Discussion & Dispute- City Council Approval of Police Contract Sparks Controversy
During the May 12th City Council B Session, the City Council approved a five-year collective bargaining agreement with the San Antonio Police Officers Association. According to the press release provided by the Public Information Office, the contract “rebalances the disciplinary process for officers, which reflects the community’s expectation that officers whose actions undermine community trust are held accountable”.
The contract is always up for renegotiation and approval every five years. However, the contract also has an evergreen clause that remains intact for eight years. During this period, there are no base pay increases for union members, while they will continue to see contractually agreed upon increases to healthcare premiums of 10% annually.
The approval was not without deliberation and dispute. Following the testimonies of several citizens, including members of the activist group ACT 4 SA, followed by rebuttals from several council members, the motion carried with an 8-3 vote. Iris Dominick, in her 2022 article for the San Antonio Report, “City Council Approves Police Contract”, writes, “Council members Mario Bravo (D1), Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2) and Teri Castillo (D5) voted against the contract, largely echoing concerns by police reform activists regarding the lack of independent civilian oversight of the department and other elements of police discipline.”
The discussion took an even further controversial turn when District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran compared voting no with defunding the police. “SAPD is the largest professional police department in Bexar County and they do most of the work” she said, “we have come, and we have asked them and negotiated with them in good faith… and I don’t understand how my council colleagues are going to go back out in the community and explain how a vote ‘no’ wasn’t a vote to defund…” Her comments prompted objections from session attendees followed by rebuttals from council members, including a walk off by District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez.
“That’s not what this is about,” he said. “This is about accountability. This is about calls to action that our community has asked for.”
Another important item brought up by McKee-Rodriguez and members of ACT 4 SA was that the city’s existing Complaint and Administrative Review Board (CARB), comprised of seven civilians and seven uniformed officers, needs to be restructured to act as an independent body of both the contract and the police department. Ananda Tomas, executive director of ACT 4 SA, citing a 2020 study by The Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University, pointed out that San Antonio’s CARB currently is unable to run independent audits or investigations. “We deserve a seat at the table when it comes to the policing of our community” she said.
Defunding the police has been a hot button word over the past two years and it seems elected officials and governing bodies alike have begun to use the controversial phrase as a scapegoat strategy to distract and delay the community from the discussion and work at hand. Quite the conundrum is that a contract such as imperative as this one that is up for renewal every five years has an evergreen clause that outlives each renewal period.
Nevertheless, transparency and collaboration proves to be an uphill battle as the ongoing discussion and dissection of police reform and community input rages on.
