February 9, 2001

Mayor and Councilmembers:

Well, the rubber met the road, and the city manager and the APA have rejected all real oversight in the meet and confer agreement. No protection the Sunshine Project considered significant has been left part of the oversight package. Nothing in this neutered document increases accountability one iota from where we are now. The altered system is completely closed and toothless. It would be better to do nothing.

A 650 person poll by the LBJ school last fall said 87 percent of Austinites want civilian oversight of police. Please don't insult them and us by pretending that anything about this gutted oversight deal is acceptable. It is not.

The APA and city manager completely betrayed this process. Council set up the process the way you did on the grounds that if the union had signed off on the POFG already, it could be included in the contract. There was no reason for APA to be on the POFG if they got a SECOND shot at rewriting the agreement behind closed doors. Moreover, the city manager has flaunted council's instructions to include the POFG agreement "in it's entirety" in the contract and to have council appoint oversight board members.

Reject the meet and confer agreement on the grounds that oversight has been stymied. Send it back to tell the city manager and APA the fat raise they're asking for will be granted when the city gets an unadulterated POFG agreement.

Sincerely,
Scott Henson
Sunshine Project