Name: Activists launch petition drive to neuter San Antonio police union
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Activists launch petition drive to neuter San Antonio police union

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A group of organizers looking to gut the union that represents San Antonio police officers have formally launched a petition drive to take their push directly to voters, aiming for next year.Fix SAPD started talking in June about repealing two laws that give police the right to bargain collectively over wages and working conditions as well as the ability to challenge firings and disciplinary action before arbitrators. Authorized by the Texas Legislature, voters in San Antonio approved the laws decades ago.Critics of those laws — including Police Chief William McManus — say they help SAPD officers fired for misconduct win their jobs back through arbitration.Fix SAPD’s goal is to let voters decide whether officers should keep that power — and they hope the voters will say no.“Even Chief McManus himself has said good officers don’t need these laws,” said Ojiyoma Martin, head of Fix SAPD. “So what is the holdup? If good officers don’t need these laws, what is the union fighting for? Are they fighting for good officers or are they choosing to fight for problematic ones?”Arbitrators have allowed 10 fired officers back on the force within the past decade, reversing McManus’ decision in about 14 percent of 71 terminations in that period, according to city records. During that time, arbitrators upheld 13 terminations. McManus allowed another 20 officers to return to the department after he fired them, without going through arbitration.On ExpressNews.com:But police, firefighters and their unions enjoy overwhelming popularity in San Antonio, polls show, and can easily mobilize their supporters — giving anyone pushing to make changes to public safety an uphill battle.Part of that popularity stems from the city’s heavy military presence, which makes residents more likely to respect authority figures, said Democratic strategist Colin Strother, who in the past has worked as the fire union’s political consultant.“Any politician that tries to make the first responders, in this case the police, the bad guys I think is going to have a rough row to hoe,” said Strother, who also represented candidates for sheriff around Texas.Police union leaders have warned that getting rid of collective bargaining would have consequences beyond dealing with officer discipline. Doing away with the process would give the department less flexibility in hiring, promotions and boosting diversity, they have said.But now they have come up with a new argument: that nixing collective bargaining is a backdoor method of defunding police. After all, more than three-quarters of the police budget, which amounts to $387.1 million, is mandated by the city’s contract with the police union — determining wages and benefits as well as spending on uniforms, vehicles and ammunition among other matters.An end to collective bargaining would give City Hall more control over police spending.“Without question, this is defunding the police,” said Mike Helle, president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association. “There’s no way that you can sugarcoat it. Make it about discipline, make it about anything you want to. It is another way to defund the police, period.”But Martin insists affecting the police budget isn’t the main driver of the push.“Right now, we really strictly are focused on our push for accountability,” Martin said.To put both proposals in front of voters, the group — working with the Texas Organizing Project — will need to gather about 98,000 signatures and turn them into the City Clerk’s office in February for the May ballot. The plan is to really ramp up efforts to gather signatures during early voting and on Election Day as voters head to the polls.Whether the group will strive to get on the ballot in May or November 2021 remains to be seen, Martin said.The petition’s launch comes after a summer marked by protests over the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis and cries for police reform and fixing systemic racism.In San Antonio, activists so far have seen mixed success on those fronts.The police department has banned the use of no-knock warrants and chokeholds, though officers can still use chokeholds in the event they believe their own or someone else’s life is in danger.And, in response to efforts led by District 2 Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan, the City Council’s lone Black member, the council passed a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis and vowed to make fixing racial disparities a key part of policymaking going forward.Activists even found themselves on the same side as city officials who for years have tried to rein in the city’s public safety spending.But when it came time for city leaders to unveil their spending plan for the city’s upcoming fiscal year, activists and residents who pushed council members to spend less on the Police Department and more on social services were furious. City Manager Erik Walsh’s $2.9 billion budget included an $8 million increase in police spending, bringing the department’s budget to $487 million.Council members are set to vote on the budget Thursday.City officials have maintained their hands are tied to some extent by the police union contract, which mandates a majority of the city’s police spending. Next year’s budget increase comes mostly from more than $13 million in increases in pay and health care costs laid out in the contract.Walsh also was keen to point out that his budget invests more in health care, housing and education than in previous years — though activists have found those proposed investments meager.Add into the mix the fact that Gov. Greg Abbott and the state’s top Republicans have pledged to punish cities who cut police spending in any form. Abbott vowed this week to push proposals to freeze cities’ property tax revenue and annexation powers if they make cuts to police budgets.But Walsh hasn’t written off re-evaluating the police department, though he’s been wary of immediately making sweeping cuts to police. The city manager has proposed a months-long process to examine issues of police accountability and discipline and figure out what residents want from the department — with plans to present a reform package in April.Pharaoh Clark, a 33-year-old local activist in the Black Lives Matter movement, wasn’t dismayed with Walsh’s approach and noted the city manager has met with activists at least twice since he unveiled the budget in early August.“Once he comes to his conclusion, I do think that it will be the right one because he’s very thorough with his thinking,” Clark said.Joshua Fechter is a staff writer covering San Antonio government and politics. To read more from Joshua, . | Twitter:

A group of organizers looking to gut the union that represents San Antonio police officers have formally launched a petition drive to take their push directly to voters, aiming for next year.Fix SAPD started talking in June about repealing two laws that give police the right to bargain collectively over wages and working conditions as well as the ability to challenge firings and disciplinary action before arbitrators. Authorized by the Texas Legislature, voters in San Antonio approved the laws decades ago.Critics of those laws — including Police Chief William McManus — say they help SAPD...

Activists launch petition drive to neuter San Antonio police union

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