City:  Association to act as negotiating agent for PD

by Nicole Bradford

A recently adopted “meet and confer” agreement between the city and an organization representing its police department should be implemented in the next budget cycle, officials say.

City Council in December voted unanimously on the meet and confer process with the police department, with the Pearland Police Officers Association to serve as the department’s bargaining agent.

Meet and confer is a process that allows cities to negotiate with police or fire associations to reach written agreements on employment issues such as wages and benefits, hours, and discipline.

“The city manager selects a person to represent the city, and the association would do the same,” City Attorney Darrin Coker said.

Mayor Kevin Cole said the process is similar to what is done now, “but it gives more formality to it.”

“I like the transparency side of it; open to the public,” Cole said. “There are protections for the officers and protections for the city.”

The police department, on December 3, submitted a petition requesting the association be recognized as the sole bargaining agent for the department. The petition was signed by 136 of 170 officers.

“We just couldn’t get to everybody — not saying they all would (sign,) but we were in a time crunch,” Pearland Police Sgt. Adam Carroll said.

The Pearland Police Officers Association submitted a petition asking the city to recognize the entity as the “sole and exclusive” bargaining agent for the department.