14,000 signatures collected from Sunnyvale residents, thus ensuring a spot on the November ballot.

"This is a huge step for us," officers association president Kelly Fitzgerald said. "We went door to door and had a chance to talk to the people and explain ourselves."

But City Councilmembers don't want an outsider settling issues, a move that Mayor Jim Roberts said could alter the budget and take away the responsibility of elected officials.

"In a democratic government, elected officials make the decisions for the people on how to spend the money. This is totally undemocratic," Roberts said.

Fitzgerald countered, by saying the issue was not about money but about the fairness of the negotiation process.

"Right now, we don't even have the right to strike--nor would we want to," he said.

Currently, if the officers association has a grievance regarding wages or working conditions, it calls on an advisory arbitrator to settle the dispute by ruling in favor of either officers or City Hall.

If the advisory arbitrator favors the officers, councilmembers can still overrule the decision. But both Roberts and Fitzgerald said the two sides have yet to reach the point of using advisory arbitration.

Fitzgerald claimed the officers have never turned to advisory arbitration because they felt "justice could never be reached," with the City Council making the ultimate decision.

Roberts said the officers never needed arbitration because the council has always given the union what they've asked for.

Now, the two sides have turned to the residents of Sunnyvale for guidance to solve an issue both sides feel confident of winning.

Fitzgerald said the union has hired a consultant to steer a campaign that will educate the public about the dilemma officers face.

"They [the residents] will want the public safety officers to be in a system that is fair," Fitzgerald said.

"I don't think it has a chance of passing," Roberts said, claiming that a phone survey taken by councilmembers found voters opposed the measure.

The mayor also pledged to fight the measure. "We'll run a full campaign and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars or do whatever possible to defeat this," he said.

Roberts added that he and other members of the City Council are pleased with the performance of the officers. The officers association represents 220 firefighters, police officers and dispatchers.

"They are the best, bar none, and that's why they get paid the best, bar none," Roberts said.

Last year, according to city records, the average public safety officer cost the city an estimated $100,000 including overtime and benefits.

Sunnyvale councilmembers have formed a united front against the action by the officers, causing a rift that has the mayor feeling upset over the situation.

"It saddens me a little that we have to go to a public arena to settle this matter."

[ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ]

This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 3, 1998.
©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.