This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 10 2011 - The St. Louis Police Officers Association is announcing a deal that will result in a dramatic change in an initiative-petition effort aimed at persuading voters in 2012 to give St. Louis control of its police department.
Under the agreement, a campaign group funded by financier Rex Sinquefield will drop its five proposals for an initiative petition -- already cleared for distribution -- that would have changed the state constitution to transfer control to the city.
Instead, the group known as "A Safer Missouri" would circulate a proposed change in state law -- or proposition -- to transfer control of the police force, but retain constitutional and pension protections for the department's current and retired officers.
Nancy Rice, spokeswoman for A Safer Missouri, confirmed in a statement that the group on Friday had filed the new language in an initiative-petition proposal submitted with the secretary of state's office.
The wording would be identical to the bill, crafted in part by Mayor Francis Slay, that died in the General Assembly during the most recent regular and special sessions. The state House had passed the bill both times, but it was killed in the Senate.
"Today we filed new language with the secretary of state in our ongoing effort to gain local control of the St. Louis Police Department for the citizens of St. Louis. This language mirrors the language that we supported in the General Assembly," Rice said.
"We are proud to work for this initiative which we believe honors the historic agreement reached between St. Louis city and the St. Louis Police Officers Association and believe that it's the first step to a closer and more productive working relationship between St. Louis' Police Department and its citizens."
Slay also has signed on to the new deal.
He wrote on his blog, "The St. Louis Police Officers Association has stood by its pledged support of an orderly transition from a state-controlled department to one that is controlled locally. The Association announced today that it had reached terms with representatives of A Safer Missouri on the wording of a statewide ballot initiative proposal that will change laws to authorize the change. I look forward to the campaign, which I will support vigorously."
If approved by Missouri voters, the switchover would take place on July 1, 2013. The proposed proposition would apply only to St. Louis and not affect state control of Kansas City's police force.
One benefit for Sinquefield's group is that an initiative-petition drive for a proposition requires far fewer signatures to get on the ballot, compared to a constitutional proposal.
More importantly, the deal calls for the association to drop its lawsuit against the Sinquefield group. The suit had challenged the legality of various aspects of the five original initiative petitions.
As part of the agreement, the St. Louis Police Association will back the proposed proposition. Association business manager Jeff Roorda called the agreement "a monumental compromise."
"This is the way things are supposed to work," he said. "We came to the table and shared our concerns with the idea of local control of the department with our opposition. They negotiated with us to reach terms on protecting cops' pensions and benefits and keeping the department free from undue political interference.
"We reached an accord that both sides could live with," Roorda added.
He said that all sides were going the initiative-petition route because of the failure of the General Assembly to act. "We were hoping to advance the compromise through the legislature, but as long as they are bogged down in squabbles over separate issues beyond our control, we have no choice but to pursue the compromise that we reached through the ballot box," Roorda said. "We just ran out of time for cooler heads to prevail in the legislature."
The agreement is supported by the new association president, David Bonenberger, who had ousted the previous president a few weeks ago. Bonenberger had been leery of the local control efforts, reflecting concerns from some police officers. The state has overseen St. Louis' police force for 150 years.
"I've been very outspoken about my concerns with the city controlling the police department," Bonenberger said. "However, in the face of a constitutional amendment that we could not live with, reaching an accord on a statutory proposition that better protected the pensions and benefits of our active members, retirees, and their families was our best case scenario."