November 19, 2009
By Mike Sakal
East Mesa Tribune

For the first time in city history, Mesa will enter into negotiations with the police and firefighter unions.

The Mesa City Council earlier this week approved a resolution, known as "meet and confer," that paves the way for the formal negotiations between the sides.

Monday's vote, passed unanimously, was designed to show residents the city is maintaining strong working relationships with sworn police and firefighters to better allow an open dialogue involving working conditions, wages, benefits, policy changes and mediation, according to the agreement.

"Our employees view it as a very positive step for sworn public-safety positions," said Dennis Kavanaugh, chairman of the council's public safety committee. "It's a natural evolution. Our management and employee relationships are going to be governed in a manner as almost every other Arizona city and will provide a more productive work atmosphere and gives them more ownership in their decisions."

The effort had been in discussions for about a year. The Fraternal Order of Police's Mesa Lodge 9, the Mesa Police Association and the United Mesa Fire Fighters worked together to garner council support, Kavanaugh and FOP President Bryan Soller said.

"This is a historical moment," Soller said of council's vote. "This gives us a voice at the table and is long overdue. It will keep checks and balances on both sides, and we're going to ensure the watchdogging of decisions that would affect us."

Issues union representatives plan to discuss in the future include restoring a 2 percent citywide pay cut that was implemented on Jan. 1, restoring health care benefits for city retirees that were suspended this year, and reinstituting merit raises, Soller said.

Mesa's FOP union represents roughly 560 members, Soller said. Its rival union, the Mesa Police Association, represents about 500 members, according to an MPA spokesman. Some officers have dual memberships.

Fabian Cota, president of the MPA, did not return several phone calls from the Tribune seeking comment.

Overall, there are about 780 sworn police officers in Mesa, and 748 of them would be represented in the bargaining unit as part of the meet and confer process.

The public safety employee groups will be limited to two unions, one representing firefighters and one representing police officers.

It hasn't been decided which police union would represent its employees, but under the resolution, the two rivaling police unions would have to go through a petition process to get on an election ballot. From there, the winning group would get the majority of the votes and ultimately be certified by the city.