Issue centers on deputies' seniority

The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners will support a new contract ratified earlier this week by the Leelanau County Deputy Sheriff’s Association — but Sheriff Mike Oltersdorf says he still has some concerns and may not sign the pact.

Appearing before the county board at its executive committee meeting Tuesday morning, Oltersdorf told commissioners that he and Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM) business agent Patrick J. Spidell are stalemated over contract language outlining how deputies can lose seniority.

Nine Leelanau County sheriff’s deputies have reportedly filed grievances over a seniority issue that may affect the promotion and retention of certain officers in the coming weeks. The grievances appear to stem from a union arbitrator’s determination earlier this year that a deputy fired by Oltersdorf in April 2006 must be reinstated.

Deputy Bruce Beeker – who the sheriff fired last year for allegedly having “inappropriate contact” with a female crime suspect – is currently on paid administrative leave “until such time as a psychologist provides the county with a favorable fitness report as required by the arbitrator,” according to Oltersdorf.

Although Beeker is back on the payroll, Oltersdorf said, the deputy is performing no officials duties. Beeker underwent a comprehensive psychological evaluation on March 28, but the county had yet to receive any written or verbal report from the psychologist, the sheriff said Tuesday.

Officials said they were expecting the psychologist’s report to be issued “any day now.”

If Beeker is retained in the Leelanau County Sheriff’s Department he will also retain his seniority – and he will have more seniority than another deputy the sheriff has decided to retain. That deputy, Mark Stevens, was convicted of drunk driving in 2005.

Following his conviction, Stevens was reassigned from the sheriff’s department road patrol to the department’s corrections division as a jail guard – but has since been reinstated on the road patrol.

“It’s the union’s position that seniority ends when classification changes,” explained county administrator David Gill. “That’s been the union’s position for years, and that’s what nine officers have filed a grievance over,” Gill told the county board.

Officials say if Beeker stays, then Stevens must go because Stevens lost all his seniority when the sheriff transferred him from road patrol to jail duty. Beeker’s possible retention and Steven’s possible dismissal appears to be the exact opposite of the sheriff’s wishes.

Despite the sheriff’s concerns, members of the county board voted 6-0, with District No. 7 commissioner Melinda Lautner absent, to recommend approval of the updated police union contract. The full board will take final action on the recommendation of its executive committee at the board’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening.

County board chairman and District No. 6 commissioner Robert Hawley said that from the board’s perspective the contract addresses everything the board needs in terms of finances. Hawley noted that the police union made some “major concessions” over health insurance co-pays as part of the new contract – a move that will save the county money.

“The county board is satisfied with the contract,” Hawley said. “Any other issues in the contract are management issues the sheriff must address and are beyond the county’s board’s purview,” Hawley said.

In other business at its executive committee meeting this week, the county board recommended approval of two additional contracts at Sheriff Oltersdorf’s request – for seasonal law enforcement service for Leland Township and Empire Township.

The Leelanau County Sheriff’s Department will provide a part-time seasonal deputy for Leland Township this summer for up to $5,000; and another seasonal deputy for Empire Township for up to $10,000. Oltersdorf said that neither of the seasonal deputies had yet been hired or assigned.