Mayor supports SAPD collective bargaining
As the San Antonio police officers’ union fights a ballot measure to strip them of the right to bargain for wages and benefits, Mayor Ron Nirenberg told the head of the union Monday he supports that right.
But the mayor insists he’s not taking sides on the May 1 ballot measure — sought by the organization Fix SAPD as a means to neuter the union’s ability to sway how officers accused of misconduct are disciplined.
Nirenberg made the remarks in his first meeting with John “Danny” Diaz, the new head of the San Antonio Police Officers Association, on Monday, Diaz said. The union leader described the meeting between the two men as a “meet-and-greet.” The mayor’s remarks about collective bargaining came after a union member asked him about the matter.
“He said it’s a necessity, that the city needs to be able to bargain with the union,” Diaz said of the mayor.
Nirenberg maintains that he’s not taking a position on the ballot initiative itself, though Monday’s remarks are the closest he’s come to doing so. Since activists turned their sights last summer on the police union’s ability to negotiate its contract with the city as a means to enact reform, Nirenberg has said he thinks changes can be made at the negotiating table.
“I am staying out of the fray on the ballot proposal because the city must negotiate the contract in good faith under the rules that exist today,” Nirenberg said Tuesday. “Our main goal is to give (Police Chief William Mcmanus) the disciplinary powers he needs to weed out bad cops.”
To leaders of Fix SAPD, Nirenberg isn’t staying neutral.
The majority of City Council members have not taken a public stance on the ballot measure, noted Ananda Thomas, deputy director of Fix SAPD. City Attorney Andy Segovia has advised council members not to take a position on the initiative — the exception being District 8 Councilman Manny Peláez, who has come out against the measure.
“It does not feel like the mayor is staying out of this whatsoever when he’s making statements like that,” Thomas said.
The police union hasn’t yet made an endorsement in the mayor’s race. Two years ago, the union backed Nirenberg’s chief opponent Greg Brockhouse — a former consultant to the police union with deep ties to public safety.
“I think it’s different when there’s still an endorsement from the police officers association hanging in the air,” Thomas said.
A spokesman for the mayor said Nirenberg and Diaz “discussed shared goals on public safety and keeping an open line of communication.” The meeting
was an official visit, not a campaign activity, the spokesman said.
Both men seemed to take the meeting as a sign of improving relations between the city and police union after years of contention.
“I told him that for us we can have an open door policy and we’re sitting here waiting to work with him and not against him,” Diaz said. “The past is the past. We’ve moved forward. There’s different people here.”
The police union is vigorously fighting the push by Fix SAPD while it’s negotiating a new contract with the city. Union leaders hope to have a contract ironed out before the May 1 election. After that, it’s unclear how contract negotiations would proceed.
The city could opt to continue contract talks under a “meet-and-confer” system used by other major Texas cities, but city leaders have signaled that doing so would be awkward if San Antonio voters decided to take away collective bargaining for police officers — a right voters granted in 1974.
Fix SAPD leaders have balked at the notion that a contract could be agreed upon before voters get a chance to say whether police officers should keep collective bargaining.
“By voting on this before May 1, you’re effectively silencing the community,” Thomas said.
That outcome seems highly unlikely as the city and police union remain deadlocked over key issues dealing with officer discipline. Past contract negotiations have taken months and years to hammer out. The police union’s current contract came about through court-mandated mediation between the two parties after a two-year long battle.
And a new contract would have to be given the green light by both the unions’ membership and City Council.
“The work on a new contract should be done as quickly as reasonably possible, but we will not rush at the expense of getting a fair agreement,” Nirenberg said. “My focus is on reaching a sound agreement, not the timing of the vote.”