Council members have police contract ideas

The Austin Police Association is ready to resume contract negotiations, but, in the meantime, there are some City Council members looking for a stopgap measure. According to a post on the City Council Message Board from Council Member Ora Houston’s office, co-signed by Council members Alison Alter, Jimmy Flannigan, Ann Kitchen and Ellen Troxclair, there will be a resolution on the Feb. 15 agenda. The post explains, “At this time, we have developed a set of recommendations to move forward that we feel achieves these goals. It includes guidance on an overall spending limit and details on other fiscal and non-fiscal items. The details we have developed and agreed upon as a group will be delivered to the new City Manager as soon as possible. Because the negotiations may take some time, we believe it is critical that we bring forward a Council resolution to set some items back in place for the short term while an interim agreement is negotiated. With this resolution, we will recognize the direct impact to our officers in the absence of a contract and show our effort to move forward with respect and in good faith. We don’t assume however, that any or all of the items put in place in the short term will necessarily continue in an interim or final agreement, but are important to sustain our officers while the process continues.”