DATE: Wednesday, June 4, 1997               TAG: 9706040006

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Opinion 

SOURCE: BY MIKE McKENNA, ROGER HUNGERFORD, AL LAMOSO and DONNA RIPLEY 

                                            LENGTH:   71 lines

ANOTHER VIEW: DON'T DELAY NORFOLK POLICE DEPARTMENT RAISES

We, as members of the Norfolk Police Employee Relations Committee, are writing on behalf of the 500-plus police officers and corporals of the Norfolk Police Department in response to an editorial in your paper on May 10 (Bigger pay must wait''), which stated that employees just have to wait for a raise or pay adjustment until the mall and other developments generate revenue.

From an employee's perspective: In the early 1990s our pay was frozen; then the pay plan was revised, which changed annual increments from 5 percent to 2.47 percent; and finally we received a one-half of 1 percent pay adjustment (about $6 to $8 a pay period).

We completed a detailed study which showed Norfolk's police officers were underpaid compared with other municipalities of the same size nationwide. We were told that we needed to use the six comparison municipalities established by City Council for our pay study. We completed a study using that information, as did Norfolk's Department of Human Resources. Based on that study, we rank fifth of the six municipalities in pay.

Finally, after a lot of effort, we managed to see our retirement system changed last year so that Norfolk police and fire retirements are equitable when compared nationally and locally. Now the retirement system change is being factored into the city's pay study.

During all of this we have seen the opera house refurbished, the Granby municipal building renovated (with its associated multimillion-dollar cost overrun), Harbor Park and Nauticus built, the water-treatment plant renovated to support increased capacity for Virginia Beach (and its associated multimillion-dollar cost overrun), millions of dollars poured into an as yet nonexistent computer system for regional criminal enforcement, and the mall started. There was even the possibility that Norfolk was going to build a new arena for a professional hockey team. When Harbor Park and Nauticus were being built, we were told revenue generated by those attractions could be used to improve benefits.

We have witnessed council ignore a petition signed by enough voters for a ballpark/Nauticus referendum. They then believed the over-optimistic Nauticus attendance figures, restructured Nauticus loan payments because of poor attendance and poor revenue, and finally absorbed Nauticus in a city department. Nauticus has a budget of $2.6 million this year.

Norfolk's bond debt service has increased from $21 million (about 7 percent of the operating budget) in 1992 to $53 million (more than 10 percent of the operating budget) in 1997. As a result of having to pay off Norfolk's increased debt, services provided to citizens have been cut. This year the Police Department's budget was reduced by $400,000 from last year's budget. Also, our bond rating recently fell, meaning future loans will be at a higher interest rate.

Recently, employees have suffered through the implementation of a new payroll computer system which caused a lot of police officers to be underpaid and which incorrectly calculated annual vacations. The problems with the new payroll system necessitated an extensive audit of records and a considerable expenditure of manpower. Employees also observed the city's use of a new computer system which improperly billed citizens and businesses for utility costs.

The crowning blow came last year when council members voted themselves a $5,000 pay raise - a 20 percent increase in pay for a part-time job - and then got themselves included in the city's retirement system.

The editorial stated that ``boosting pay beyond what is recommended must wait.'' Employees have been waiting and watching as millions have been mismanaged. Employees have repeatedly been told we must wait, only to see millions spent elsewhere. It's unfortunate that the public memory is short. The Police Union will be working on improving its recollection for future elections. MEMO: Officer Mike McKenna is chairman of the Norfolk Police Employee

Relations Committee. Cpl. Roger Hungerford, Cpl. Al Lamoso and Officer

Donna Ripley are members.

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