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City Pay Raise InOne DepartmentAffects All OthersBY WRAY WEDPKJ LThe Austin Police Association, which could he a powerful force for police benefits, is reportedly an impotent wreck.Some of its most active members say it’s riddled and split with dissension and only Police Chief R D Thorp ran put this badge - wearing “humpty dumptv” back together again.The big split came over an effort by detectives to get a raise in pay. a move which, had it been successful probably would have meant more money eventually for the entire department.But uniformed patrolmen couldn’t see it that way. They became openlv critical of detectives and, so the story goes, department brass” led the criticism.One detective says old fiiends on thepatrol force stopped speaking to himSeeing a serious breakdown in relations between plainclothesmcn and bluecoats developing, and knowing the two divisions must work together, the detectives dropped their campaign It mav be thev were asked to do s« by administration officials. But the final decision was theirs. And anyone knowing the inadequacy of polite' salariesknows it was no easy decision to make.But apparently it was too into to save the association. At least it’s in a sad state of affairs now. The teadeiship says it’s unable to even get a meeting scheduled.These same men—all veteran policemen—say Thorp should wade in and stop the bickering and put the association back on its feet . . .When City Manager Waite? Scaholm sat down with a committee of firemen last week to talk about a pav rai e fur that department, he knew he was on the spot.Soaholm is well awaic that pay checks for the rank and file of firemen are pitifully inadequate. He km-ws many of them are holding off-duty jobs to pay the rent and grocery billAnd you can’t argue with men whopull out pencil and paper and show youhow they work 72 hours a week at anaverage rate of'70 cents an hour fiverents under the national wage minimum and 30 cents under what many sound men think ought to b' the minimum.But Seaholm also can’t argue with these two points; The city doesn’t have the money. And if he grants rai es to any department the City Hall roof will come crashing around his headHe told the firemen the only thing he could tell them; No soap, boys.And he had to add this warning; There may not he any raises set up in next year’s budget.Firemen are now planning to attack the problem at rts source -the C’itvCharter. They say they will circulate petitions asking for a charter amendment election.They haven’t disclosed how they propose to amond the charter out this isprobably it;The charter fixes the general fund tax rate at $1 on the $100 propsttv valuation- a prewar rate. City officials with monotonous regularity point to this as the cause of all the administration’s financial ills.It’s the reason firemen, policemen and other underpaid municipal workers get sympathic hut firm “noV to pleasfor pay raises.Notes; The City Plan Commission has been talking of a one-wav street system in the University of Texas neighborhood—from 19th to 24th »nd Guadalupe to Hio Grande. This probably will come ahead of any effort to expand the downtown system . . .Candidates for law-making, law enforcing and judicial offices are plastering Lamar Boulevard with campaignposters in direct violation of a city ordinance and in the face of a policedepartment wanning. Police have authority to rip them down . .The City Council has been furnisheda memo setting forth procedure in rewriting the city zoning ordinance. Eventhe legal staff admits the present ordinance is hopelessly confusing and full of questionable logic.
Newspaper Details
Austin American
Austin, Texas, US
Mon, Jul 10, 1950
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Jared T.
NA, NA 30 May 2023
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