Dom’s blog; August 9 2010
This morning I emailed our members first to let them know the final tally of their vote regarding further contract concessions and a willingness to support the City Council’s parcel tax initiative. Once again, the officers were willing to make more sacrifices to support the people of Oakland.
We then released the following statement to the media, and met with reporters in our offices.
The Oakland Police Officers Association (OPOA) understands more than most the consequences of the budget problems that confront our city.
We have seen the number of our officers on the street go from 803 two years ago to less than seven hundred. Just in the past month, eighty of our community’s police officers were laid off and the streets in which we work became increasingly dangerous and the crimes to which we respond have now been limited. It is a dangerous situation for all of us.
We have done our best to be part of the solution in Oakland. Last year we made $34 million worth of concessions. Over the past couple of weeks we have continued to work with our City Council to put together long-term solutions. In that effort our members voted and we have agreed to the following:
1. We have agreed to pay an additional 7 percent contribution to now pay the full 9 percent cost of our pensions.
2. We have agreed to a two-tier pension system for new employees. New hires will now retire at 3 percent at 55.
We have also agreed to work with the City Council to help educate the voters on the benefits of the new parcel tax initiative being proposed by the City Council.
Oakland police officers remain committed to our community. We want enough police officers to keep our streets safe and the officers patrolling them not to be in constant danger.
We believe Oakland can still be a great City. It is important for all of us to stand together and say we want to make Oakland a place we are proud to call home and not a war zone that families and businesses want to avoid.
We will continue to work to keep you, our community, informed. Thank you.
