On Feb. 1, the Escambia County Commission authorized the county attorney’s office to request and offer the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office an invitation to enter into mediation in an effort to resolve the ongoing budget dispute between the two elected offices. Working with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office General Counsel Gerald Champagne, a qualified mediator was selected and mediation was held on Friday, March 9. As a result of this meeting, a mutually agreed-upon mediation agreement was signed by representatives from both parties, giving the sheriff’s office $9.1 million in additional funding over the next four years to fund pay raises.
The commission approved the mediation agreement by a 3-2 vote on Thursday, March 15, as stated was necessary in paragraph three of the mediation agreement. It lists no such requirement for additional approval from Sheriff David Morgan or his office. According to the mediation agreement, the next step was to enter into a interlocal agreement which was to “memorialize” or mirror the signed mediation agreement, not change the scope nor the intent of the original agreement. The county attorney’s office sent the sheriff’s office two versions of the interlocal agreement in hopes of meeting their wishes while meeting the intent of the agreement.
While negotiating the language of the interlocal agreement, it was learned that the sheriff’s office wanted to delete language found in the mediated settlement agreement that stated “inclusive of all benefits, all raises for the implementation of a pay plan” and instead add language that would exempt or remove many personnel costs from the meaning of the word “benefits.” This included items such as retirement system contributions, workers’ compensation premiums, healthcare allocations, and any benefit costs associated with additional sheriff’s office positions created after the date of the agreement. To add this language would significantly change the original intent and financial scope of the agreement by making the commission responsible for any and all increases to benefit costs for an unknown amount of employees for three years.
County Administrator Jack Brown commented on the situation by saying, “I am deeply saddened that we are back to what feels like square one. We worked very hard to negotiate an agreement that was very favorable to the sheriff. I was thrilled when the mediation agreement was signed by the sheriff’s office and approved by the commission. I am somewhat dismayed by this turn in events. It feels to me like a case of buyer’s remorse. Unfortunately, the biggest losers are our street deputies.”
