Members of the East Orange Police Department’s Fraternal Order of Police Local 188 and Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 16 stand up to applaud and show their approval for favorable remarks made asking the governing body to use its influence to persuade Mayor Lester Taylor’s administration to reach an agreement as soon as possible with the East Orange Police and Fire departments, which have been without a contract for several years.
EAST ORANGE, NJ — Several members of the East Orange Police Department’s Fraternal Order of Police Local 188 and Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 16 were at the City Council’s regularly scheduled meeting Monday, March 14, to let the governing body know of their dissatisfaction regarding ongoing contract negotiations with Mayor Lester Taylor’s administration.
This time, however, none of them stood up during the public participation portion of the council meeting to address the council members. Instead, they sat together in one section of the audience and alternately stood up and applauded whenever a member of the public or one of the council members made remarks about them, directly or indirectly, which proved quite often.
“I live in the 1st Ward and there used to be a lot of police presence over there heavily, but now it seems there is less,” said Brighton Avenue resident Marion Brantley. “I used to see them all the time, but now I don’t see them. The Police and Fire departments do a good job. I would like to know when is the last time we gave our public workers a raise? When you do much work, you should get much pay.”
East Orange Police Department union members applauded Brantley’s remarks and also did so when former 5th Ward Councilwoman and Essex County Freeholder Carol Clark stood up and asked the council to use its influence with the Taylor administration to help expedite the Police and Fire departments’ contract negotiation process.
“Your group aren’t the ones that have to sit down and negotiate and settle the contract, but you do have influence,” said Clark on Monday, March 14. “You can pick up the phone and call. It’s easy to rag on a police officer until you need one. It’s easy to rag on a firefighter until you have to run into a burning building.”
Clark said she was speaking from her own experiences as an elected official, adding that she had come to the meeting to show her support for the union members.
“This is coming from a police officer’s child; my father was a police officer for 32 years,” said Clark. “Please, could we just give them their contract? Give them their money. Be fair with them.”
Resident Barbara Jackson, who frequently attends City Council meetings, said the current governing body and the Taylor administration are doing a good job overall, but really should be doing more to settle contract negotiations with the East Orange Police and Fire departments as soon as possible.
“I love what you’re doing, but you have to keep it up,” said Jackson on Monday, March 14.
Fifth Ward Councilwoman Alicia Holman is chairwoman of the council’s Public Safety Committee and liaison to the city’s new Public Safety Department, which includes the Police and Fire divisions and their unions. She said the council has its own negotiating committee, of which she is also a member. Despite her involvement, she agreed with Clark, her predecessor, that there is not much the council can do to influence the negotiation process; this is a power reserved for the executive branch of local government, meaning the mayor.
Holman said the council controls the city’s purse strings by reviewing and revising the city budget after it has been submitted to the council, and the same goes for contracts negotiated with the city employee bargaining units.
However, Holman said she also agrees with Clark that the council should use its influence to help settle the current round of contract negotiations as soon as possible.
“As always, police and fire do a yeoman’s job,” said Holman on Monday, March 14. “We just had a public safety meeting and I’m glad that our director is bringing back a valuable program. Our police officers are the lowest paid, compared to surrounding municipalities. A sergeant here gets $70,000 but, in other towns, they get $100,000.”
“Former Director Jose Cordero came and brought a plan to the city of East Orange to reduce crime and increase our public safety and improve our crime statistics,” continued Holman. “But it was the men and women of the police department that made it happen and made it work. They do a yeoman’s job and they should be treated fairly and paid accordingly.”
City Council Chairman Ted Green also said he supports the city’s police officers and firefighters and is optimistic the Taylor administration will reach an agreement them. The administration recently settled a contract with the Communications Workers of America Local 1077 union, which represents most East Orange employees who are not in the public safety sector.
“Hopefully the administration can work this out,” said Green on Monday, March 14. “I thank you for all that you do. At the end of the day, if we’re that good, I believe our police officers should get what others are getting.”
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