Acrimony has turned to pure poison between the city of Auburn and the union that represents its police department. The situation was bad before recent events. They’re even worse now. It’s time to find a settlement.

The city and the police union are in negotiations for a new contract. The old contract expired June 30.

Representatives of the police union say that the current offer would cut the take-home pay for officers. The combination of no cost-of-living increase and higher premiums for insurance would result in a net loss of salary.

Pat Finnigan, Auburn’s city manager, says the offer the city has made has been mischaracterized, but she would not provide more details. “We don’t, haven’t traditionally, negotiated through the press,” she said, adding that could change in the interest of ensuring the public understands the true nature of the negotiations.

The cops are opposed to the plan and the two sides have not been able to make much progress. Then comes an explosive event that strains the relations between the city and the police to the point of breaking.

Mayor Normand Guay was charged Monday night with operating under the influence after being pulled over by the Auburn police. A tipster, who the mayor says was the president of the police union, called in a report of an intoxicated driver. The mayor was pulled over, given a field sobriety test and then taken back to the police station for a breath test. According to both police and Guay, the results of the test show the mayor was not intoxicated. His blood-alcohol level was .01; the legal limit is .08. The mayor was then released from custody, but issued a summons to appear and face the OUI charge in court.

The police defend the actions of the department, maintain they were following procedure and say the mayor was treated like any other driver would have been.

During a tear-filled press conference Tuesday, Guay defended himself and laid out harsh allegations with kind words: “The citizens of Auburn should know that we are in the process of labor negotiations with the police union. If that had something to do with this – and I’m not saying it did – it would sadden me terribly.”

We are saddened, too. The truth of this matter will eventually come out, the facts will be known. But it’s hard to see how negotiations could be successful in a situation marred by such distrust.

Both sides should be able to agree that an impasse has been reached. The people of Auburn are caught in the middle. They are torn between concern about the financial stability of the city and property taxes, and the desire to support the police and maintain appropriate funding for public safety.

It’s time to resolve this dispute. It’s time to bring in an arbitrator, even though that will not guarantee success. In Maine, wages and benefits are subject to nonbinding arbitration, which means a compromise cannot be forced on the two sides. A neutral third party, however, might provide the ideas and insights necessary to restore an amicable relationship between the city and its police union.
[email protected]