Gallup cops unhappy
Police union votes no confidence in chief

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The local police union issued a vote of no confidence in Gallup Police Chief Sylvester Stanley on Friday morning.

Ninety-five percent of the 25 union members who voted on the issue approved the vote of no confidence to voice their disapproval of how the department's administration is managing the agency's personnel, budget and staffing.

"This should serve as a wake-up call to the administration on how the department is being handled," Union President Sid Sautelle said on behalf of the Gallup Police Union.

The union consists of local police officers who rank below sergeant. Sautelle said the votes were cast through secret ballot and were later destroyed to maintain each member's privacy.

Sautelle declined to discuss the union's specific concerns that led to the no confidence vote because he didn't want to "paint the issues" before negotiations could be conducted between police officials and union members. However, he did say the union's officers do not plan to strike because of their concerns.

"We want to do the best job we can for the Gallup community," Sautelle said.

City Manger Eric Honeyfield suspects the union's vote was issued out of concern about the current labor agreement that outlines officers' wages. The current agreement or contract is not set to expire for another two years; however, local officials plan to reconsider the contract because it doesn't meet the current market value for police officers' salaries.

Honeyfield said officials didn't expect the market value to increase as much as it has within the last few years. He said it was Stanley's idea to re-evaluate the contract. "Basically, they're (officers) about to get a pay raise two years early," Honeyfield said. Honeyfield said several officers are also "disgruntled" because they were re-assigned from office positions to patrol positions at the recommendation of Mayor Harry Mendoza. Mendoza recently called for more officers on the street rather than in administrative positions. Honeyfield said he stands behind Stanley and Mendoza.

"It's a shame they took this route," Honeyfield said of the union's vote. "You normally don't want to insult those you want to influence."

Sautelle said he has open door policy when it comes to the administration and he looks forward to discussing the union's concerns.