On December 15, just 11 days ago, Albuquerque police union president Stephanie Lopez sent an email to members presenting the proposed Tentative Agreement. In her email she stated:
"Voting will be held on December 30, 2013. We will have 1 box located at the APOA office from 8am-4pm and 1 box located at the Moose Lodge from 12pm-7pm."
In the days since this posting of the Tentative Agreement at substations and here, officers from across all spectrums in APD have voiced opposition to it. From supervisors, specialized units, senior officers, to rookies, all have pointed out the obvious: it restores little from what has taken away and makes things worse.
In numerous postings APD personnel have pointed out the seemingly endless deficiencies of the agreement and the obvious rush by the APOA to get the agreement approved.
Yet today, our Eyes tell us Ms. Lopez has confirmed what everybody has been saying. In an email to members she writes:
"[T]he city is still in the process of writing the final draft of the APOA contract to be viewed by the APOA membership. There were a lot of mistakes that still needed to be corrected and addressed within the tentative contract. There is not a final copy of this contract completed yet, however as soon as it is finalized it will be posted for 10 days before a vote will be held."
Ms. Lopez backs away from the 12/30 vote as states that there will now be an informational meeting regarding the tentative contract at 8:30am and 5:30pm at the APOA office on 2nd Street NW. Ms. Lopez then adds in closing to her email:
"The city has been very deceptive in the wording of the language in the contract so I am grateful for those of you who to take the time to read this contract and bring issues to my attention."
Excuse us? On December 15, the summary sheet attached to the tentative agreement that was disseminated and posted at each substation had a recommendation by the APOA Negotiating Team. Their recommendation was:
ratification of the tentative agreement. And this is the team supposedly led by the city's former negotiator Paul Broome...
Folks, these are things that make one go hmmmmmm.
Not even two weeks ago APOA "leadership" was promoting the passage of this contract. After years of "negotiating" they presented this agreement as the best that could be done. Now, after the massive dissent expressed here and amongst the rank and file, Ms. Lopez has offered a glimpse of truth: that the city is engaging in deceptive negotiation tactics. That they are saying one thing but writing something else in the contract.
We and our Eyes have been saying this all along: Given that the city unilaterally broke the previous contract, what makes you think they'll honor even this absurd one?
In the Christmas day paper, the local edition of the
Albuquerque Journal ran an article about staffing shortages in New Mexico law enforcement. The author sidesteps the fact that while APD is in a staffing crisis because of deceptive practices and the DOJ investigation such practices have invited, APD's sister agency BCSO is not in such a crisis. He also somehow misses the fact that the state's DPS and NMSP academies are full and maxed to capacity. Here in Bernalillo county, how is it that two agencies who share the same geographic footprint have such stark differences of problems? It is because of deception and incompetence by APD and APOA leadership. It's that simple.
