Chief, some officers to meet
Honeyfield urges talks with 'disgruntled' cops

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — City Manager Eric Honeyfield said he is encouraging Police Chief Sylvester Stanley to meet with the local police union to discuss the concerns that led to the issuance of a "no confidence vote" in the department's top cop.

More than half of the uniformed patrol officers voted no confidence in Stanley last month.

Honeyfield said both parties participated in a session on May 29 to discuss their expectations for upcoming negotiations and the money available for an increase in officer pay.

"We were cordial on the heels of the no confidence vote," Honeyfield said.

The police union approved the vote of no confidence on May 25 to voice their disapproval of how the department's administration is managing the agency's personnel, budget and staffing. The union consists of 42 Gallup police officers who hold the rank of sergeant and below.

The police department consists of 57 officers and management personnel, of that number 46 officers are eligible for police union membership. However, four of the 46 eligible officers do not participate in the union for various reasons that include enrollment in the police academy or being in field training. About 93 percent of the 28 union members who voted on the issue, approved the vote of no confidence, which indicates about 57 percent of the 46 officers who are eligible for union membership approved the decision.

Sgt. Franklin Boyd, a spokesman for the police union, issued a memo to police union members in which he acknowledged " Mayor (Harry) Mendoza's efforts and support for the police department" and thanked "him for ... the much needed increase in the manpower of the uniformed patrol division as well as his effort to increase police benefits in whatever form it may come in."

The memo also discussed a Feb. 14 mayoral forum in which union representatives asked the candidates "In the ideal situation, do you feel four patrol officers and two supervisors for each 12 hours shift is an adequate number of officers to handle this volume ( 76, 189 responses in 2006) of calls and why?"

Mendoza reportedly said the number of officers was not adequate .

"He (Mendoza) then made reference for the need to revisit the five-year union contract, that there needs to be more officers and he made reference to better benefits to accomplish this," the memo reads.

Union representatives also noted they did not notice any other parties, including Chief Stanley, advocating on the officers' behalf.

"The Gallup Police Union stands behind its majority no-confidence vote, which does not represent a 'few disgruntled' employees," Boyd wrote.

Honeyfield has said several officers are "disgruntled" because they were reassigned from office positions to patrol positions at Mendoza's recommendation. He said he wants to delineate between some officers' grievance issues and issues that relate to the department including the current labor, which outlines officers' salaries.

"We are working to try and reopen the contract to return officer pay to the market value." Honeyfield said.

Meanwhile, union officials encouraged officers "to continue to serve (their) community with (their) best efforts and sound professionalism ..."