Waltham Council Approves Police Department Raises Amid Pushback

WALTHAM, MA — The city council approved two raises for the police department unions totaling nearly $1 million, despite pushback from two city councilors asking for an opportunity for the public to weigh in.

Councilor Kristine Mackin asked the city council to hold off on approving two retroactive raises to the police department, per negotiations with the union, saying one day to review and talk about the raises in committee was not enough given the climate. Only Councilor Jonathan Paz voted in agreement with her.

The rest of the council approved spending $270,000 to fund the first two years of the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the police superior officers union from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022. It also approved $660,000 to fund the first two years of collective bargaining between the city and the patrol union during that same period, following finance committee approval of both.

Mackin acknowledged the hard work of the men and women of the police department and their concerns, and a need to support them, but said there was another element to the discussion that should be considered.

"What I haven’t heard from my colleagues is an equal level of concern for the tens of thousands of other Waltham residents," she said. "We have heard nothing about how members of our community, feel profiled, feel unsafe, or feel targeted."

Mackin said although it is the mayor's office that negotiates with the union, and then comes up with an agreement that the council must then ratify, there has been fair opportunity for public debate on the matter.

"Claiming that the council is not involved in union negotiations is to abscond from our oversight duties," she said. "The public deserves the time to consider and respond both to our actions as a council and to the substance of the issue."

Other councilors argued it's not within the city council's purview to debate the merits of the raises negotiated for months in good faith, even before the recent social justice movement put a spotlight on police departments across the state. Mackin argued that because the negotiations were contingent upon city council approval, it was. Councilors said members of the public could request information about the union contracts through the city clerk's office.

Watch the meeting:

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