By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Pay increases will likely be the primary focus of a series of negotiations between the city and members of the Del Rio Police Officers Association (DRPOA).
The negotiations between the city and DRPOA began with an initial meeting in council chambers at City Hall on Aug. 28.
Rebecca Hayward, an attorney with the city’s contracted law firm of Denton Navarro Rodriguez Bernal Santee & Zech, opened the session by noting this is the first meeting between the city and police association representatives. She also noted there were members of the public present at the meeting.
“I think that’s great. Community involvement is always wonderful. So, for the sake of the public, today will be our first session of negotiations of our bargaining, and we did this three years ago, and in my opinion, it went very smoothly, was very professional, and it was truly a pleasure working with you all,” Hayward said, adding she had worked with the DRPOA’s chief negotiator previously in other cities.
“Other than that, we are here to listen to your proposals for today,” Hayward added.
She then invited the DRPOA’s chief negotiator to speak.
He introduced himself as Steve Ayala of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), then asked members of the local association’s negotiating team to introduce themselves.
Those members included DRPD Sgt. Jesus Galindo, who serves as president of the Del Rio Police Officers Association; DRPD detective James Biscaino, the DRPOA vice president; DRPD detective Joshua Garcia and DRPD Senior Officer Marco Zambrano.
Hayward then asked city representatives to introduce themselves. They included Hayward’s fellow attorney, Clarissa Rodriguez, Interim City Manager Manuel Chavez, City Human Resources Director Mario Garcia and Interim Finance Director Linda Coones.
Hayward invited Ayala to make his presentation to the group.
“We’ve prepared a Powerpoint presentation to give information to the city. . . It is the goal of the police association to continue our partnership with the city of Del Rio to help it reach new heights in public safety. In doing so, we hope to improve officer retention and likewise, attract a greater number of police officers,” Ayala told the group.
Ayala said, “The previously negotiated contract helped bring an understanding of important benefits to your officers, like overall pay and benefits. The previous pay increase prevented the department from staying further behind in pay with our neighboring cities, but also with comparable cities in Texas.
“However, currently, our police department is still short 14 officers, which can affect the services to our citizens and demoralize our current staff due to high (numbers of) calls for service. As everyone is aware, due to the high pay competitiveness and shrinking pool of police candidates has resulted with only 10 to 12 applicants who have shown up for the department’s civil service testing dates,” Ayala said.
Ayala then showed a slide depicting the current pay scales and call volumes for police departments in the region.
“Note Del Rio’s starting pay for a probationary officer is last in the scale and third in starting pay for non-probationary officers,” Ayala said.
He pointed out the Hondo Police Department starts its probationary police officers at an annual salary of $54,808, despite serving a population of about 8,300 with an annual call volume of 11,450.
The next city listed was Uvalde, which pays its probationary police officers an annual starting salary of $51,896. Those officers serve a population of about 15,300 with an annual call volume of 24,178.
The Del Rio Police Department pays its probationary police officers an annual salary of $39,078, Ayala said.
“When they go to non-probationary status on year one or year two, they go to $45,234, which puts them third behind Hondo and Uvalde, and the officers (in Del Rio) serve a population of 35,584, and their calls for service are at 68,635 a year, and they are short 14 officers right now,” Ayala said.
He also showed the numbers for the Eagle Pass Police Department, which pays probationary police offices an annual salary of $40,198 and whose officers serve a population of 25,596 and have an annual call volume of 31,743.
Ayala next showed a slide comparing the pay of Del Rio police officers with that of Texas cities of similar population size. Of the seven cities listed, including San Juan, Midlothian, Socorro, Lufkin, Deer Park and Parker Heights, Del Rio’s starting pay for officers ranked sixth.
“Del Rio is 25 percent below the average pay of comparable cities for starting pay for non-probationary officers,” Ayala said.
Ayala also went over the “education pay” for which police officers are eligible if they seek higher education, such as an associate’s, a baccalaureate or a master’s degree.
When he finished the presentation, Ayala said he wanted to start the session by going over articles in the existing contract that the officers did not want to change.
“We’re also prepared to walk through the articles and tell you we have no intended changes here, here and here,” Hayward replied.
The two negotiating teams then went over the articles to which no changes would be suggested.
Toward the end of the review, Hayward said, “So really I think the main article we’ll be discussing sounds like it’s wages and pays and the other articles are minor or maybe up for discussion.”
The teams then separated so each could caucus privately. The two groups met for about half an hour, then returned to speak with each other again.
After the groups reconvened, Ayala said he would like to set up future meeting dates for the next bargaining session.
Ayala said he would like “to get on track and get this resolved” by the end of the city’s fiscal year on Sept. 30.
Both groups have agreed to meet again on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
