Tonight, FOP leaders sent out a release that they're pushing city council to go back on the ballot in November with a police levy. I'm told it could be a one-tenth of one percent request. The department is pushing to add officers and maintain salaries of those on the current force too. Not sure how the 12+1 will look at this, but they should give it strong consideration.
The previous issue was sold as a way to make Akron safer, but the economic development dollars attached to it just didn't resonate with voters, who shot it down by a 2-1 margin. I think the new measure would go a long way towards healing old wounds between city hall and the cop shop.
We're still weeks away from learning what will happen with APD's contract. The two sides reached a major impasse and now it's up to a conciliator. I'm told that you shouldn't be surprised to see the officers get much larger raises than city hall was offering, but there's still some other issues to iron out too .. so some of the gains could be evened out.
Regardless, I'll bet residents come out in support of the FOP's idea at council and beyond. And don't forget, there's still that little issue of residency bouncing around the courts. Other cities that have tried to challenge the law and keep their officers living within city limits have ended up losing in court, but Akron leaders still believe they have a good case based on "home rule." Stay tuned.
2 comments:
Glad you moved your blog to Blogger- that Neo site was way toooo slow loading up. This looks more professional also.
Thanks ... I like this site much better too. It's easier to use and allows readers to post comments, which many emailed me about. Glad you like it. Turns out, the DiscoverNEO website looks like it's gone under altogether right now. Not sure what's happened there. Anyway, thanks for taking a peek and I'll do my best to have info here that's worth reading. Eric
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