Tampa City Council to discuss police chief’s new contract again after previous debate
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — After a city council meeting last month began with some fireworks over a new contract for Tampa Police Department Chief Lee Bercaw, council members on Thursday will discuss the contract again, with some updated information and documentation.
The contract would allow Bercaw to stay on as chief of police with a $36,000 pay raise over his current salary and collect his annual $96,000 retirement pension at the same time.
“This is an issue that people have come from the public to hear about,” Council member Bill Carlson said at the April 4 meeting. “I think the public deserves to have a minute to talk about it.”
“I’m going to talk about it eventually,” Carlson continued later. “Just because the administration doesn’t want me to talk about it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to talk about it.”
Carlson said the chief has been dragged through the mud on social media recently over the contract, and blamed the administration for blindsiding city council.
“This process was badly conceived by the administration,” Carlson continued. “I hope that next time, the administration has more transparency and includes the public and I hope they focus on collaboration rather than hiding things.”
It appears the administration was listening. In a memo dated April 25 from the Chief of Staff and City Attorney to City Council, the administration explained Bercaw is retiring on September 22, 2024, because he elected to participate in the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) and selected that date as his retirement.
However, the city explains it wants to retain him as chief because “he has been working on numerous initiatives at the Tampa Police Department to improve community relationships, reduce crime, address difficult issues that have arisen during his tenure as Chief, and provide sound leadership at the Tampa Police Department.”
The city added that keeping him on allows the city to save time and money searching for a new police chief.
As for his salary and raise, the city said his current salary of about $204,000 is below the current average salary for similar-sized cities in Florida and major cities around the country, and thus wants to give him a raise. The city said St. Petersburg’s police chief receives about $227,000, Orlando’s receives $236,000 and Miami’s chief collects $273,000.
The memo also said the chief can lawfully receive both his pension and salary at the same time, and it is not “double-dipping,” since his pension is for work previously performed, and his salary is for work currently performed. It said if Bercaw is retained as chief, he would not re-join the pension plan.
The memo said the majority of the new contract council might approve today is the same as the contract it reviewed last month, except it replaced the term ‘contract employee’ in the agreement since Bercaw would not be an independent contractor — he would still be a city employee. The memo explained some other headings have been adjusted to provide clarity.
In response to the new contract and information, Carlson told 8 On Your Side in a statement, “I still have some concerns about the contract and I remain disappointed that the administration has not handled this in a transparent way.” But, he added that he continues to support Chief Bercaw so he will vote ‘yes’ for the contract.
The city said Bercaw is also requesting another residency waiver, since he does not live in the city, but plans to move this summer.
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