Roseville Police Officers’ Association Livid Over Council’s Scheduling of 24-Hour Meeting to Impose Contract
Roseville – Angry that the Roseville Police Officers’ Association (RPOA) appealed to citizens to email the Mayor and City Council to ask them to continue negotiating with their police, the Mayor and City Councilmembers have done just the opposite.
Today they called a special “emergency” meeting of the City Council for tomorrow (Thursday, May 30) at 11 a.m. in the Council Chambers to immediately impose a contract on Roseville Police Department officers. Without a call or email notice to the RPOA, City leaders called this meeting with little notice and at a time (11 in the morning) when most members of the public are at work and unable to attend.
“This is a low point for the City Council – to schedule a meeting so that the public doesn’t have an opportunity to weigh in,” said Jerry Wernli, President of RPOA. “Our police officers weren’t even contacted by the City; we found out about their vote to impose on us when the agenda was posted online exactly 24 hours before the meeting time.”
“Government is supposed to air issues out in the open, for the public to weigh in – not plan last minute meetings hoping to keep most of us in the dark and away from expressing our opinions,” Wernli added.
The RPOA has continually expressed its desire to keep negotiating its contract with the City in hope that a solution can be accomplished. Its police officers understand the need to contribute more to their pensions and have expressed that desire time and time again in negotiations with the City.
Last Friday, in an effort to convince the City to keep negotiating, RPOA sent emails to Roseville residents asking them to weigh in and to support further negotiations by sending emails to the Mayor, Councilmembers and the City Manager. 75 residents took time to send emails to the City asking them to consider continuing to negotiate with police officers.
“The emails from Roseville citizens were incredibly supportive of our officers and the good job we do and were sincere in asking City leaders to keep negotiating with us,” Wernli said. After receiving the emails, City leaders did just the opposite.
“City leaders should be promoting public input, not squelching it,” Wernli concluded. “This last minute attempt to impose on us without anyone knowing is a disgrace to all of Roseville. If they are doing this to their police, what other decisions are they making behind closed doors?”
The special “emergency” meeting of the City Council will take place tomorrow (Thursday, May 30) at 11 a.m. where off-duty Roseville police officers will be in attendance. The RPOA invites the citizens of Roseville to attend and express their opinions.