Council to consider code changes aligning police and fire chiefs’ allowances with bargaining agreements
Summary
Safety Committee advanced ordinances to align clothing allowances for the police chief and captain with the police department collective bargaining agreement and to reinstate provisions for fire‑department leadership; both items were placed on the May 20 council agenda for first reading.
Brook Park’s Safety Committee voted to place two ordinances on the May 20 council agenda that would update city code to align leadership pay/benefits with current collective bargaining agreements.
The first ordinance would amend section 141.07 of the city code so that the police chief and police captain receive the same clothing‑allowance benefits provided in the Brook Park Police Department collective bargaining agreement (OPBA) rather than the fixed dollar amounts that remain in a 1991 ordinance. The mayor told committee members the change is intended to keep leadership benefits current with the bargaining unit so promotion to captain or chief does not reduce benefits and to make leadership positions competitive.
Committee members reviewed the CBA article on clothing allowance (article 17) the mayor provided in the packet and discussed the intent to modernize an outdated fixed‑dollar ordinance. The committee voted to place the item on the next council agenda for first reading.
The second ordinance would enact section 143.07 of the Brook Park Code to address assistant fire chief and fire chief provisions; committee members noted the language reinstates material that had been repealed years earlier. Speakers framed both measures as employee‑retention and parity adjustments rather than changes in base pay. A motion to place the fire‑ and police‑related ordinances on the May 20 council agenda for first reading carried in committee; the items will return to full council for consideration.
