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Zephyrhills police get ear of council member

The city manager listens to Gina King after she met with officers, but he says they should have followed the chain of command.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published August 16, 2005

ZEPHYRHILLS - City Council member Gina King sees herself lending an ear to beleaguered police officers.

Not everyone is happy to hear it.

With a staffing shortage on the force, King says several officers have approached her recently to air their frustration at working hours and hours of mandatory overtime. She asked how, as a council member, she could help their situation.

"If you could have one thing what would it be?" she said she asked them. "More staff," they said, "so they could get some reprieve from all the overtime."

And King says the officers talked about other problems, some with police Chief Russell Barnes, though she has declined to elaborate.

So after meeting with about 20 officers at the Police Department on July 20, and informally at other times, King took their issues to City Manager Steve Spina.

The two met for nearly three hours, with King making clear that she wants to see an improvement in conditions at the Police Department.

"The meeting we had was very good," Spina said. "She laid out what some of the issues were. I took pretty good notes, and I talked to the chief about them."

But Spina is bothered by what he says is a violation by King of the city charter. It specifies a chain of command, directing employees with grievances to first seek help from their supervisor, department head, city manager, then last, the City Council.

"She should have, in my opinion, told those officers that they need to go through the process," Spina said. "If they don't get anywhere, then definitely, they have the right to go to council."

He sees her meetings with rank-and-file employees as disruptive.

"I'm just worried about a blurring of the rules where they (council members) are supposed to set policy and I'm supposed to implement it, and she's circumventing that.

"If I'm not in the loop, I can't follow up and make sure the questions get answered. It would be pretty chaotic here if every council member was being lobbied by employees."

King counters that it was the officers who approached her.

"Things kind of really came to a boiling point, and so several of them contacted me," she said, adding that Spina was on vacation when she met with the officers. "Steve was upset with me because I listened to them. But I didn't act on anything. I told them I was going to meet with the city manager."

Barnes, who has held the chief's position since November 2003, recognizes that officers are overworked because of covering for each other during training, vacations and sick time. That's why he is lobbying for more positions.

He had little to say about King's meeting with officers.

"It's an unusual occurrence. That's all I have to say about it right now," he said.

King said the officers she has met with, whom she declined to name, also expressed interest in talking to other council members. They complained that they are the lowest-paid law enforcement agency in the county, and they had questions about the city budget.

"They don't want to have any repercussions, and I don't want them to either," she said. "I'm trying to help them as far as having my support on the council."

Spina said he is willing to consider King's budget suggestions and look at the numbers again.

As far as personnel matters are concerned, he said he wants city policy to be respected.

"It's a better idea to follow the procedures and follow the charter," he said.

--Molly Moorhead covers news about Zephyrhills. She can be reached at 352 521-6521 or toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6521. Her e-mail address is moorhead@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 16, 2005, 01:29:18]