Proposed police contract made public

The tentative agreement struck between the city and the Austin Police Association has been made available to the public. The contract, which will have to be approved by Council and ratified by the police union to become official, can be read in its entirety here. Perhaps in response to groups like Equity Action, which have criticized the lack of transparency during negotiations and the delayed release of the contract, a press release from the city explains: “Until an agreement was finalized between the City and APA and ready to be considered by the City Council, this document was not publicly available, pursuant to 142.062 of the Texas Local Government Code.” Council is scheduled to consider the contract on Oct. 10. Thursday evening, City Manager T.C. Broadnax issued a statement to the press, saying, “In response to questions I have received regarding the Tentative Agreement reached by the City and the Austin Police Association, I want to clarify issues specifically related to the ‘G-file,’ … The City of Austin no longer maintains G-files. Prop A and the current court ruling confirm and further provide assurance that there are no G-files. Additionally, specific to the Tentative Agreement between the City of Austin and the Austin Police Association, there are no G-files during the entire time frame of the contract – five years. Further, based on the recent court decision as it relates to G-files, the City is – and will – release any information requested through a public information request in the same way all other such requests are processed. These measures comply with Prop A.”