Council approves police contract (Press Enterprise May 17, 2006)

You know it is about time this Gets Approval by the Council. This whole thing should have never happend!! The council lost Valuable Officers to other Agencies because of their Actions. In Fact there was almost over 10 people that left the Police Department, and the number one reason was that they had a Family to Suport and they didn't want to start their Retirement Over Again in another Retirment System (SEBA). They wanted to stay in the PERS Retirement system. You know you take a job in a city that you respect where you grow to respect and honor the people that are there. You Become a Family in many ways. I am Family Still to maney of the Men and Woman that I worked with back in the day. Almost none of them are working at Riato Police Department, and over 10-20 Officers and Employee's Left because of the Council and Their Amiministrator, or Michael Meyers, and his under study, Burgess. Burgess had to get his criminial history Exspunged so he could even be a Police Officer and work in the copacity that he was working in. Where, and How did he get hired for this position I will never understand. Then you have a City Administrator who is another Criminal. (The last I checked it was a Crime to Beat your Wife).

Well, now that leaves me with the Cities Lawyer, Owens. He felt it was his power to block all those rightfully collected Signatures, and he gave full on bad advice. He is a Represents a City as a Lawyer because he is a lousy Lawyer, he lost every case that he was confronted with in regards to the Police Department/Sheriff Department Exchange. So if the Sheriff has any anger to give it would be best suited to give it to Ed Scott, and Owens, for loosing all the cases aginst the city to block the Sheriff Department coming in.

If the Rialto City Council Was Smart They would Hire a New City Lawyer to represent them. and they would search for a new, City Administrator to help them run the city, The reason they cannot afford a 3% @50 Retirement for Police and Fire is because the Administrator and City Lawyer makes all that money that would be used to pay for the Retirement that the Employee's are asking for. I cannot beleive that they pay these two worthless clowns this much money and they aren't getting anythign in return for their money!!

BSRancher

Council approves police contract

10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 16, 2006

By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA
The Press-Enterprise

The Rialto City Council approved Tuesday the labor contract for the Rialto Police Department that was OK'd last month by the police union.

The only thing that's left to do now is to go through the formality of signing the agreement, said union attorney Dieter Dammeier.

"It was a long time coming and I'm glad things are moving forward so the department can get back on its feet," he said.

Dammeier said he hopes to have the contract ratified by both sides today.

The contract is a milestone in the effort to reorganize the Rialto Police Department. The City Council voted 4-1 last September to disband the Police Department because of what the members called chronic problems, and to contract with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department to provide Rialto's law enforcement.

In March, the City Council ended its attempt to disband the department because the effort seemed to be hopelessly stalled and it appeared that the issue could be taken out of their hands and put to a citywide vote.

Under the contract, both sides have agreed to let the city administrator choose the next police chief after a seven-person committee gives its recommendation.

The committee will consist of the interim police chief, the city administrator, mayor, one City Council member, a union representative and two members of the public. The council and police association will each select one resident.

Both sides also agreed to increase the vacation accrual cap for officers from 500 hours to 600 hours, and that the city would pay for the union's $118,000 attorney fees once the union drops all litigation against Rialto.

Rialto resident Toby Polinger said the contract approval is a step in the right direction.

"It's about ... time, we were in a fight since September and it took a lot of time and effort, but we believe in the men and women in our department," he said.

City Administrator Frank Garcia said the approval of the labor contract by the council is just another step toward the healing process for the city.

"The next hurdle is locating a chief," Garcia said.

The application process for a new police chief will end May30, Garcia said.

If there are enough applicants to choose from, the application process should be completed by June 1 and interviews by the panel should be completed by June 19, he said.

The City Council also voted to have a third party research the cost involved to either enact a petition that would give residents the ultimate decision on any new proposal to disband the Police Department and contract for police services or put the issue before the voters in November.

City Clerk Barbara McGee ruled in April that 85 percent of the 5,655 signatures on a citizen's petition that asked to take the decision to the voters are valid.

The report should be completed by June 20, said City Attorney Robert Owen. Reach Massiel Ladrón De Guevara at (909) 806-3054 or mdeguevara@PE.com