Former officer awaits offer from borough
BROWNSVILLE – Former Brownsville police officer Kevin Harris and Teamsters Local 491 are waiting to see what kind of counter offer Brownsville Borough intends to present to the officer whose job was eliminated during the December budget crunch. Harris was two days short of completing his six-month probationary period as a full-time officer when he received notice that he would not be retained. The mailed notice arrived several days after the council meeting at which the action was taken, but Harris already knew about his termination.
“I found out by reading it in the newspaper,” Harris said.
Harris had worked part-time as a borough police officer since September 2004 and was hired as a full-time officer July 1, 2006. His probationary period was to end Dec. 31, 2006. Like all of the borough’s police officers, Harris had been laid off Dec. 8 because of budget problems in the borough.
At the same time that Harris received his termination letter, the Teamsters Union Local 491 representative Vito Dragone received a letter from the borough saying that the 2007 budget only supported two full-time officers, with a small increase for pay and benefits.
The letter to Dragone listed as a separate item the fact that council voted not to retain Harris as a regular full-time officer.
On Jan. 8, 2007, Dragone filed a grievance on behalf of Harris asking that Harris be restored to his former position and be made whole for all lost wages and benefits. Dragone said negotiations were subsequently held with the public safety committee of borough council on March 6 and a settlement agreement was negotiated.
“What we did was we came up with the resolution, a tentative agreement between all parties that would reinstate Kevin to his position, then immediately lay him off. He would have seniority rights to be recalled within 18 months,” Dragone said.
Dragone said the settlement was equitable to all parties and wouldn’t cost the borough any money above Harris’ salary if he were to be called back to work.
“It could cost $8,000 to $10,000 for all parties to litigate this,” Dragone said. “We felt we had reached an agreement in good faith.”
Dragone said Harris’ termination and the rejection of the tentative agreement indicates to him that council has an agenda that goes beyond the budgetary issues.
“If there weren’t any other full-time people to be hired, what’s the problem with it? Now the question comes up, why did they lay Kevin off two days before the end of his probationary period? To me, that means there really is an odor about it,” Dragone said. “If there wasn’t a smell to it, why wouldn’t they sign off on the agreement? If they acted in the right manner, then obviously what we have proposed is a reasonable agreement. Obviously they liked him well enough to move him from part-time to full-time.”
The borough’s solicitor, Melinda Dellarose, declined to comment on the issue since it is in litigation.
“The borough is looking at every angle and considering all our options,” Dellarose said.