Commission makes contract decision tonight

The Sarasota City Commission must make a binding decision tonight on parts of a one-year police contract that neither the city nor its police officers can agree upon.

The Sarasota Police Department union rejected a special magistrate’s recommendation in August on the ongoing contract dispute with the city, which paves the way for the commission to make a decision for both sides.

The magistrate agrees with the city’s stance in regards to eliminating current pension plans for police officers.

The commission must now make a binding decision on that issue and other issues that will establish a one-year contract that already expired on Sept. 30.

The decisions the commission make on last year’s contract, however, will become the basis for a new contract that both sides must discuss at the bargaining table once again this fall, in the hopes of reaching a long-term contract.

In a 12-page ruling issued Aug. 23, Punta Gorda-based Special Magistrate William McGinnis Jr. states the Sarasota Police Department’s current pension plan should be replaced with a new defined contribution plan, pending the city and the department work together to reenact Social Security benefits for all officers.

The city and the police department union have been at impasse over a new contract for months and negotiations between both parties ceased in January.

For more information on the commission’s decision, check www.yourobserver.com for an update and pick up a copy of the Thursday, Oct. 20 Sarasota Observer.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].