~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
County Sheriff Jack Williams spoke to the Greene County board of supervisors at their regular meeting Sept 28 about his concern over providing temporary law enforcement coverage for the city of Jefferson while Jefferson does not yet have a new union agreement in place with police officers.
In separate telephone interviews with GCNO, sheriff Williams and Jefferson city administrator Mike Palmer both explained that a re-negotiated union agreement could increase the wages of city police officers, which could then help in recruiting and retaining new officers.
The sheriff and city administrator agreed the 28E agreement could provide the city time to re-build its police department and they agreed increased wages for police officers could be part of the solution.
In recent sessions, the Jefferson city council determined an increase of wages for police officers which would require a re-negotiation of contract between the city and all its employees. This re-negotiation would be earlier than the current contract expiration of June 30, 2021.
Williams told GCNO, “In talking with the mayor last Friday, it didn’t seem like there was much movement on contract negotiations. The mayor wasn’t aware (of any negotiations.)”
“It takes two days to negotiate a union contract for the county,” said Williams. “It’s been three weeks and we haven’t heard (from the city.)”
“We’re right where we should be in re-negotiating,” city administrator Mike Palmer told GCNO. “We’re re-negotiating a 5-year contract for all employees of the city.”
Palmer said there are many categories of city employees to look at and determine whether an increase can be made.
“The 28E agreement is very helpful as a short-term bridge for us,” he said.
GCNO later spoke with Jefferson mayor Matt Gordon who said the city is “making progress.” He said meetings were in the process of being set up for negotiations.
Gordon said the city council will meet next week, possibly in closed session for a time, to discuss related issues.
The city of Jefferson entered into a 28E agreement with the county board of supervisors and the sheriff’s office to address the city’s difficulties in maintaining full police coverage for Jefferson. The agreement starts Oct. 1.
The agreement provides for county deputies to provide law enforcement services on an as-needed basis for up to 15 twelve-hour shifts per month at a cost of $1,000 per shift. Benchmark dates for the hiring of new officers were written into the agreement with a minimum of two new police officers to be hired by December.
The 28E agreement for deputy coverage of Jefferson expires in one year.
