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Association seeks to expand association business leave to 10 members
Summary
At bargaining in Laredo, association negotiators proposed raising association business leave from six to 10 members attending the annual CLEAP convention to enable leadership mentoring and training; city representatives pressed for clearer limits to ensure use meets a public purpose.
An association representative proposed increasing association business leave (ABL) from six to 10 officers who may attend the annual CLEAP convention, saying the change would let seasoned leaders mentor younger members and build a leadership pipeline.
"It gives us the opportunity to have some of the more seasoned leaders on the team … and start getting them trained up," the association representative said during a bargaining session in Laredo.
City negotiators acknowledged the training benefit but cautioned that ABL involves public-paid time. "Your salaries are public funds," a city representative said, arguing the contract language should ensure ABL serves a public purpose and not private or political gain. City-side participants also stressed that chiefs should retain approval authority to avoid staffing shortfalls.
Association members described nonmonetary uses of ABL in practice — supporting members with medical or family needs and assisting injured officers' families — and said much of the leave hours came from an accumulated association bank rather than city payroll. City negotiators asked for clearer drafting to prevent improper use and to preserve operational staffing.
Negotiators agreed to refine the drafting and to preserve chief-approval safeguards before the next meeting; no formal motion or vote was taken.
The parties planned to continue wording discussions at the next scheduled bargaining session.
