The Mesquite Police Association is asking the city council to consider changing a policy they say keeps officers from getting fair pay.
Under the pay parity policy in the city charter, police make the same amount as fire fighters – but less than officers in nearby comparable cities like Arlington and Plano.
MPA President Bruce Sales said the parity policy is holding officers back from receiving competitive pay for the job they do.
“Several other cities used to have it,” Sales said. “They've all done away with it because it's a broken concept that doesn't reflect the day and time that we're in to where we are.”
In a letter sent to city leaders, the MPA noted Mesquite officers rank last in terms of salary among eight cities: Starting salary in Mesquite is $77,548; the highest pay is in Plano, where a starting officer makes $86,922.
“The dire salary situation that the City has placed the police department into affects not only Officers, but also Sergeants, Lieutenants, Deputy Chiefs, and Assistant Chiefs,” the letter reads.
Members of the association have attended several city council meetings to draw attention to the issue and ask leaders to consider a pay that’s “fair market value.”
“Since we have last been here and spoken in front of you, the Mesquite Police Department has lost two fine officers to other local departments,” Eric Vasquez, an MPA board member and Mesquite police officer, told the city council Monday.
Vasquez said it’s not an issue of police vs. fire.
“Any conversation about money is uncomfortable, but it is necessary," Vazquez said. “We do not want to fight or have tension with our fire department; in no way are we trying to take anything away from them.”
Mesquite City Manager Cliff Keheley declined an interview with KERA, saying in a statement it would be “premature.”
“This is something we are evaluating for budget and have not completed our data gathering or analysis,” he wrote. “The council currently has a policy that police officer and firefighter pay is equal. It would be a council decision to change that policy."
So far, Sales said they've not been able to get on the city council agenda for a change in pay parity policy to be a consideration.
Sales said they’ve been meeting with the city manager and council members informally for years to try to make this happen, and only recently decided to take the matter public during council meetings after not getting any traction.
“We don't believe it should be a public thing,” he said. “This should be a very policy driven decision to where the leadership of our city can sit down and go, ‘Guys, we have a policy that doesn't make sense, and we need to change that.”
Sales said the MPA will continue to show up to council meetings and are hoping to get the support of the council to push this policy change forward.
“In our eyes, we're not gonna be able to fairly compensate our police officers unless we get rid of this policy,” Sales said. “That's kind of where we stand, and that's why we've started coming to the council meetings to hopefully drive some interest.”
Priscilla Rice is KERA’s communities reporter. Got a tip? Email her at price@kera.org.
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