Police vote to approve new contract

Deck

Pinecrest police and the village council came to an agreement over a benefits dispute.

Pinecrest police officers voted Tuesday to ratify a new contract that gives them a pension for the first time in the city’s history.

The previous contract with the police — in place since the department was formed in 1997 — lacked benefits that other police departments enjoyed, including a pension, a defined pay scale, shift differential pay and take home cars.

Under the old contract, the city also was able to fire officers “at-will” during their first five years of service. The new contract limits that to the first two years. After that, the city will have to show “just cause,” said Juan Portela, Pinecrest police officer and police union president.

In April, Matthew Mierzwa, the attorney for the Pinecrest Police Officers Association, had called the old contract “the absolute worst situation I have ever seen.”

Meeting with residents at the time, Mayor Gary C. Matzner promised to “push new measures as quickly as possible” so the police department wouldn’t keep losing officers to other cities with better benefits.

On Tuesday, Portela praised the city’s efforts to deliver a much improved contract.

“This has been a great accomplishment,” Portela said, adding that 25 out of a possible 27 officers voted Tuesday to enact the new contract after ratifying it by a 20-5 vote.

Now the officers will be in the Florida Retirement System’s pension plan. They will also have pay increases as well as car and uniform allowances.

“I am very satisfied with the village’s good intentions,” Portela said.

Matzner said the agreement was fair at a recent workshop on the city budget.

Village Manager Peter Lombardi said that Pinecrest had negotiated for eight months with the police union to reach an agreement.

The village plans to more than double police retirement contributions, from $437,989 last year to $928,910 in its budget of $7.5 million proposed for the next fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

The village council will have to vote for the new contract in a special session.

The contract is only valid until Sept. 30 and will be renegotiated shortly after it expires for the next budget year.

While many of the union’s conditions were met, there were still some unresolved issues that will be up for negotiation in September.

Officers, though, were happy with the initial contract.

“The contract is a huge morale booster. It’s definitely better than what we had before. Everything that we have negotiated for in this contract will apply for the next one,” officer Peter Panagakos said.

“We look forward to future negotiations.”

Photograph

SAFETY FIRST: Pinecrest police officer Charles Dewhurst explains a traffic matter with Fernando Leal during a traffic stop earlier this year.

Credit: ALLISON DIAZ/MIAMI HERALD FILE