Panel clears ex-officer to parley cop contract
JIM BARON, Special to The Call
03/21/2007
PROVIDENCE -- The Rhode Island Ethics Commission gave Lincoln Town Administrator Joseph Almond the go-ahead to negotiate a contract with the town’s police union on Tuesday, despite the fact he is a retired police officer.
Commissioners unanimously adopted an advisory opinion saying that Almond "will not be financially impacted by such negotiations."
Almond explained that his pension remains fixed at the level he received upon his retirement in April 2000. The police union, he told The Call after the brief hearing, has jurisdiction to bargain only for "active, full-time police officers," not those already retired. The negotiations, he said, would only address benefits for future retirees.
Almond said both sides of the talks would have to agree to raise an issue that is not part of the current contract -- called permissive bargaining -- and he pledged to not agree to entertain any proposal that would affect police officers who have already retired. The commissioners made that stipulation part of the advisory opinion they approved Tuesday.
The opinion gives him the green light to start negotiating a contract for 2006-2007 as soon as an arbitrator’s award is approved on the 2005-2006 contract. He said that arbitrator’s decision has been rendered, but he has not seen a copy of it and will have to review that document with the town’s legal counsel to determine whether to accept its provisions or appeal it to Superior Court.
If it is deemed acceptable, he said, the two sides can begin bargaining a contract that is set to expire in July. "We’re about one year behind" in negotiating contracts with the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Lincoln Lodge No. 435, Almond said
The commission’s opinion in this case differed sharply from a 2005 advisory opinion issued to then-Mayor David Iwuc of neighboring Cumberland.
Iwuc was a retired member of that town’s police department, but because of the provisions of that contract, Iwuc did stand to gain financially from negotiated improvements to the pension plan. The commission ruled that neither Iwuc nor any subordinate on his staff could be involved in negotiating the contract. As a result, then-Council President Lorraine Hynes led the team that negotiated that contract. http://www.woonsocketcall.com/site/n...id=24361&rfi=6
ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops
About MassCops, the home for Massachusetts law enforcement.
The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network opened in 1998 and is now a part of the New England Police Network The site is a pro-police discussion forum intended for sworn police officers and civilian law enforcement officials as well as those interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement here in Massachusetts.
The goal of The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network is to provide an informal network of law enforcement officials here in Massachusetts for educational and informational purposes.
The forum covers many topics such as Police Related News Articles, Agency & Profession Discussions, Police Training as well as Law Enforcement Career Information.
The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network and The New England Police Network (NEPN) and it's network sites are privately owned websites/domains and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government association or agency.
MassCops (masscops.com) and (masscop.com) are privately owned are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Massachusetts Coalition of Police (masscop.org)
ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops