SARASOTA - They knew that had likely lost. It's happening here, everywhere really. But about 100 Sarasota police and family members filled City Hall Monday for a Hail Mary shot.
In the end, commissioners voted 4-1 to make painful cuts to their pensions, with Commissioner Paul Caragiulo dissenting.
The vote ends a three-year saga that soured relations between officers and city officials reeling from upwards of $459 million in unfunded liabilities for retirees.
Wearing shirts that said "Support Your Police," they huffed and grabbed their bright yellow signs and shuffled out of City Hall in defeat, yet still sworn to work for the elected officials they just confronted face to face.
"I bet you'll never see someone come up to an officer on the street and say, 'You know, you make too much money,'" said Sarasota Lt. Randy Boyd, who locked eyes with Commissioner Shannon Snyder, a retired sheriff's deputy who walked away with all the retirement he was promised.
"I bet none of you can."
But they did by passing an ordinance on first reading which will not only cut retirement benefits for police officers, but forever lower the bar for future negotiations with the powerful police union that dragged negotiations out for nearly three years.
"I cannot believe my livelihood is going to be altered by five people who are trying to figure out what to do," said officer Steve Campion.
Commissioner Paul Caragiulo flipped on a vote he made in the fall, saying he was uncomfortable knowing that cuts to officers' pensions will not be offset by Social Security. Neither the city's police nor the city participate in the program.
"I think this is not something one does to their employees," Caragiulo said.
Commissioner Terry Turner, a staunch supporting of the cuts, was jeered by the crowd when he said: "If you want Social Security, what are you willing to give up?"
THE CHANGES
Proposed changes to the police pensions:
Slashing a hefty cost-of-living adjust- ment from 3.2 percent a year to 1 percent.
Delaying that annual pension bump until the retiree reaches 65. Currently, pensions begin the first year after retirement.
Changing the way the city calculates pensions from taking an average of the top three years of pay to the top five years, which will trim pensions for most employees.
Reducing payments in the Deferred Retirement Option Program - DROP, which guarantees investment returns for five years before retirement - from 6.5 percent to 2.5 percent.
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