March 5, 2001

Dear Mayor and Council Members:

      We come to you as people who care about a wide range of issues, from preserving our beautiful Hill Country to the safety and quality of life in our neighborhoods. Today we write to you to ask that you reject the police Meet and Confer contract because it deleted the Police Oversight Focus Group proposals negotiated in public over ten months. These provisions were deleted in secret meetings between the police union and the city manager. After more than two decades of debate and discussion, we need effective civilian oversight for the Austin police force.

      In light of several recent events, including the Samuel Ramirez case and the release of Christopher Ochoa, we believe the need for civilian oversight is clear. You created a task force (the Police Oversight Focus Group) to negotiate civilian oversight with the police union, and after extensive study the task force brought you a system that is fair to both officers and the public. The police union President signed off on the POFG system, as did citizen representatives, the ACLU, and a unanimous Council. Everything in the POFG has been thoroughly analyzed over many months of regular meetings, and the system can be legally implemented under the flexibility granted to cities through the meet-and-confer process. In fact, if you approve this contract as it stands, you will be powerless to implement real oversight until the next contract comes before you more than three years from now.

Please reject the contract in its current form unless it includes the full POFG recommended police oversight system.

Yours Very Truly,

[citizens of Austin]

(To be a signor on this letter, write to by Monday, 3-5-01.)