PORTSMOUTH
The city's police officers and firefighters may finally see their salaries become more competitive with the wages of public safety workers in nearby localities.
The City Council has convened a special meeting Tuesday to vote on a retention plan for Portsmouth's sworn public safety officers, who have complained for years about low pay.
"We are playing catch-up for something that's been talked about for literally a decade," Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas said.
Portsmouth leaders hope to allocate about $2.3 million in the upcoming budget year to bring public safety pay up to the regional average, based on results of a recent study the city commissioned of police and fire salaries from Williamsburg to Virginia Beach.
"We're all surprised the cost was less than anticipated," Vice Mayor Bill Moody Jr. said, noting that the city has a budget of about $560 million. "The community has certainly wanted us to do this for a while."
Portsmouth has 260 sworn police positions, 31 of which are open, according to department records. The fire department has 236 sworn positions, six of which are vacant, department spokesman Capt. Paul Hoyle said.
"We've been a revolving door, and we've been a training ground," Jim Swan, president of Portsmouth's Fraternal Order of Police, said.
Psimas said the salary adjustment won't significantly increase the pay for newly hired public safety officers. However, she said, some more experienced officers could see an increase of 10 percent, or thousands of dollars.
"And those are the folks, quite frankly, we want to keep," she said.
Earlier this year, the Fraternal Order of Police took out radio ads and billboards describing Portsmouth's police officers as the lowest-paid in the region. In May, supporters for higher police pay marched outside City Hall with signs.
The council has been discussing the need to address public safety retention for the past few years, Councilman Doug Smith said.
According to the proposal, the new pay plan would begin next year on July 1. A fter Jan. 1, the city also would pay more than $113,000 to address the salaries of sworn supervisory police and firefighters, City Manager Kenneth Chandler said.
Under the plan, firefighters and police officers would be paid based on years of service, Chandler said. Currently an officer who is promoted to lieutenant can make more than a lieutenant who has held the position for years, Psimas said.
Also, Portsmouth's public safety officers would finally have some idea of what their salaries might be five or 10 years down the road, Swan said.
The city pays about $50,000 each to pay, train and equip starting police and firefighters, Chandler said. Portsmouth loses that investment when public safety workers, generally after they've worked for the city for one to three years, move on to other cities for higher pay, he said.
Because they are members of the Virginia Retirement System, their benefits are portable to other cities such as Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, he said.
As a result, Portsmouth has a lower number of officers and firefighters with four to 10 years of service, Chandler said.
If adopted, the city's proposed pay plan would slow down the departure of public safety officers, Swan said.
"I've already talked to a few people who have said, 'I'm going to wait until July and see what happens,' " Swan said.
So will city leaders see more billboards from the Fraternal Order of Police anytime soon?
"I won't say no," Swan said. "If everything follows through, there will be a billboard, but it won't be bad. It will be a thank you."
Staff writer Matthew Bowers contributed to this report.
Jen McCaffery, (757) 446-2627, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com
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Once again, I ask
What about the civilians who work for the police and fire depts? I realize that the PD sees us as second class citizens, I see and hear that everyday, but the city council as well? Try to run the PD or the FD without civilians to cover for them, it won't work.
Well...
It's not like they just started asking for a competitive raise yesterday. To mention anything about hard eceonomic times has nothing to do with the fact that they've been asking for a raise comparable to other nearby forces for decades.
Commendable and long overdue!
City Council should be commended for finally acting to correct inadequate police pay. In these times of economic stress and hardships we must keep our police force a top priority, let's put them at the top and keep them there! The P=town police are among the finest and deserve these raises. The Sheriff's Dept. should be paid equitable with comparable Sheriff's Departments not police departments, simple fact is- they are not our police department and need to stop "acting" as if they are!
