Nick Marolda, president of West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association, sent a letter Tuesday to City Manager Tony Delgado and Lakeland Police Chief Ruben Garcia seeking extra pay for lieutenants, sergeants, and officers working on the front lines against the virus. Read Marolda’s letter click here
Lakeland is joining in a larger effort with police associations to seek hazard pay for workers through the pandemic.
Delgado said to the Mayor and Commissioners: “Accordingly, staff will evaluate any proposal sent forth by the West Central Florida PBA and provide the pertinent data to you as policymakers prior to any further discussions on the request. I believe it is important to note that we have a myriad of mission-critical employees throughout the City including the Fire Department, Electric Utilities, Water Utilities, Public Works (Garbage Collection) and other designations that would also need to be evaluated within the context of this request. I wanted to forward this correspondence to you in advance of the traditional media discussion taking place both statewide and locally in response to the Lakeland PBA posting the correspondence on their social media webpage. Some municipalities have implemented some levels of “Pandemic Pay” as requested. however, nothing has been standardized.”
In an email Delgado’s response to Marolda, “I certainly appreciate the request from the PBA and while I cannot discount the great work being done by all first responders in these trying times. I would be remiss not to respond that it would be extremely difficult financially for the City of Lakeland to administer additionally “Pandemic Pay” (retroactive to March 9th or otherwise) to any mission-critical group at this time without significantly impacting both the short and long finances of the City. As you have noted in your correspondence, the length of this challenge is unknown and those fiscal impacts may necessitate other, more significant, measures to maintain normal operations within the City.
West Central Florida Police
Benevolent Association
Again, the community and I appreciate the efforts of each and every first responder and mission critical public servant. There is no denying that regardless of the current situation, the position carries inherent challenges. I appreciate the request being made by the PBA on a statewide basis and I am always open to discuss any issue you see pertinent.”
“With the length of time this challenge will take and continue to go on, it will make an impact on our fiscal operations,” he said.
Delgado said the city’s hurricane expenses, including emergency personnel salary, are reimbursable from the Federal Emergency Management Agency if properly documented. It hasn’t been made clear if the personnel costs for COVID-19′s impact will be, according to Delgado.
The city and Lakeland police officers were already at odds over fair wages prior to COVID-19′s arrival in Polk. The police union’s three-year contract with Lakeland expired Sept. 30, 2019, and its members have continued working under the old terms — or “status quo” — until a new agreement could be struck.
The city and PBA’s negotiation teams sat down for more than nine hours on March 13 at the RP Funding Center with a third-party arbitrator. No agreement could be reached. Marolda said the PBA has since declared an impasse and will bring the matter up before a judge.