Columnist Jeff German: Cops are near to new agreement

Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005 | 10:16 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

There are smiling faces at the Metro Police Department today.

After six weeks of stalled negotiations, the union that represents some 2,400 police officers struck a tentative agreement late Tuesday with the police department on a new four-year contract.

"We've reached a resolution that we're all comfortable with," said David Kallas, the executive director of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association. "We think this compensates the officers we represent fairly for the job they do."

Kallas declined to share details of the collective bargaining agreement.

But he said he hoped it would be ratified by his members within the next couple of weeks and then approved by the Metro Fiscal Affairs Committee, which oversees the police budget, by the end of October.

Undersheriff Doug Gillespie this morning said the agreement was good for the morale of the police department.

"I believe it's very fair," Gillespie said. "When the membership has the ability to view it, they'll also agree that it's a fair contract and a worthy contract."

If approved, the agreement will allow both sides to avoid going through dreaded fact-finding and arbitration, where neither side would have any control over their fate.

Arbitration would be long and costly -- and most of all very contentious. It would not be in the best interest of the officers, Sheriff Bill Young and the public at a time when the city is looking to maintain a high level of security.

The cops have been working without a contract since June 30, when the old four-year agreement expired.

As a result of shrewd numbers-crunching by both sides in the last couple of weeks, talks resumed Tuesday morning. Negotiators with the PPA and the city, county and police department all participated.

The discussions took place with the apparent blessing of the Fiscal Affairs Committee, which received a closed-door briefing on Monday by Gillespie and others involved in the talks.

At least one panel member, County Commissioner Tom Collins, said he liked what he heard.

"I support where they're at right now," Collins told me.

The latest discussions reportedly centered around the size of the new salary and benefits package over the next four years.

Because of skyrocketing health care costs, the cops were insisting on a bigger boost in insurance benefits.

Kallas credited Young with moving the talks along.

"As of late he has been instrumental in trying to get this issue resolved," Kallas said. "Without a doubt the sheriff, as a former officer, knows how important it is to properly compensate his employees for the work that they do."

But any deal also gives Young welcome political comfort as he heads into his re-election bid.

Had the contract talks remained stalled, the fact-finding and arbitration process was scheduled to begin in January, the official beginning of Campaign 2006.

Surely Young and his political handlers weren't looking forward to running into unhappy police officers on the campaign trail.

If they like their new contract as much as Kallas believes they should, those officers will have reason to smile for another four years.