A bill for an ordinance amending Chapter 18 of the Revised Municipal Code to establish the 2020 salary and fringe benefits of the Sheriff, Deputy Sheriff Division Chiefs and Deputy Sheriff Majors. Amends Chapter 18 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code to establish the 2020 salary and fringe benefits of the command staff for the Denver Sheriff’s Department. The Committee approved filing this bill on 2-19-20.
Two nays nine. His counterpart, 59, has been ordered published. Madam Secretary, if you please put the next item on our screens and Councilmember Herndon, will you please put Councilman 148 on the floor? Yes, Mr. President. I move the Council Bill series to the 20 0148. Be ordered published. Thank you. It has been moved and seconded questions or comments by members of Council Councilmember CdeBaca. Thank you, Mr. President. Is Laura Wachter or somebody who can speak on her behalf here? Good evening. Members of Council Rob Asper with the Denver City Attorney's Office. Thank you. I have some questions related to the changed contract, so or the changed ordinance. I'm not on the safety committee and so I go when I can, but when I can't go, I pull off the documents that are posted. And so I pulled off the draft bill last week. And then on over the weekend there was a new bill posted. And so there's some discrepancies or changes that I was not privy to. And so I wanted to get some more information about that. So if you could start by walking me through the CPA process and how we got to this 3.5 increase. This increase for our command staff mirrors the salary increase that was negotiated by the rank and file within the Denver Sheriff's Department. So that would be deputies who hold the rank of deputy, deputy sheriff, sergeant and deputy sheriff, captain. They all received a 3.5% increase for the calendar year 2020. This ordinance would reflect the same level of increase 3.5% for those members of the department in the command staff that's comprised of deputy sheriff majors, deputy sheriff, division chief's and the sheriff. Were employees or deputies involved in any of these negotiations who negotiates on their behalf. For the bargaining unit? They are represented by the Fraternal Order of Police. They have a an attorney who comes up from Kansas City every time there is a negotiation and they negotiate their salary and benefits on behalf of the rank and file. They do not bargain for the command staff. And so and this is an increase for the command staff. So nobody was negotiating on their behalf for this ordinance? No, they are not a member. They are not members of the bargaining unit. Their salaries are established by ordinance. Okay. And so I became more interested in this issue of pay parity in this department across other departments in the in public safety. After a presentation we got from deputies about a week ago, they were sharing with us their challenges related to recruitment and retention. And I got really concerned. And so this initial bill was a red flag to me because although it's been changed, there was a section in there that called out to separate pay increases for the same exact position with only one month hiring difference, and the disparity was over $20,000. And so I'm wondering if you can explain to me why these this exact same position was divided into two call outs to separate salaries and what happened between last Friday and now. Okay, understood. There was a point in time where we had division chiefs who had attained that rank by virtue of a promotion through the career service promotional process back, I believe it was. And in late 15 or 20 and early 2016, the position of Division Chief became an appointed rank, which means that individuals didn't have to compete for that position and go through the promotional process that was required beforehand. So we we found ourselves in a position where we had a couple of division chiefs who were appointed to that position, who were overseeing the work of division chiefs, who attained their rank through the promotional process. So to make up the difference, because you had division chiefs who were supervising other division chiefs, you paid the same amount. The decision was made to give those appointed division chiefs the extra compensation. And so in this original document, when I started digging around, what I found was that the lower paid division chief happens to be black and the higher paid division chief happens to be white. And so can you explain to me what your efforts have been around equity in the department? I can't I can't speak to the efforts in that regard. But what I can tell you is that in the bill, that was the final bill that was filed for consideration tonight, there no longer is that difference between division chiefs who are appointed and division chiefs who were who attained that rank by the promotional process. There's only one rate for a division chief, regardless of whether that person has been appointed to that position or promoted into that rank. Now, have you ever heard of a pay structure within the department that was set up under Sheriff Furman that was referred to as Big Chief. Little chief? I have not. Okay. And can you explain to me if there have been any efforts to ensure parity across departments? What we heard a lot about in our meeting with the sheriffs in committee the other day was that there are some very drastic pay disparities for the same or equivalent positions in DPD. And so we've matched up those positions. And so majors are the equivalent of commanders, captains, equivalent of lieutenants, sergeants, sergeants, field training and corporal. And so I'm wondering, because when I dug up those salaries, there are still very significant pay disparities. Is the sheriff's department conscious of that and working toward eliminating those pay gaps? It's my understanding that that the goal of the Safety Department is to ensure that all of its command staff is fairly compensated, regardless of whether they work for the Denver Sheriff's Department, the Denver Police Department or the fire department. The problem we have with comparing these various command staff positions across the various departments is we are comparing apples to oranges. There is the command staff is not as deep within the sheriff's department. There aren't as many layers. So what we try to do is to ensure that for the sheriff command staff that there is sufficient differential between the highest negotiated rate for captains, looking at the majors, looking at division chiefs, looking at the sheriffs. So we don't have salary compression issues within this command staff. I get the compression issues, but across departments, we have major inequities and it doesn't look good when you're most diverse. Department is the sheriff's department where you have a much wider DPD and fire. And so my concern is about pay equity across the departments. I did have another question about the defining equity and defining parity. When you mentioned that there were no deputies or no members of the command staff advocating for themselves in these negotiations, how do you guys ensure there represent represented in these conversations? I can't speak to that because I'm not involved with those negotiations or conversations between current command staff members and and the administration of the Safety Department. Who are the parties involved? I believe Laura Wachter was one of the individuals who was involved, and I can see that she reaches out to you if you have further questions. I would deeply appreciate that and hopefully next time before the changes. So thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. All right. So no other questions or comments, Madam Secretary, recall. CdeBaca No. Flynn I. Gillmor I. Herndon High. High. Kenny Ortega I. Seen The Evil Eye. Sawyer. Torres, I. Council President Hi, Madam Secretary. Please go to the voting and the results. One Nathan EIS. One nay ten accountable. 148 has been ordered published. That concludes the items called out this evening. All other bills for introduction are ordered published. Council members remember that this is a consent or block vote and you will need to vote ie. Otherwise this is your last chance to call an item out for a separate vote. Councilmember Herndon Were you pleased with the resolutions for adoption and the bills on final consideration for final passage on the floor? Yes, Mr. President, I move that the resolution be adopted and the bills on final consideration be placed upon final consideration and do pass in the block for the following items all series of 2020 unless noted 139 one 4142 145 216 to 18 146 to 19 one 2591. Thank you. It has been moved and seconded. Madam Secretary, Roll call. CdeBaca. I. Flynn. Hi. Gilmore. I Herndon I hope I connect. Ortega Hi. Sandoval Hi. Sawyer, I. Torres, I. Council president. Hi. I'm secretary. Please close the voting. Announce the results. 11 nine. 11 eyes. The resolutions have been adopted and the bills have been placed upon final consideration and do pass. Tonight there will be a required public hearing on Council Bill six Changing the zoning classification for 1430 Race Street. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter must go online or see the council secretary right over there during the recess