On Dec. 13, Austin City Council voted to reject a proposed five-year contract renewal for the Austin Police Department that had been negotiated by city staff and the Austin Police Association, which advocates on behalf of officers, over 10 months. Since Dec. 29, the department has operated without a contract, reverting to local government civil service law. As a result, there have been changes to officers' stipends—base pay remains unaffected—hiring and promotion processes, and oversight. Kenneth Casaday is the president of the Austin Police Association. He joined the Austin Police Department in 1998 and has served on four APA bargaining teams. Andrew Romero is vice president of APA. Community Impact Newspaper spoke to Casady and Romero on Jan. 23 about the lack of a police contract and what Austin residents can expect in the coming weeks and months. This conversation has been edited and condensed.
Has the Austin Police Association returned to the negotiating table since the most recent contract expired Dec. 29?
Casaday: "We have not. And we don't see going back until the city manager is in place. We've been very clear that we're willing to go back, but City Council needs to be clear about what it wants. ... What is frustrating about this is every council person wants something different." Romero: "This council needs to understand that this contract won't be everything to everybody." Casaday: "And every officer is not going to get what they want either."
Do you think it's likely that a new contract will be presented to council on March 22, as Council Member Jimmy Flannigan suggested during the Dec. 13 meeting?
Casaday: "We don't have the legal ability to do extensions." [According to the previous contract, which was in effect until Dec. 29, extensions in 30-day increments were allowable "if the parties [were] engaged in negotiation for a successor agreement at the time" of expiration and both parties agreed to them. After the Dec. 13 meeting, APA said it would not return to the negotiating table until 2018.] Romero: "There was no way for us to salvage the contract [in 30 days]. ... The extensions are not intended to be a renegotiation because one party backed out of the deal."
What are the effects of reverting to local government civil service law in the absence of a contract?
Romero: "Because of the [previous] contract[s], this department has been transformed over the last 20 years to arguably on the best in the country. We're not perfect, but we're great because of that contract. Without the contract, it's going to be hard to recruit the best, to hire the best, to promote the best. ... It's hard when you're being measured up against perfect. That's the expectation in this community."
