Council adopts ordinance to preserve police benefits

City Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve an ordinance that preserves the pay and benefits Austin police officers currently receive and directs interim City Manager Jesús Garza to come up with incentives for new recruits to the department. Council also directed Garza to develop and implement a program to address the shortage of APD officers by March 31 – the day the contract between the city and the Austin Police Association expires. 

The ordinance also establishes the director of the Office of Police Oversight and other employees of that office as investigators under state law and directs that they shall have “unfettered access to APD personnel, records and processes necessary to carry out” their responsibilities. Those responsibilities include receiving and investigating “misconduct complaints against APD officers, including anonymous complaints from APD officers or local residents as permitted by state law.”

Former City Manager Spencer Cronk negotiated a four-year contract with APA, going against the wishes of Council members, who had indicated that they wanted a one-year agreement in order to allow the public to weigh in on two proposed referendums relating to police oversight and transparency. The vote on those competing proposals – one sponsored by Equity Action and the second financed primarily by the police union – is scheduled for May 6. Council did not vote on the four-year contract and fired Cronk. 

As the police union has declined to return to the negotiating table, another of Garza’s tasks will be to devise a financial incentive to convince APA “to resume immediately good faith bargaining for a new meet and confer and labor agreement with the city,” according to the ordinance.

More than 20 speakers lined up to criticize the proposed ordinance, a number of whom seemed confused about what Council was actually considering. Most of them urged Council to agree to the four-year contract, which was not on the agenda. Mayor Kirk Watson took time to explain that what they were voting on was not a contract and would benefit police officers. He also explained that Council was not considering the four-year contract because if they did, their action would negate the results of the May 6 vote, disrespecting voters, the City Charter and the citizens who gathered the signatures to put it on the ballot.

With their vote the prior week on a motion by Council Member Chito Vela, Watson noted, Council members showed that they want to make sure officers are not encouraged to retire because their contract is expiring. They will receive at least the same pay and benefits they are now receiving for the coming year. Council Member Zo Qadri added a start- and end-date provision to the ordinance, so it will take effect on March 31 and expire on March 3, 2024, or on the effective date of a successor meet-and-confer agreement between the city and APA.

At a press conference after Thursday’s meeting, Council Member Ryan Alter, who sponsored the resolution along with Mayor Kirk Watson and Council members Alison Alter, Leslie Pool and José Velásquez, said, “We are here today because of the prospect of falling out of contract with our officers, with our union …. Everyone is better off if we have a contract and it is my sincere hope that the union will come to the table and negotiate to make that happen for their members and for the community.” But should that not happen, he said, officers will not lose their benefits on April 1 and the community will not lose the oversight it currently has. He added that it is “time to come together,” but if the union refuses, officers will still retain their current benefits.

After the vote Thursday, Thomas Villarreal, president of APA, was noncommittal about next steps. Villarreal told the Austin Monitor that he had spoken with Police Chief Joseph Chacon and that he told the chief, “Words on a piece of paper are one thing and actions are something else. If the city does something we believe is illegal then we’ll take the city to court.” He did not comment on the possibility of returning to negotiations. 

Chacon said there are currently two classes of cadets, with a combined number of about 60. One class is graduating in May and the second is graduating in August or September. Another class will be starting at the end of May. Recruiting is harder than ever, he noted. “I think that is a product of just everything that is going on with policing today, as a profession, and if people see that things look unstable in the city of Austin, then they don’t necessarily want to try and join that workforce.” About 250 APD officers are currently eligible for retirement.   

Council voted Thursday to settle a lawsuit with the family of a man killed by Austin police for $3.3 million. They also approved settlements totaling $1.5 million with three people injured by police during a demonstration.

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