CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to City employment; authorizing the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding between The City of Seattle and the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild; establishing a premium pay for staffing special events and allowing additional flexibility in the City’s use of non-commissioned employees to staff special events; commencing a Dual Dispatch Alternative Response Pilot Project; removing the geographical limitation of park rangers to Downtown parks; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.
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WHEREAS, The City of Seattle (the “City”) permits many large festivals and events to take place throughout the year, requiring various levels of police presence to ensure public safety, crowd control, and traffic control; and
WHEREAS, reduced staffing levels in the Seattle Police Department have required the City to fill the majority of required police positions at special events through mandatory overtime; and
WHEREAS, some work at special events does not require the skills of commissioned officers and may be performed by non-commissioned employees; and
WHEREAS, the City and the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild (the “Guild”) have had in place since April 24, 2008, a Letter of Agreement limiting the geographical scope within which the City may use park rangers in Downtown parks; and
WHEREAS, the City and the Guild have worked collaboratively to establish an Alternative Response Program Pilot in the city of Seattle, allowing for Community Crisis Responders to respond to non-emergency situations; and
WHEREAS, the City and the Guild entered into negotiations, and came to a tentative agreement regarding staffing issues at special events, the City’s Dual Dispatch Alternative Response Pilot Project, and the use of park rangers in City parks, as memorialized in the attached Memorandum of Understanding; and
WHEREAS, the City Council will consider an amendment to the 2024 Budget, currently under review, to cover compensation items authorized in the attached Memorandum of Understanding; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. As requested by the Seattle Human Resources Director and recommended by the Mayor, the Mayor is authorized on behalf of the City to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the Guild, substantially in the form attached to this ordinance as Attachment 1 and identified as “Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Seattle and the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild.”
Section 2. Special Event Premium and Staffing Special Events. For Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 special events that occur between October 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, all Guild bargaining unit members who work a special event will be paid a special event premium of $225. The special event premium is a fixed-rate premium that will be paid in addition to any overtime rate otherwise applicable to the hours worked.
For special events that occur between January 2, 2024, and January 2, 2026, all Guild bargaining unit members who volunteer during the volunteer period and who are selected to work special events, as set forth in and in accordance with the attached Memorandum of Understanding, shall be paid a special event premium of $225 for working a special event. The special event premium is a fixed-rate premium that will be paid in addition to the overtime rate otherwise applicable to the hours worked.
Special event assignments that occur between January 2, 2024, and January 2, 2026, may be filled by limited commissioned/non-commissioned personnel as set forth in the attached Memorandum of Understanding.
Section 3. Dual Dispatch Alternative Response Pilot Project. The City will conduct a Dual Dispatch Alternative Response Pilot Project, beginning in the fall of 2023 and running through 2025, as set forth in the attached Memorandum of Understanding. The goal of the pilot project is to evaluate ways to diversify the City’s emergency response options in a collaborative approach with law enforcement. The Memorandum of Understanding sets forth the parameters upon which the City and the Guild have agreed, which will allow the City to conduct the pilot in a safe and effective manner.
Section 4. Park Rangers in City Parks. As set forth in the attached Memorandum of Understanding, the City and the Guild will modify their 2008 Letter of Agreement (“LOA”) to remove the geographical limitation confining park rangers to Downtown parks. Park rangers may operate in any City park, subject to the other limitations remaining in the 2008 LOA.
Section 5. Any act consistent with the authority of this ordinance and prior to its effective date is ratified and confirmed.
Section 6. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force 30 days after its approval by the Mayor, but if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten days after presentation, it shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Section 1.04.020.
Passed by the City Council the ________ day of _________________________, 2023, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this ________ day of _________________________, 2023.
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President ____________ of the City Council
Approved / returned unsigned / vetoed this _____ day of _________________, 2023.
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Bruce A. Harrell, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2023.
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Scheereen Dedman, City Clerk
(Seal)
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Seattle and the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild