King County sheriff wants bargaining role

Frustrated by the slow pace of reforming the way sheriff's deputies are supervised and disciplined, King County Sheriff Sue Rahr wants authority to bargain labor contracts directly with the deputies' union.

Under the county charter, County Executive Ron Sims represents the county in contract talks with the King County Police Officers Guild, which represents deputies.

Rahr, an elected official, proposes that the charter be amended to put her in charge of negotiations with her employees. "I'm being held accountable for the management of my organization, but somebody else is bargaining the contract," Rahr said.

Some key recommendations made by the Sheriff's Blue Ribbon Panel on police misconduct and discipline last year haven't been implemented because they are the subject of negotiations, now under way, with the deputies union.

The contract will determine, for example, whether a program is created to work with troubled deputies, whether an independent oversight office will review the way complaints are handled and whether deputies will undergo regular performance evaluations. The current three-year contract expires at the end of December, but a new contract isn't expected to be completed until sometime next year.

Rahr, the Metropolitan King County Council and County Executive Ron Sims have taken steps to implement panel recommendations that don't require changes in the union contract, such as hiring more sergeants to supervise deputies, improving officer training and posting citizen complaint forms and a policies and procedures manual on the Web.

Her proposal to negotiate her own contracts has the backing of former County Executive and Blue Ribbon Panel Chairman Randy Revelle. The panel, preparing a progress report on its 2006 recommendations, will consider Wednesday whether to back a charter amendment.

Sims, then-Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng and the County Council appointed the Blue Ribbon Panel at Rahr's request last year in the wake of articles in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer alleging officer misconduct and breakdowns in discipline and accountability.

Sims' labor liaison, Kathi Oglesby, says it makes sense for the county executive to continue to represent management in contract talks with all of the county's 30-plus bargaining units. "We need to make sure that salary improvements and those kind of things fit in with the whole county budget, because he's responsible for that," she said.

Sims negotiates contracts with union-represented employees of other elected county officials, including judges, the assessor, the prosecuting attorney and the County Council. Representatives of the elected officials are present during talks and help direct county bargaining strategy, Oglesby said.

Rahr said her top priority in the negotiations is to implement the Blue Ribbon Panel's recommendations, while the executive's highest goal is to contain health-care costs. "It's difficult to get my top priority to really be the top priority," she said.

Oglesby acknowledged Sims' commitment to controlling health costs for the county's 14,000 employees. But, she added, "I would not say that the Blue Ribbon task-force issues are not also top priority for the executive. I would say that's a shared priority."

Chris Vick, attorney for the Police Officers Guild, declined to discuss bargaining issues. But he said deputies are concerned about the possible makeup of the Office of Independent Oversight proposed by the Sheriff's Blue Ribbon Panel.

"This group, like probably every police group, is most concerned that the process not be politicized," Vick said. In too many cities, including Seattle, he said, investigations of complaints against police are reviewed "by somebody who doesn't have the foggiest idea what he's talking about."

Rahr and Revelle have made pitches to the county Charter Review Commission for a charter amendment giving the sheriff authority to negotiate with her employees. The commission is scheduled to tell the County Council in May what charter amendments it thinks should be put up for a public vote.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com