Continued: St. Paul police seek 12,000 petition signers

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St. Paul is at risk of losing its best police officers -- not only veterans but new recruits -- if it doesn't guarantee cops get a competitive wage, union leaders said Thursday. City officials, however, say history hasn't borne that out.

The St. Paul Police Federation, which represents officers, formally kicked off a petition drive asking voters to guarantee that St. Paul officers rank in the top five in pay among their Minnesota peers in 27 metro police departments.

Joe Mansky, elections manager for Ramsey County, said the union probably would need signatures from about 7,500 registered voters to put the issue to a public vote.

Union volunteers will begin collecting the signatures during Tuesday's general election, said the union's president, Dave Titus. He said the union plans to gather 12,000 signatures in all to ensure that it meets the election requirements.

Titus said the city is at a competitive disadvantage in recruiting new officers and retaining skilled five-year veterans.

According to union calculations, even if St. Paul police officers were to receive the 3.25 percent pay increase now being negotiated for 2008, starting pay would be $46,901 annually, placing the city 14th in the state among 27 metro police departments. Starting pay in the fifth-ranked city for rookie pay, Cottage Grove, is $49,183.

For five-year officers, St. Paul would pay $59,573 annually with a 3.25 percent pay hike, compared with $66,657 in Richfield, which is the fifth-ranked city at that experience level.

Jason Schmidt, the city's labor relations manager, said that making pay increases automatic is bad public policy: "You're destroying the collective bargaining process," he said Thursday. "How can we be accountable to the taxpayers?"

He also said that despite union fears about losing good recruits, the city saw 287 people take the most recent police-officer exam last Tuesday. That is down from 438 test-takers in 2005, but more than enough, Schmidt said, to ensure the department has "good quality candidates" for its next academy class.

In addition, he said, surveys show the city gains far more veterans from other departments than it loses.

Anthony Lonetree • 651-298-1545

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