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Arbitration Talks With City Police, Firefighters Should Be Open To The Public

City contracts with the unions representing police officers and firefighters are headed to binding arbitration through the Public Employee Relations Board. In past years the binding arbitration hearings have been closed to the public. That should not be the case this year.

The biggest driver of Jamestown’s budget every year is salaries and benefits paid to its workers. Contracts for parks and public works employees are approved during an open session of the City Council. Anyone who disagrees with the decision the council is making at least have an ability, in open session, to state their disagreement and attempt to sway the council before a vote. That isn’t the case for the police and firefighters, whose contracts can be approved behind closed doors without any public scrutiny.

These sessions should be open to the public and to the news media. Just as is the case with any public meeting, those who would be disruptive or unruly can be sent out of the room. Sensitive topics relating to discipline or personnel are still subject to executive session and could be discussed behind closed doors. But the information that needs to be public — how much city employees will be paid, how much they will contribute to health insurance costs and other areas of discussion that are ultimately paid for with city taxpayer dollars should be discussed in a way that allows the interested public to know what elected officials and the police officers and firefighters paid for by public dollars are asking for during the binding arbitration session.

All sides in the Jamestown binding arbitration cases should agree to let the media and public observe the proceedings. If they fail to do so, legislation opening binding arbitration to the public and the news media should be a topic of discussion during the next state legislative session.

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