COUNCILMEMBER

COMPARES DISABLED

POLICE OFFICERS

TO

CRIMINALS

2 Former County Officers are

Cleared of All Charges in Retirement Probe

After already disparaging our county police department with repeated (and clearly disproven) accusations, Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg has gone one step further.

Quoted in the Washington Post (in another anonymous editorial on disability retirement "reform" [has the Post ever been more invested in an issue??]), Trachtenberg said the following:

"[Having any new retirement system only apply to
officers joining the force after July 1 would be] giving [disabled officers] a
get out of jail free card."

- Duchy Trachtenberg

Consider what that statement is implying: It is equating a disabled police officer attempting to collect retirement benefits to a criminal in jail. And that allowing him or her to collect those benefits (negotiated in a legally-binding labor agreement) is the equivalent of letting that officer "out of jail free."

It's outrageous.

Not only did the Washington Post's own investigation reveal that not one single officer has improperly received benefits, but now even the federal investigation is over. And both former county police officers were cleared of every charge by federal investigators. Period.

The police union, like the fire and teacher's unions, is under absolutely no legal obligation to renegotiate the terms of a legally-binding labor agreement.

I am not sure what the end result of these absurd and unnecessary negotiations will be, but the county executive and council have done irreparable damage to the county's future ability to negotiate with labor. Nothing the county says in future negotiations will have any credibility, thanks to the actions of our current elected officials. That is because just about every labor agreement has been illegally put in the trash can by Ike Leggett and members of the council.

This illegal attempt to ignore negotiated benefits for disabled police officers should conclude in a legal fashion: in court or by arbitration.

Should the county succeed in its efforts to deny disabled officers the benefits they have every legal right to, it means that labor agreements would now be worthless in Montgomery County.

Remember, a deal is a deal; there is no legal authority for the council to break the existing agreement.

That's right: You've got to pay close attention here, ladies and gentlemen. It doesn't matter if a new system is 2 tiers, 3 tiers, or 150 tiers; the whole point of a new system is that some officers currently eligible for benefits are going to be denied those benefits. Despite having a lifelong injury suffered in the line of duty, protecting the citizens of Montgomery County. And where would those officers' money go? Right into the hands of the developers and special interests.

Our elected officials need money to reward those benefactors who get them elected. Just one problem! For purely political reasons, they can't raise taxes this year (even though your property taxes quietly went up anyway). Where to get the money? Ah, county employees.

Make no mistake, every single one of these eligible officers - past, present, and future - is suffering physical pain each day as a result of his or her injur(ies). Each one has limitations on what employment and leisure activities he or she can pursue for the rest of their life. Denying benefits to any one of these officers would be a moral outrage.