Osprey, I don’t think you’ve grasped what has happened here. It is inappropriate and unethical to back door representatives by going around them in an attempt to get something passed. It is illegal in most states but unfortunately in Idaho, there are few laws that protect unions from this sort of behavior. I have been affiliated with unions for more than twenty years and I would take this as an insult.

For the mayor and council to try to pass this off as anything more than union busting is ridiculous. They should be ashamed of themselves. As far as Tibbs, I would have expected more from him, this is disappointing to say the least. This certainly demonstrates what city hall cares about and it is not the employee, it’s the price. Shame on them.

Osprey,
If you think cops and firemen think alike, think again. Cops don’t run away from the fight. Remember, the firemen took vacation days to personally run Bieter’s campaign. Don’t you think Bieter would be a little more likely to dip into his library fund to help the firemen after that? As far as Tibbs goes, since he DID sign the letter, I can imagine it WILL be an issue as far as the mayoral race goes. Tibbs is playing politics, and I can’t imagine that sits well with the Boise cops. Boise is a great place to live right now, and that is due greatly in part to law enforcement. Bieter doesn’t care about the future. He only seems to care about right now.

This is where it gets weird.

The vast majority of the readers of this blog have never experienced collective bargaining. Usually, the first reaction is one of jealousy or envy.

That is exactly what is wrong with this situation. Hardly anyone knows what it is like to work in an environment where the employer can’t just walk all over the employees and change the rules, wages or benefits at the drop of a hat.

Team Dave and his cabal of anti-employee council members have committed an old trick…try to make the Union negotiating team look bad in the eyes of the membership. It clearly isn’t working in this case and if Team Dave had actually spoken with anyone with labor experience they would have been told to avoid this childish tactic.

As far as Tibbs is concerned, I would hope the rank and file members of the Police Union see right through his thin veneer and avoid him like the virus he will certainly turn out to be.

This town still has a lot of growing up to do and Team Dave could lead the way if he chose to do so.

Right-o Chester!

The plethora of nasty employers around these parts is huge.

Serious question for everyone:

Why is it here in Idaho that the employer is deified and the employee is vilified??

Anti-Union people often live in this rosey, fairytale world where all employees are treated fairly and payed a fair wage because its the right thing to do. The reality is often much different. Most companies offer inadequate benefits and can fire or layoff employees on a whim. Why not allow the workers an equal playing field? You can point to abuses in the past by Unions, but what about the abuses perpetrated by the business industry toward employees?

I’m not sure that the folks on our council wouln’t object to outsourcing our city police force to an outfit like Blackwater. They could have everything they want, no oversight, no unions, martial law whenever they wanted, and gullible Idaho voters, all 15% of the population would belive it was a good deal.

Given the City’s position to ‘inform’ police personnel of the negociations in process with their union representatives, I see no reason why the Police Union should not be allowed to speak in front of the publicly held City Council meeting to the Boise Citizens. The City’s going around the negociators backs was wrong. After reading the City’s letter, I wonder where I can get $1,200 in work-related wardrobe allowance. Also how can I get paid for not having to answer court appearance subpoenas?

If you really think the officers in Boise don’t make enough money, look into it! Find out the real numbers, its pretty amazing how much money they make, now include all the bennies, wow. They are in no way being abused by the city, by no stretch of the imagination. Find a new complaint, that one does not hold water.

“The Sheriff is an Elected Official, directly answerable to the people.” which make him………. a politician! How’s that been working out for us so far? That’s all we need, another arrogant politician with a small army. Great combination.

As the union president for BPD, I will not get into debating a contract on this blog, but I will answer a very uniformed Murphy for Mayor.

As far as video cameras are concerned, my assigned patrol vehicle IS equipped with one and I have pushed for the fleet to be equipped with them. The number of cars so equipped has continued to dwindle because city hall and/or command staff fails to see the need and does not prioritize them in the budget because of cost. I have had one since I was a rookie state trooper in the mid 1990’s and would hate to work without one. Video cameras save the officer from unfounded and time consuming complaints, which is to my members (and the publics)advantage, so I can only suppose you are uninformed on this issue.

I thank those of you who understand what kind of underhanded move this was by the city leaders to try and negotiate directly with union members rather than elected union leaders. We appreciate your continued support.

1. I often wondered why the Sheriff is elected. I think it’s a throwback to the last century. Seems like it’s a skilled managerial position just like Chief of Police. Same theory applies to other County offices (assessor,auditor, and perhaps prosecutor).

2. I am not going to advocate disbanding the BPD. However, the Sheriff does contract services to Eagle and Kuna. And, City residents are paying twice for law enforcement.. once for the BPD and once for the Sheriff (to whom they have no access in case of a crime in the City). They pay the same as County residents outside City limits who get full-service protection from the ACS.

EDITOR NOTE–Eric, your thoughts are right on, especially about city paying twice.

I see this letter as an attempt by the Mayor to circumvent the Police Union representation . The Mayor is actually just showing his true colors. He has no respect for the legal representative of the BPD or the BPD himself. He wants to control the whole show. He has been doing the same thing to the people of boise for years. He refuses to provide them with the basic services the citizens needs ( Real Bus service, a de-tox center, more city services for low-income individuals.) Meanwhile he has helped ensure that a bureaucracy that is doing the job he and council were elected to do is rolling in tax payer money! P. Kushlan is making more money than most elected officials as CCDC fattens itself off of projects like the massive ” hole in the ground” at Main and 8’th!

As a former City employee. I am tired of hearing how the Police and Fire Departmetns get different and seperate deals from the rest of the City staff. Several years ago, when all the general staff, got no salary increase, the police and fire did.

The reason: the unions and the very real fact that a City must have a balanced budget. Whoever said a business approach to governmental spending is inappropriate, apparently liked to be highly taxed.

I applaud the City’s efforts to control their costs while also giving not only decent, but best in the state wages to their officers while also giving an unbelieveable health care package. Did anybody look at the details of what the officers have to pay. I pay at least 10 times that and know of no one else that has even close to this good of a package for the price paid by employees.

The officers need a large pay raise. How many jobs do you know that require a bullet proof vest and a gun. Do you think someone at Micron will risk their live to save you? Well police officers are required to this as part of their job. Every day they deal with the scum of the earth just to keep the public safe. Also, in-car camera’s only work if you are standing infornt of the car (IE- on a traffic stop). 90% of the officers job is away from the car, that is why they have belt recorders.

Mr. Murphy: PULLEEZE go back to California from where you recently came. You are neither entertaining nor informed.

Murphy, you should take a ride along with the Boise Police to see what it is all about. You are so mis-informed. Everything is about money. The Boise Police Crime lab is a joke, why, because the city does not want to spend the money.

You talk about dash camera’s. The city does not want to spend the money. Lets talk about proactive policing…. The city does not want to spend the money. There is no excuse for the way things are going in this city. Our homicides for the year just hit 7 I do believe. The year is not even half over! We are sliding backwards when it comes to proactive policing and have become a political entity that is not forward looking at all.

The citizens of Boise deserve the best when it comes to their police department, however, what team Dave says and what they actually do are two different things. They are shortchanging you!