SAN ANGELO, Texas — For months now, the San Angelo Police Officers Coalition has been meeting with San Angelo City Manager Daniel Valenzuela and other City leaders hoping to come to an agreement about pay increases for San Angelo Police Department officers.
Posts on social media penned by a former SAPD officer in support of her former colleagues and their families have now gone viral. Tracy Piatt-Fox, former SAPD public information officer, asked for the public's support in helping to prevent a mass exodus from the SAPD because of wage disparities in comparison to other municipalities.
Piatt-Fox spoke during the public comment section of Tuesday's City Council meeting saying the officers who will be leaving the SAPD are leaving to seek a living wage.
"I have officers that reach out to me on a daily basis. And for members of the public who are not aware, the police department has been consistently paid 10-12 percent under comparable for many, many years and of recent years, up to 20 percent," Piatt-Fox said. "These officers who are set to leave are leaving to other agencies because they are seeking a living wage."
Piatt-Fox said another concern is some of those officers are providing off-duty security as school resource officers. Schools are required by law to have a certified peace officer on campus.
"Mr. Valenzuela, you did state the tax cap as being a contributing factor to the wage issue that we have here in the city, and I do respect that. But that particular 3.5 tax cap was put into Texas in 2019. So, I want to know what the excuse has been for the City from 2018, 17, 16, 15, 14 and so forth. We have to do better to have public safety..."
Four other women spoke on behalf of the police department and advocated a pay increase for those on the SAPD, as well as the San Angelo Fire Department.
One of those women, Margaret Mendez, told council about an incident when she had to call 9-1-1 because someone was trying to break into her home while she and her children were present. She asked council members to consider giving officers a raise and said she cannot imagine what it will be like if 20 officers leave the department.
"The first thing when I called 9-1-1 is when they immediately came...it wasn't just one, it was three officers. How frightened was I? The person was trying to bust open my windows. My children were scared. I can't imagine an officer going into a house and not having backup while 20 more officers are gone and only one can attend. Is it fair for one officer to come in, or is it better for them to be more than one? I think it's more to have them here."
Valenzuela reiterated to the crowd he has been in continuous talks with the San Angelo Police Officers Coalition and hopes to come to a resolution by January. He said these things take time.
After the meeting, SAPOC released a letter to citizens thanking those who have spoken up for the officers in the SAPD.
It reads:
"To the Citizens of Our Community,
I am aware of a group of citizens that spoke up in today's City Council meeting regarding the ongoing pay issues with the Police Department. On behalf of the men and women in the Police Department we represent, I would like to thank you. We truly appreciate the support that our community has continuously shown our Department and our Officers. San Angelo is a great place to live and many of you are aware of the potential mass exodus of Officers due to non-competitive wages and benefits. I would like to inform you of what the Association is doing to help prevent this from happening.
The Association has been in contact with City Manager, Daniel Valenzuela, along with other City Leadership. Currently the City Leadership has re-approached us in good faith with a potential short-term financial offer. The plan now is to attempt to reach some sort of contract agreement between the City and the Men and Women of the Police Department. If a contract deal can be made it would be a step in the right direction for the future. This would be a short-term compromise in an attempt to address our compensation issues with the City of San Angelo. If no agreement can be made the Association would seek help from the citizens of the community and attempt to conduct a pay referendum. Time will tell which will be the better option for our Membership. Unfortunately, time will not be on our side, before some of our Officer's continue to apply for more competitive paying departments. Thank you for your support and we will keep you informed of this ongoing Public Safety Issue.
President
Noel L Anderson"
This is a developing story. More information will be posted as it becomes available from the City, as well as SAPOC.