he cost to the city of Cleveland for providing security for the Republican National Convention has just gone up. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze has more on a decision that even the arbitrator who wrote it calls “imperfect."
The city argued it needed to ensure “all hands on deck” for the convention in July, and that it needed to cancel all police leaves for the three weeks before, during and after the convention. The union representing about 850 patrol officers took the case to arbitration, saying the city was violating its contract and that allowing 50 officers a week to take off during the three weeks wouldn’t hurt security.
The arbitrator decided the city did violate the contract. But he also said the missing officers “could exacerbate security concerns” and even jeopardize the nearly $50 million the city is getting from the feds for security.
So his ruling requires the city to pay “on-call” overtime to the most senior officers. In all, 150 officers will get the premium pay. The ruling doesn’t estimate the total cost.
Meanwhile, Cleveland set the official routes today for protests during the convention – a 1 ½ mile route that crosses the Lorain Carnegie Bridge. Cleveland also will have a designated protest stage on the newly redesigned Public Square.
