The effort to recall all seven members of Morgantown City Council has stepped up a notch. It seems the more than a month of word-of-mouth recruitment hasn’t garnered the 3,849 signatures required to trigger a recall election, so organizer Todd Stainbrook has said he and others will start going door-to-door. (Stainbrook ran as a write-in candidate for Morgantown’s 7th Ward during the 2019 council race and ran for a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2020 — and was unsuccessful both times.)
Stainbrook has narrowed his focus to the “low morale and mass resignation” from the Morgantown Police Department. But before Stainbrook or his supporters appear at your door, there are few things you should know.
You’ve likely seen within this newspaper’s pages the back and forth between city officials and police over the last year, from the civilian police review and advisory board to disagreements over shift differential and overtime.
Some of the tension reflected the national conflicts over police overreach and lack of oversight, and as the dust has (mostly) settled across the country, the tension has eased here, too. The review board was requested by members of the community — largely because of national incidents, but likely influenced by some conflicts closer to home as well. The dynamic between police and the public has shifted in the last few years, and communities — and police departments — must respond accordingly and responsibly. Hopefully, after a lot of reorganizing and a couple of court battles, the civilian review board’s latest iteration is an acceptable compromise.
As for the disagreements regarding compensation, city council and City Manager Kim Haws have explained why the pay structure needed a reset, and they’ve indicated they are fully prepared to negotiate more competitive salaries. In short, for nearly 30 years, the shift differential and overtime procedures were applied unevenly across departments, with police and firefighters in particular racking up exorbitant amounts of both (note that shift differential also increases overtime pay). It was in taxpayers’ best interest for the city to hit the reset button; by wiping the slate clean, city officials can find the best balance between fiduciary responsibility to Morgantown’s residents and fairly compensating city employees for the work they do.
Haws told The Dominion Post back in July the city is completing a salary study so it can decide next steps regarding offering competitive wages and benefits to city employees, particularly police officers. In which case, officers are likely to see at least some of their benefits, such as shift differential, restored as well as a possible pay raise to match other local departments.
While the Morgantown Police Department has seen some departures recently, it’s also hired five officers with another four expected before the end of the month. So the problem has less to do with inability to recruit than it does the fact that new police have to complete training through the West Virginia Police Academy, and the waitlist for that training is months long. Which, unfortunately, means that new but uncertified recruits are limited in what they can do. However, that is not city council’s fault.
If a recall supporter shows up at your door and requests your signature, ask yourself this: Are the supposed problems terrible enough to unseat the entire council? Are the solutions that have been offered and implemented at least a start, with the understanding council has promised more? And, is all of this enough to justify the cost to taxpayers to hold a recall election?
