Oak Bluffs Police Receive Overtime Pay

By CHRIS BURRELL

Oak Bluffs police officers are about to receive the kind of windfall
most employees only dream of - getting paid for hours never
worked.

Acting decisively on a grievance filed by the police union back in
September 2001, an arbitrator last month ruled that former police chief
Joseph Carter wrongly bypassed regular police officers when it came to
filling overtime shifts.

"The employer violated the collective bargaining agreement in
its assignment of special police officers rather than regular police
officers to fill vacant shifts," states the arbitrator's
report obtained by the Gazette this week.

A clear win for the police union, the decision not only sharply
criticizes the actions of Mr. Carter but also sets the stage for a
monetary settlement that could force the town to hand over as much as
$100,000 to nine officers.

"It's a very unfortunate thing to be in a position of
having to pay people who didn't work," said town
administrator Casey Sharpe. "It puts us in a very untenable
position."

The union is now working out the terms of a settlement with police
and town leaders, which is expected in two weeks. Selectmen could also
decide to appeal the arbitrator's ruling.

The police union filed the grievance a year and a half ago,
complaining that then Chief Carter was breaching the terms of their
contract, routinely offering overtime or open shifts to less experienced
and lower-paid special police officers.

Those shifts were supposed to be offered on a first-refusal basis to
the regular officers, but the former chief opted to hire the special
officers to save money, the report stated.

Now, less than two months after Mr. Carter resigned his post to take
over as chief of the transit police in Boston, it's obvious that
his money-saving move backfired, leaving Oak Bluffs officials to dip
back into town coffers in the midst of dismal budget shortfalls.

"That's a lot of money for us right now when things are
awful tight," said John Lolley, chairman of the Oak Bluffs finance
committee.

Police union president James Morse said union members are pleased
with the "very favorable" decision rendered by arbitrator
Lawrence E. Katz of Newton.

But Officer Morse would not comment on whether the union grievance
was spurred by the fact that in the summer of 2001 former Chief Carter
had just collected his own overtime paycheck for $67,882, an amount
almost equal to his annual salary of $70,000.

The former chief's overtime pay, when made public in August
2001, touched off a controversy and awakened the scrutiny of the finance
committee which began questioning whether Mr. Carter's contract
entitled him to the hefty paycheck or simply to accrue hours and take
time off later.

While the 43-page decision from Mr. Katz makes no reference to Mr.
Carter's sizable overtime pay which totaled just under $100,000
over three years, it reveals that the former chief was very concerned
about rationing the police department's overtime budget when it
came to assigning shifts to officers.

"The chief decided to give first preference for shift
vacancies to special officers, rather than regular officers, as a means
of conserving the limited funds available in the additional salary
account," the report stated. "The chief acknowledged that if
there were no financial constraints, it would be advantageous from a
public safety viewpoint to assign these shift vacancies to a more highly
trained regular officer than to a less highly trained special
officer."

Special officers, according to the report, go through a total of 120
hours of police training, not the full police academy training that
regular officers must complete.

The arbitrator's report also reveals that the issue of
assigning vacant shifts was an ongoing source of friction between the
police officers and former Chief Carter. Back in 1998, former officer
and union president Alan Kallman filed a similar grievance, complaining
that the former chief was failing to follow the terms of the contract.

But when Mr. Carter told Officer Kallman that the line item for
additional salaries would be exhausted if he abided by the terms in the
contract, the grievance was settled with both parties agreeing to
continue with the past practice.

It wasn't until nearly three years later - after news of
Mr. Carter's own overtime settlement made front page news -
that the police union raised the issue again with a formal grievance.

According to the report, the renewed grievance raised tensions
within the police department. Regular Officer Damien Harris filed one of
the grievances, saying he had been "improperly bypassed" for
an available shift that went to a special officer.

Mr. Carter denied the grievance, expressing concern about a
"potential shortage of overtime funds." The former chief
told Mr. Katz he was "dismayed" by the complaints.

In the wake of the new grievances, the report stated, Officer Morse
was concerned about threats that officers would receive no overtime
shift until the dispute was resolved.

"Morse then noted that for December 2001, special officers had
been assigned to 35 of 39 listed shift vacancies," the report
stated.

Mr. Katz wrote in his concluding remarks: "The evidence
indicated that the ongoing bypass of the regular officers was also based
on a desire to retaliate against them and/or the union, due to their
failure to accept the proposed settlement."

The arbitrator also voiced concern for the consequences of such
actions, arguing that following the letter of the contract would have
"enhanced public safety."

Finally, Mr. Katz made it clear that police officers denied the
opportunity to work extra shifts now deserved to be paid.

"Regular officers adversely affected by the ongoing violation
of the provision in and after September 2001," Mr. Katz wrote,
"should be made whole for any overtime pay that they lost."