Nashua aldermen approve contracts for police, para-educators

Sept. 14--NASHUA -- A pair of city labor contracts -- a short, single-year pact for school district para- educators and a rare 7-year agreement for the Nashua Police Patrolmen's Association -- attained the Board of Aldermen's approval late into a marathon meeting last week.

The para-educators' agreement with the Board of Education gives the district's nearly 400 paras a roughly 2.7 percent increase per employee for the fiscal year that began July 1 and ends June 30, 2015.

It also freezes for that period employees' step increases, which are annual raises based on years of experience. The steps will still count toward employees' seniority, but not for pay raises.

The contract was ratified by the teachers union in August. It passed 14-0 with Alderman at Large Brian McCarthy abstaining because his wife is a para- educator and is covered by the contract.

The contract, which covers para- professionals such as reading specialists, job coaches and classroom special education teachers, got good reviews from the aldermen who spoke before the vote.

"We get good value from our para-professionals," said Ward 3 alderman David Schoneman. "Further, it's only a one-year contract."

The police union contract also passed, but with two dissenting votes and considerably more discussion than the para-educators' pact.

In attendance were close to two dozen uniformed police officers, including Chief John Seusing and Deputy Chief Andrew Lavoie, who waited more than three hours for the verdict.

Several speakers, most urging aldermen to approve the contract, addressed the matter earlier during public comment period.

Seusing, who spoke at length, identified one of the officers present -- patrolman Donald Weiss -- and described Weiss's lead role in apprehending two armed gang members early the morning of Aug. 27.

The suspects "came into Nashua, following a car, and opened fire on (the occupants)," Suesing said. They missed their intended targets, but Weiss, who was patrolling nearby, heard the shots and headed toward the area of Pratt Street.

Seconds later, as a car sped from Pratt onto Main Street, Weiss positioned himself and with the help of other officers stopped the car, Seusing said.

"I bring this up for a couple of reasons," he said. The incident "exemplifies the dangers of the job ... that these men and women do every single day.

"They deal with things every day that most of us don't ever want to."

In her comments at the outset of the meeting, Mayor Donnalee Lozeau reiterated her view that the contract is a little too rich.

"It includes provisions other city employees haven't gotten," she said. "I just don't think this contract is sustainable."

The length of the contract -- it is retroactive to July 1, 2011 and runs through June 30, 2018 -- prompted comments from some aldermen who spoke during discussion.

Salary increases range from 1-3 percent per year over the period. Among the concessions the bargaining unit agreed to involves the health insurance clause, which now states that patrolmen will pay an additional 10 percent of the cost of their premiums.

The pact also creates a new rank, Master Patrolman II, which gives officers who qualify for that level a 1.5 percent pay increase.

Most aldermen who spoke did so in favor of passing the measure.

"We get a great value from this bargaining unit," alderman at large Lori Wilshire said. She noted that members will be paying more for their insurance premiums, adding that "these employees have not wavered in their duties to the city of Nashua.

"We need to stay competitive; if we don't, we'll lose the best employees we have."

Alderman at Large McCarthy generally agreed, saying that he had been "considering this for a long time" and realizes that "it costs us something to get good police officers to come here and stay here."

McCarthy addressed others' comments that praised the officers but panned the contract as too generous.

"It's been said this isn't about bravery, it's about the budget. Well that's not entirely true," he said. Good police officers mean "we get something back: A safe city and quality of life. These officers could do something else, but they choose to make Nshua a safer place to live and we shouldn't overlook that," McCarthy said.

"If you do something you love, and you're not appreciated for long enough, you'll eventually stop doing it," he added.

Moriarty, meanwhile, also praised Nashua's police force, but said he couldn't bring himself to vote in favor of the contract.

"It's just a small difference between what's in the contract and what is sustainable," he said. "All I'm asking is that (the numbers) be brought in line with the budget.

"I have to oppose this contract, based on the numbers, not the quality of police officers."

In the end, the measure passed, 13-2, with Moriarty and Schoneman voting against.

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Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 594-6443 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com. Also follow Shalhoup on Twitter (@Telegraph_DeanS).

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