Governor Perry Meets with the CLEAT Executive Board at the Quarterly Meeting in Fort Worth
 |  |  |
Continued.....
· San Antonio POA President Michael Helle asked if the national bargaining bill passed the U.S. Congress whether or not the Governor would support CLEAT’s bill seeking to keep the indigenous rules of collective bargaining being used in Texas. The Governor said he preferred CLEAT’s Meet and Confer model to the national bargaining bill but that if the bill became law he agreed with Helle that he would not want to see the northeastern model of labor imposed on Texas police unions.
· Fort Worth POA President Rick Van Houten detailed to the Governor the issues that injured law enforcement officers are having with Worker’s Compensation across the state. The Governor indicated he was troubled to learn of surgeries being delayed and career ending injuries being not being treated in a timely manner. He requested that his staff be in attendance at the special worker’s comp seminar that will be held in conjunction with the CLEAT biennial legislative workshop in December.
· El Paso MPOA President Ron Martin engaged the Governor on border issues, threatened officer layoffs, and overall border violence. Governor Perry said he considered the border actions by the Mexican drug cartels to be war against the law abiding citizens of Texas and the police who protect them. He supports increased law enforcement presence and encouraged border cities to keep law enforcement and public safety issues at the top of their agenda.
· David Kilcrease, President of the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Bexar County asked the Governor to support CLEAT’s position of keeping collective bargaining units intact in Texas and not allowing split bargaining units between ranks or assignments. The governor agreed that the Texas model works better than many across the country and he doesn’t support bringing in outside models to further divide employees or create multiple bargaining units within single law enforcement agencies.
· CLEAT Board Member Marvin Ryals, of the El Paso County Sheriffs Officers Association, asked if the county officers could count on CLEAT’s bill to bring civil service parity to deputy sheriffs and correction officers. The Governor complimented CLEAT’s legislative leadership and work in the Texas Capitol to keep the local voters as the ultimate judge in officer rights issues. He agreed that if the civil service could be extended to county officers by a vote of the citizens back home that he would be supportive of that legislation.
· CLEAT Vice President Ervey Banda related issues that rank and file officers across the state are having with the accident reporting process. Officer Banda quoted complaints from Houston, San Antonio, Austin and all the way to Paris, Texas in the north to the Rio Grande Valley, in the South. He indicated that the recent changes to accident report were taking officers off the streets for longer periods of time and has them answering non-relevant questions. He said the entire design of the accident report was wrong and needed to be corrected. The Governor reacted strongly. He said he did not want bureaucrats taking officers off the street for any longer than is absolutely necessary and he would check into the matter with TXDOT and get it corrected.
· Vice President Adrian Pina told the Governor that CLEAT funds training to members without using taxpayer dollars. Officer Pina said CLEAT preferred to see future law enforcement grants go back to law enforcement agencies, COGS and local universities. The Governor laughed and said he that was not the first time he had heard that position. He indicated he was not seeking to choose one union over another, that he was very open to discuss changes and he respected CLEAT’s position regarding this issue.
