The Cops' Union Quietly Tries To Mug Representative Democracy In Tucson. By Dave Devine A QUIET REVOLT is underway outside grocery stores and post offices throughout Tucson. If it succeeds, the uprising will revolutionize how city government spends taxpayer money. Before it's over, this power struggle may end up in a bitter election battle later this year. Spearheaded by members of the Tucson Police Officer's Association (TPOA), the "Meet and Confer" City Charter initiative offers a bold change from current practices. In fine print on six legal-sized sheets of paper, the proposal outlines a procedure for radically altering how city-employee compensation would be determined. Currently, wage rates for city employees are loosely based on what other municipalities in the state pay for similar work. Specific compensation levels are recommended each year by the city manager and human resource director, with a review and appeals process possible. The City Council then makes a final decision, usually as part of its overall operating budget discussions. Under the provisions of the "Meet and Confer" initiative, this process would change dramatically. Four recognized labor organizations, one each to represent police, fire, blue- and white-collar employees, would negotiate with city management. Wages, hours, medical benefits and other forms of compensation would be open for discussion. In a case where the labor union and management couldn't reach a settlement, a mediator would step in. If a resolution still were not possible, a fact-finder would be employed to choose either labor or management's position. A compromise, middle-of-the-road solution would not be possible at this point in the process under the terms of the initiative. If either side in the negotiations did not accept the fact-finder's decision, they could request a vote of the people on the issue. The voters would also be forced to choose only between labor versus management positions. The initiative sets up roadblocks to prevent city officials from using the "if-you-raise-employee-pay-we'll-have-to-raise-your-taxes" argument before an election. It requires the fact-finder to make a determination on the need for a tax increase to fund the proposed wage levels. While this would be a totally subjective finding, if the fact-finder determined a tax increase wouldn't be necessary, this argument could not be used in a campaign on the wage issue. Richard Anemone, president of the Tucson Police Officer's Association, believes the proposed change to the Tucson Charter is necessary to bring the city in line with what other Arizona charter communities do. He thinks the initiative will allow for real negotiations over wage issues and should do away with what he calls the annual begging-for-pay-hike process which city employees must undergo now. Plus, he adds, the initiative will give voters a say in the employee compensation issue. In addition to altering the way employee wage rates are decided, the initiative proposes city employees could contribute to, and actively participate in, City Council elections, reversing a long-standing ban on this activity. The initiative would also require the city's white-collar workers, currently not represented by a labor organization, to form a union if they wished to participate in wage negotiations. The new process does not provide for individual employee input. In addition, approval of the initiative could open up wage-negotiation meetings to the public. It would also require any "civilian review of police disciplinary matters" to be the subject of negotiations. Anemone insists, however, that this provision should not affect the recently adopted review process by a civilian police auditor, since that new position has already been approved. THE PRACTICAL impacts of the initiative are readily apparent. The TPOA has asked for a 6 percent raise for police officers on top of the 2.5 to 5 percent merit increase which the City Manager has suggested for city employees. It's highly doubtful the City Council will grant TPOA's request, since it would cost millions of dollars and would give police officers special status as employees. Under the present wage-setting system, that would be the end of the discussion. But if the provisions of the Charter initiative were in place, the process could continue, possibly ending up on the ballot. The voters would then decide if the Council's tendency to fund multi-million-dollar boondoggle projects is more important than multi-million-dollar pay raises for already well-compensated city employees. Former City Councilman Mike Haggerty thinks it should be up to elected officials to make wage decisions. He also believes that allowing city employees to campaign for candidates in city elections provides the opportunity for "feathering their own nest." Anemone says he doesn't know why anyone would object to the initiative. But he believes the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents some of the city's blue-collar workers, is opposed to it. However, Ray Figueroa, field services director for AFSCME, says his group is neutral on the proposal for now while it discusses the idea with the TPOA. Definitely opposing the measure will be the Fraternal Order of Police. They're the labor organization ousted last year by the TPOA as the union representing Tucson police officers. Steve Kendell, FOP president, believes the "Meet and Confer" initiative would not be in the best interest of his organization's membership. Other potential opponents of the initiative include current white-collar city workers. There will also be people who see city employees as a special interest group that should not be allowed to participate directly in city elections. Also opposed to the initiative will be those who believe that in a representative form of government elected officials are supposed to make final decisions. This group will probably include the current members of the Tucson City Council. Representatives of TPOA have collected 13,000 petition signatures in support of the initiative. They want to submit 15,000 by the July 3 deadline, even though less than 11,000 signatures are needed to put the issue before the voters in November. So the dramatic changes that the "Meet and Confer" initiative would cause, along with the proposed ballot measure to repeal the Water Consumer Protection Act, could trigger some real political fireworks later this year.

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