Pontiac gets OK to cancel dispatchers' contract

PONTIAC (AP) -- The city of Pontiac received state approval to cancel union contract protections for 11 police dispatchers, allowing the city to complete the process of eliminating its police department in an effort to close its more than $10 million budget deficit. Monday's action will make them the first Michigan public employees to have a contract tossed under the law signed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in March granting expanded powers to state-appointed emergency financial managers, the Detroit Free Press reported. Emergency financial manager Michael Stampfler proposed eliminating the police force last year. "We reached the conclusion there really is an impasse," said state Treasurer Andy Dillon, who said he met with the dispatchers union twice to work out an agreement. "We dug into it pretty deep to make sure his request was worth being approved." With its police department gone, the Oakland County sheriff's department will enforce the law in Pontiac to save the city $2 million annually. A union official who represents the dispatchers, who opposed the city's plan, did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press on Tuesday seeking comment. Stampfler got approval Monday from the state to transfer dispatch jobs to the sheriff's department. The 11 dispatchers will be allowed to apply for new county jobs that will serve Pontiac, Stampfler said. Two city police unions had already agreed Stampfler's plan to shut down the department, and he fired the city's police chief in March as the city moved toward shifting law enforcement responsibility to the sheriff's department effective July 1. Also Monday, Dillon rejected a request by a resident of Allen Park to begin a financial review of the Detroit suburb, the first step of state intervention. The emergency financial manager law does not give individual residents standing to request a financial review. Dillon also recently turned down a request for financial review from Jackson Mayor Karen Dunigan, The Detroit News reported. In rejecting Dunigan's request, state officials cited the city's recent budget, which cut spending. The City Council had opposed the request for a review. For years, Michigan has used a state-appointed emergency manager system when troubled cities and schools ran aground financially. But the dynamics changed this year when a Republican-backed state law boosted the authority of emergency managers. Published: Wed, Jun 8, 2011