Springfield Police Chief Robert Williams says it was “standard operating procedure” to sign off on agreements with the police union and other agencies without anyone’s approval.
“There’s nothing secret about them,” Williams said of the stack of documents he brought to a recent press conference as proof that his agreement with the union to expunge internal-affairs records a year early was nothing unusual. “They all show various things at various levels,” Williams said. “… As the chief of police, that’s pretty much standard operating procedure.”
The agreement, which was signed without the mayor or council’s approval, has set off a firestorm of accusations, lawsuits and requests for investigations. He estimated he signed 40 to 80 “memorandums of understandings” or “memorandums of agreement” when he was either assistant chief, interim chief or police chief.
Only about a dozen involved changes to the city’s contract with the police officers’ union, the Police Benevolent & Protective Association No. 5. And none were approved by the city council, which has to sign off on any contracts the city negotiates with its unions.
‘Defies logic’
In the wake of the controversy, Mayor Mike Houston issued an executive order that “any agreement, contract, letter, memorandum of understanding or any other document relating to any agreement between the city of Springfield and any collective bargaining unit shall only be executed by the mayor after having been reviewed for execution by the responsible director, the labor relations manager and the corporation counsel.”
Four aldermen — Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards, Ward 5 Ald. Sam Cahnman, Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin and Ward 9 Ald. Steve Dove — want any agreements that change a union contract to be approved by the city council before they take effect.
“It’s peculiar and unusual to think that anyone but the city council can amend a contract involving a collective bargaining agreement on a sensitive issue that’s been litigated,” McMenamin said. “It defies logic and legal principles.”
Contract changes
A review of Springfield Police Department records provided by the city found that most of the “memorandums of understanding” or “memorandums of agreements” were between the department and other government or law enforcement agencies.
Earlier this year, for example, the police chief signed a memo that outlined protocol for reporting of crimes by minor students. The agreement was among the city, Chatham police, Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office and Ball Chatham School District.
But about a dozen others changed the terms of contracts that had already been approved by aldermen, including last month’s agreement to expunge discipline records early.
The city council in December OK’d a three-year contract with the police union that says any “record of discipline greater than a reprimand shall be expunged five years from the date of suspension.” Just a few months later, a memorandum of understanding allowing documents to be expunged after four years was signed April 25 by Williams and Don Edwards, president of the union.
As a result, about 30 internal affairs files were destroyed that same day, including records that had been requested through the state’s Freedom of Information Act. The situation has resulted in a lawsuit against the city and a possible criminal investigation by Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Overtime, longevity pay
Other agreements with the police union that were signed without the council’s approval include:
Creating the seasonal position of “lake coordinator.”
Implementing nine-hour shifts for employees in the police operations division.
Changing the duties of a canine trainer.
Agreement to delay contractual raises and require employees to take furlough days in exchange for a no-layoff promise.
Allowing an additional longevity payment spike for employees who retired between July 5, 2009, and July 24, 2009.
Agreement about how overtime would be addressed so that the department’s Honor Guard could attend a police memorial and the Illinois State Fair parade.
A search of the city clerk’s database back to 2007 shows that the Springfield City Council didn’t approve any memorandums of understanding or agreements with the police union.
Only four ordinances in the last six years involved the city’s police union, according to the clerk’s office. Two were the collective bargaining contracts. The other two involved arbitration expenses.
Informal policy
In an interview, Williams said the police department had no formal policy about how to handle memorandums of understandings or agreements, including who should be involved and who should do the signing. But Williams had an informal policy, he said, which he adopted from his predecessor, Caldwell: If it dealt with money, or had any financial effect, he took it to the mayor. If it didn’t, he considered it to be part of the day-to-day operations of the department.
Reducing the amount of time discipline records are kept on file from five years to four was no different, said Williams, who was appointed chief by Davlin in 2009.
However, Williams has publicly apologized for the perception that something improper was done. During a press conference after the document destruction came to light, he said that in hindsight, he should have sought permission from the mayor and should have involved the city’s labor relations manager, who negotiates union contracts.
Cahnman said he, and other aldermen, are reviewing past practice to see how often contracts are changed without the council’s approval. In the meantime, he is co-sponsoring an ordinance that would require the council’s approval before changes could be implemented. “If this were allowed to continue we could end up with a (contract) being ratified by the council on Day 1, and then on Day 2 a department head or mayor entering into an MOU drastically changing the (contract),’ he said. “It is just common sense and consistent with legal principles that if a (contract) must be ratified by the council, then changes to it must be as well.”
Agreements that simply interpret part of a union contract wouldn’t need council approval, but Cahnman said aldermen should be notified of them.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 