SAN ANTONIO – Adding some political firepower to his cause, District 4 Councilman Rey Saldana argued Monday against the city’s proposed contract with the San Antonio Police Officer’s Association alongside former City Council members and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro.
“We’re not drawing a line in the sand,” Saldana said. “We’re saying that there is no line to begin with.”
Saldana has concerns about Section 19 of the proposed contract, which he feels does not allow an officer’s disciplinary record to be accurately reflected.
The contract states an officer’s past offenses of “intentional violence” could only be considered in future disciplinary actions regarding a similar violation if those past offenses happened within five years.
A 10-year time limit is placed on consideration of past offenses of drug and alcohol abuse when determining discipline for a similar offense.
The contract also calls for three-day suspensions to be reduced to written reprimands after two years if an officer has not been the subject of a similar complaint within those two years.
“It serves no good purpose to allow us to seal an entire officer’s record from being used in the discipline process,” Saldana said.
Saldana offered up his own solution Monday.
“Striking out Section 19,” he said. “We can then ask the union to take a second vote just like they did in July and August. And we believe we can do that in three weeks because the complicated issues were salary and health care.”
Mayor Ivy Taylor has repeatedly said wages and health care were big financial goals achieved in the proposed contract.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, a former mayor, has also expressed concern over police accountability in the contract.
Taylor responded to those concerns in an interview last week:
In this round we are addressing wages and health care and I anticipate in the next round, we'll be able to address discipline. When he was mayor, he addressed neither.
Castro’s brother, Congressman Castro, responded to those comments Tuesday, calling them “an excuse.”
There’s a police contract in front of this City Council and this mayor now. And even assuming there was a shortcoming back then, that's not an excuse to continue to ignore these issues. You have a responsibility as mayor and council members to deal with the issues in front of you.
“We should also not use the past to excuse the present,” he added.
Saldana also countered Taylor’s point by arguing contract negotiations are the only time changes can be made to the language about accountability.
The next opportunity, he says, would be when the contract expires in five years.
“It will arise when perhaps none of this council is around the dais, this mayor isn’t around the dais,” Saldana said. “It will arise in 2021. That is the only time you can change a sentence, a period, a word in the contract.”
Taylor issued a statement Monday afternoon saying,
I am proud to have negotiated an agreement that keeps San Antonio on a secure fiscal path, protects taxpayers and fairly compensates our men and women in blue.
Just as I took on and settled the most daunting aspects of the collective bargaining agreements, I am working to address issues of discipline, accountability and transparency in the ranks—including creating the Mayor’s Council on Police-Community Relations.
Key topics for the committee will include a broad, inclusive dialogue to redefine the department’s perceived stakeholders; a better understanding of training opportunities our rank-and-file would like to see more of, such as self-care; how we can broaden recruitment to target specific diverse groups that are under-represented currently, such as foreign-language speakers; and, as an immediate priority, what policies outside of the city's jurisdiction could help with accountability.
I am hopeful my Council colleagues will approve the mediated settlement on September 1 so that we may continue to move forward.
The City Council votes Thursday on the proposed contract.