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December 4, 2010 in City
Agreement would halt police layoffs
Spokane mayor announces tentative deal with police union
Without disclosing the terms, Spokane Mayor Mary Verner announced late Friday that the Spokane Police Guild had reached a tentative agreement with the city that keeps 35 police officers from losing their jobs on Christmas.
The guild members have not yet voted on the agreement, which must be forwarded to the City Council for a vote, Verner said.
“I’m pleased because this protects public safety in our community,” Verner said. “That’s why we worked so hard on it. We just stayed at it until we reached an agreement.”
The deal allows the city to keep every commissioned officer who faced layoff in 2011 as the city grapples with a budget shortfall. It follows a similar agreement with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 29 to prevent 13 layoffs and preserve nearly half of the 15 unfilled firefighter positions targeted for elimination.
In September, Verner asked union members to forgo their 2011 pay raises and to cover a larger portion of their medical coverage to prevent job losses.
Firefighters agreed to forgo raises next year and to pick up increased costs of medical benefits above 4 percent in 2011.
Last week, Verner rejected the police guild’s first concession proposal. The union submitted a new concept Wednesday.
City administrator Ted Danek said city officials and guild leaders met until around 10 p.m. Thursday and started work again Friday morning until a deal was reached late morning.
“The guild’s offer is consistent with the mayor’s request and went further,” said Danek, noting that the police guild conceded more than the fire union.
He said union membership will vote on the deal next week. Verner said she hopes the agreement will be on the City Council’s agenda for ratification on Dec. 13.
While the details of the agreement were not announced, they follow months of bickering between guild leaders and Verner.
In September, Guild President Ernie Wuthrich – who could not be reached late Friday for comment – warned city leaders that if any guild members lost their jobs, the union would challenge those job losses with the state Public Employment Relations Commission.
That announcement came the same day Verner accused guild leaders of being dishonest after they distributed to union members a list of salaries showing raises received by more than 70 city employees from 2008 to 2010. Many of those increases were either wrong or out of context, said Verner, who at the time characterized the release as an attempt to cause strife among city workers.
Wuthrich, in his letter, wrote that laying off officers violates the city’s contract with the guild.
“The act of laying off any of our members prior to the city dispatching its duty to bargain that change in working conditions will result in an immediate filing of a grievance and/or the petitioning of PERC concerning an Unfair Labor Practice,” Wuthrich wrote. “The guild will seek whatever legal remedies possible.”
First-year Spokane police officers earn about $43,000 annually. With 10 years of experience, they make almost $70,000. Detectives start at about $74,000 and earn more than $77,000 with 10 years of experience. In 2010, guild members didn’t get a raise. Instead, they received an extra 52 hours of vacation. Last year, the guild was the only city union that didn’t make the full amount of concessions requested by Verner.
Danek said the city isn’t close to reaching pacts with other city unions. That means more than 20 city workers likely will be out of a job on Christmas.
Reporter Jonathan Brunt contributed to this story.
Closing Geiger: Wise or worrisome? 
lewis8457 on December 04 at 7:37 a.m.
protection for whom?
mikeln on December 04 at 7:41 a.m.
How about using that twenty million dollor slush fund they have? Like every thing else, most have forgotten about that money and have no idea where it ended up.
Coffee on December 04 at 9:21 a.m.
The devils in the details.
TheRoyLarsen on December 04 at 10:24 a.m.
As savvy as you would think police officers to be, when it comes to holding one of their loved ones hostage, they fold like origami. The City isn’t very good at lying, but for some reason, these seasoned police officers are getting ready to drop their guns.
Dazzeetrader11 on December 04 at 1:41 p.m.
Mike…nobody’s forgotten that fund. I promise you that much. More revealed in a few months.
BitofBacon on December 04 at 1:44 p.m.
Oh Please Daisy, reveal it now, don’t hold us in suspense! Or is this more of your usual nonsense?
monarch on December 04 at 1:52 p.m.
Way to go Police Guild! By sacrificing a little you’ve helped keep the most vulnerable members of your organization employed and able to support their familes. Let’s get it done you other unions representing city workers. Remeber you are a union and you need to take care of all your members!
PlanB on December 04 at 2:06 p.m.
Sorry, I’m not buying it until the details are made public.
Dazzeetrader11 on December 04 at 2:13 p.m.
Bit…you guys ( .I think you said that..so are you a member of the Spokane police force…are you now or have you ever been???) been manipulating the law for some time. It hasn’t gone unnoticed. Your lil fund has certain restrictions as you might know if you’re a policeman….as you say ( are you?).
Laws cover slush. How it’s gathered and more importantly, how it’s spent. So Bit..let us know if you are or are not a former or present member of the Spokane police force or guild. It’s a yes/no answer. Speak up….
Ron_the_Cop on December 04 at 2:26 p.m.
Daisy,
Could this be the Bank of Hein (AKA Solid Waste Reserve Fund) currently keep off budget and in the wings by finance Maestro Gavin Cooley and his second, Tim Dunivant? Last I heard this was almost $50M - all appropriately allocated of course.
BitofBacon on December 04 at 3:04 p.m.