First and foremost,
First and foremost, Portsmouth Police Department sworn have deserved pay raises and been underpaid for way too long. It is unfortunate that the Department has been a proving ground for many years and lost many valuable officers to other locales. I was laid off October 7th and received my letter from the City Manager in total disbelief. Of course, I was a few months away from being vested for retirement and would cost the City some of the funds they misappropriated on a useless and non-used roundabout and a fiasco with the former Central Methodist Church on Washington Street.
I have always said, "Portsmouth can't help itself," and am happy to have moved on to a better, and more SANE, life elsewhere.
Wake up voters in the Portsmouth "dysfunctional" family!
Hey cole
You must be a city employee. If you feel so strongly about city employees losing their jobs you should expend your energy cutting back the bloated 50 million dollar social services budget that way you could keep your job and public safety people could get their raise also.
well I guess
shame on us then...How much of a socialist do you have to be Cole? Your theory is its better to have lots of underpaid workers rather than give the Public Safety employees a raise that has been overdue for years? Sorry to see anyone lose their job but its a fact of life. Its also a fact that until management does something to stop the flow of Public Safety to other cities its going to cost the citizens of Portsmouth more in the long run. Get over it, Stalin.
Dear jb59807
You must be a Portsmouth Council Member. Please tell tell that to those that have already lost their jobs and to the other 200 still holding their breaths that they won't be on the list the first of the year. In this hard economic time of job losses, forclosures, wall street, etc., everyone should be thankful just to have a job. I am not saying that PPD and PFD do not need a raise, absolutely they need and should have a raise. But for those who are screaming for a raise when fellow co-workers are being laid off I say shame on you.
PAY RAISE
It is about time the city stops the bleeding. These guys deserve a good pay plan that allows them to keep up with the economy. Every public safety employee knows they will not get rich doing the job, but they should be paid the market average for the area in which they work. They put their lives on the line during every shift and all they want is a fair pay plan. To me this is not much to ask for.
response to Stevenm
What do you mean? The police are getting something out of this aren't they?
hooray!! for the Sworn folks
Guess this means the civilians of the police dept are making enough??/
Dear Cole:
The city employees who lost their jobs were mostly for duplicate and no-longer-needed services. Portsmouth still has way too many people working in the social services sector. The other cities in Hampton Roads has long pushed their low wage earners and social service recipients into our city for us to take care of. The balance is starting to turn back to the other cities, so we don't need as many people to administer those programs. We should all be happy about that. No one is guaranteed a job for life, even government workers. As far as the police and fire departments, giving those folks a raise will save us money in the long run. If we can retain offices that we've paid to train we win both monetarily and by having forces with greater experience. So, I don't see where you see that the city is slapping anyone in the face. Circumstances change in every industry, including city government.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas said.
As always..........Lip Service!!!!!
My Friends are Long Overdue
I have been a resident for many years here in Portsmouth and have found that the Police and Fire Fighters are the best around in service and in personalities. To listen to many years of not just complaints but actual begging of these employees to be treated with competitive pay has been tough. Right now is a difficult time in the economy but I fully stand behind my elected officials and City when they say they want to fix pay for OUR friends.
i saw nothing
In the article that mentioned the Sheriffs department. Last time I checked they were sworn Public Safety officers also.
Unreal...
What a smack in the face to those city employees that recently lost their jobs with further lay-offs coming in January and March.
Please Give our Officers and Firefighters A Respectable Raise
I am a resident of Portsmouth. Portsmouth is a great city to live in. I've said it before and I will keep saying the same until I see otherwise. Portsmouth is a sleeping giant. I love the city! And... I've experienced great feedback and assistance from city council. The Portsmouth Police and firefighters are first-class. I visit my fire station on occasion and they all are quite hospitable. They deserve a raise. I thank God for them! They are my 'friends.' Happy New Year (pay increase) to our wonderful servants and their families!
wow
I think their priorities are mixed up.
Public Safety Pay Raise
Don't hold your breath; the city of Portsmouth would rather build a "round-about / traffic circle," or fight a church in reference to issuing a $75 building permit than invest in Public Safety Officers.