Politics & Government

Saline Council Votes to Scrap Study of Outsourcing Police Dispatch Services

Language in the Saline Police Officers Association contract effectively nullifies the city's ability to farm out the jobs.

The has withdrawn from further discussions exploring the consolidation of police dispatch services with Pittsfield Township because of language in the union contract that would nullify any savings associated with the move.

At Monday's meeting, the Saline City Council voted 7-0 to notify Pittsfield Township that Saline is pulling out of the talks. The city had considered outsourcing its dispatching department in a plan that officials said would save the city more than $100,000 annually.

In a memo to the City Council, City Manager Todd Campbell explained why he recommended against consolidating dispatch services and maintaining the status quo at the moment. Campbell said that language in the city’s collective bargaining agreement with the Saline Police Officers Association makes outsourcing the dispatch services “not feasible.”

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An article in the contract states the following:

The right to contract or subcontract shall not be used for the purpose or intention of undermining the Union, nor to discriminate against any of its members, nor shall it result in the reduction of the work force or the rank of the present employees.

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In his memo to the council, Campbell said he and Police Chief Paul Bunten worked with city labor counsel Mike Blum to determine whether or not the language in the contract would prevent contracting the services to Pittsfield Township.

“After full analysis of this I have concluded that the current (collective bargaining agreement) language does in fact make the contracting out of police dispatch services, to Pittsfield Township or any other provider, not feasible,” Campbell wrote.

In theory, the city could still outsource the jobs, but it would still be required to pay the salaries of the dispatchers and keep them at their rank.

Since it became known the city was considering the cost-cutting move, residents have been critical of the idea. That continued Monday, when five residents spoke out against the plan.

Mary Lirones said she was happy that the city was backing away from the exploration.

“I think this is an excellent outcome. But it seems almost that you are doing this on a technicality, that you can’t do it because of the contract,” Lirones said. “You shouldn’t do it because it is not the right thing to do and because it’s a remarkably dumb thing to do. If you are going to decrease our police force or presence from 24 hours a day, you should check with citizens before beginning such a negotiation.”

Resident Deborah Holbrook said she was pleased to see Saline maintaining local control of its dispatch services.

“I think our police and dispatch work well together. Our dispatchers know what’s going on in this town. Pittsfield is such a large area. They are concerned with their area,” Holbrook said. “In the future, if we need to combine services we should look at nonessential services and keep our police, fire and dispatch as strong as it is now.”

Members of the City Council stressed that no decisions had been made and that the plan was still being studied. Mayor Gretchen Driskell said she had no intention of going forward with something that could have negatively affected the level of police service in Saline.

“I believe strongly that our officers and dispatchers do an excellent job and I value the service very much. I understand the frustration people have with our looking at this. But people need to understand that we have been tasked by the state to look at all the alternatives. We will continue to do that,” said Driskell.

Councillor Brian Marl said that he had refrained from commenting on the issue until he had the facts.

“I ran for council not to make decisions based on emotions, but to make data-driven decisions,” Marl said. “I share the mayor’s sentiment that every service ought to be consistently scrutinized to see if there is room for efficiencies. We owe that to our taxpayers.”

The decision takes a hot-button issue off the table fewer than 24 hours before the filing deadline for November’s city election. Incumbents Glenn Law, Linda TerHaar and Jim Peters, as well as Jim Roth and John Heller, are running for the three open seats on the council. Peters, a late entry into the race, was sworn in to the council at the outset of Monday’s meeting.

Heller, a retired Saline police dispatcher, decided to run for office because of the outsourcing issues. He said it was interesting that the city just recently discovered language he said had been in the contract for 15 years.

“The Police Department is a core service that should not be threatened. I don’t need data to decide that dispatchers should not be cut. As far as the state government (demanding local governments share services to qualify for revenue sharing), I don’t believe in blackmail,” Heller said. “We have our own taxes. They should be used to provide basic city services."

Campbell added that he did not know how this language was overlooked until recently and apologized for not spotting it earlier.

Following the meeting, Saline Police Officers Association President Chris Boulter issued a statement.

“The Saline Police Officers Association would like to thank the citizens of Saline for their support to keep 24-hour local police dispatch service. We have always been proud to serve our community and are gratified that our efforts have been recognized and appreciated by the public at large,” Boulter wrote. “We will strive to provide the highest quality of service as we fulfill our pledge to protect and serve our community.”

Police Chief Paul Bunten said he, too, was gratified by the public’s support for the Police Department. But he remains worried about the budget.

“Our budget is strapped. At the end of the year, we used to have $50,000 to $90,000 in the bank. This year, we had $113. Our budget keeps getting tighter, and I don’t see any indications that it’s going to get better next year,” he said.

Bunten said the city wanted to be ready with a plan if budgets were chopped again.

“If we had to cut $100,000 or something, we wanted to be ready. If we have to make cuts, we’d rather not eliminate any patrolmen,” Bunten said.

The Police Department employs three full-time and five part-time dispatchers.


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