Daisy-no
Dazzeetrader11 on December 04 at 3:57 p.m.
More than that Ron. there are other slughies besides that. The Spokeman, if they wanted could find all of them. Seems like the local people don’t want to know. Others do though…soon enough. Cooley is the master manipulator behind things. Verner wants..he finds. If somebody looks, there’s lots there to see. I don’t think the “want” is present…at least locally.
Cooley shouldn’t even have this job of his. He’s like the smartest guy in the room….there are legal failings though.
Lots of longeveity gives him the ability to know where things are.
Doesn’t anyone ever wonder how money magically appears to solve things? It’s a heckova shell game. Doesn’t anyone ever wonder how or why the bond rating there in Spokane remains so high if there’s serious problems? Did you also know Verner can float bonds outside the city without the citizens being asked or even knowing let alone approving ? Doesn’t anyone ever wonder why the ROI’s regarding finance are routinely refused?
Try to file one sometime Ron. You’ll soon find out there’s a major stonewall at City Hall. So much for Verner’s transparency. The funds are “findable” but one kinda needs to know where to look. Did you all ever watch a basketball or football game and the action you see doesn’t reflect what the “announcers” are saying??? Trust your eyes.
They, at city hall in Spokane and in the police force know most people are busy with lives..and their families. They also know nobody has time to look and no real interest.. Plus they know that any given citizen would have to know what to ask for. They won’t help or clarify. They volunteer nothing. There are reasons. Despite that, things are moving along….. we’ll see. Thanks for your answer Bit.
Cheezwhiz on December 04 at 5:27 p.m.
How does giving every cop and firefighter another 52 hours of vacation save any money? I’m guessing that’s an average of $1625 per person, and how many cops and firefighters are in Spokane? If there are 500 paid people affected by this, that makes $812,000. I’m guessing there are far more than that, if you count every cop behind a desk, working in the City Hall, jail, etc. Add in the firefighters, and what does that come to? Sounds like this deal will cost more than if they just did nothing. I’m no economic genius, but it doesn’t seem to make sense.
TheRoyLarsen on December 04 at 5:42 p.m.
Providing vacation time only “saves” money if the officer does not use it within the calendar year, which is the case with more than half of them, I would guess.
Daisy is correct about the illusion. 95% of the public doesn’t care. Unfortunately, the Spokane Police Guild has been duped into the idea that everyone does. Accordingly, the City knows this and exploits it by going after their sense of duty. The City knows that when the Guild asks for raises according to their comparables within the state that they (the City) cannot win at arbitration should contract talks fail. Therefore, they agree to the comparable rate at contract time knowing that they will get it back through concessions when they threaten to lay off Guild members. It’s the way City Hall does business.
Daisy, I’m thinking that Bit is close to City Hall. What do you think?
Dazzeetrader11 on December 04 at 7:20 p.m.
ROy I don’t know anybody here. I know what’s going on in the city though…If I lived there, I’d be spending time figuring out why all the secrets. Generally police and fire are like the citizens. They protect (ahem), serve and go home. They have pride in their work and are generally honest. They save lives and prevent crime. usually..
SOme get carried away with their importance and a very few are imbalanced and should be either gone or sitting at a desk. They drive cars too fast with impunity. They have fears like anyone else. Generally if you respect the uniform, you’ll get respect back.
Bit…could be Verner herself. She’s cute like that. It’s not so cute when the population trusts and aren’t served. Slush funds abound. It doesn’t matter what Daisy thinks..not what Gus or whomever. Daisy does know that if the people knew more, Verner wouldn’t be re-elected…not would Waldref, Synder, Shogan or certainly not Rush. It’s a liberal cabal that hides the ball. No real ideas and there’s been major downsides for each and every one of them. Bike, trees and this goofy idea of “complete streets”(except for bikes and walking) are plain impractical and will hurt the sity. They do think they have a complete mandate ( as does Obama…he’s finding out differently now) to do what they want just because they were elected.
They read magazines…force their ideas on the people and if the people don’t like it, they hide the ball. I like cops and firemen and think she should be paid well. What I detest is the dishonesty. It lead to mistrust…which leads to more dishonesty..untill the circle is complete and complete for a long time. WHen someone says something, it should be verified. At the bottom of all this is Verner’s re-electionl She’s quite afaraid she won’t be. So the show is the show…she’s all show. No substance…and she occupies a postion that should be productive for the city..not her hobby of the week.
She’ll have some fine people to run against her. Little “Iron Pony” is about to find out what happens to manipulators. Lots of secrets and partial truths (misdirection moves). Lots of slush…not just in the streets there.
BitofBacon on December 04 at 11:04 p.m.
Daisy, I might be good looking but I don’t think of myself as cute.
Yours truly-Mary
misjustice on December 05 at 8:00 a.m.
I need the details, just how much will the city “save”?
In the fire fighters’ concessions, again exact details are lacking, but it seems to me as if their give backs equal a wash; no true savings, just the illusion of savings. I suspect the same here, with the Guild.
How about a follow-up story, SR? Complete with actual numbers and projected “savings” ?