Police get a raise

Portland police officers are getting a raise.

In the midst of recent protests over excessive use of force by Portland police, Portland City Council voted 6-1 at its meeting Monday to increase full-time salaries for police officers by $135 per two-week pay period.

Portland Police Chief Nathan Springer introduced the idea of a raise at a city council meeting May 4, days after Spencer Calvert, 21, Muncie, was fatally shot by a Portland police officer.

Calvert’s death prompted a protest in downtown Portland Friday in which more than 100 marched for police reform. An Indiana State Police investigation found the use of lethal force by city police was justified in that incident.

Springer and Portland Mayor John Boggs both said a raise would be a morale boost for Portland police officers.

“How do you put a price on what they’ve faced in the past 90 days?” Boggs said.

Kent McClung, the lone council member to vote against a pay increase during the salary ordinance’s first and second reading, repeatedly said he is voting against adjusting any salaries until a wage study the council commissioned is returned.

Boggs said that wage study, which compares Portland city workers’ salaries to salaries in nearby and comparable cities, is expected to be completed by mid-August, a month before council begins voting on next year’s budget.

McClung and other council members noted they may have to adjust city salaries based on the wage study and money available in their 2021 budget, which is expected to decrease as a result of the nationwide recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Winter is coming. … We’re looking at some tight times, I believe,” McClung said.

Portland Clerk-Treasurer Lori Phillips said she is attending a webinar Thursday that she hopes will help indicate how much money the city will receive from Indiana for next year’s budget.

Portland full-time officers’ 2020 salaries, not including Springer’s and the two officers expected to be promoted from reserve to full-time next month, will increase from $42,190.20 to $45,706.18.

The raise did not require any additional funding for the police department as money saved from not carrying a 14th full-time officer this year was divided among the other officers.

Boggs noted there are two more protests scheduled in downtown Portland this Friday calling for police reform at the local, statewide and national level.

In other business, council members Michele Brewster, Dave Golden, Mike Aker, Don Gillespie, Matt Goldsworthy, Janet Powers and McClung:

•Passed an ordinance making the alley west of Ohio Valley Gas’ office at 129 E Main St, Portland, one-way going south.

•Amended a pre-existing three year tax abatement with Stay Jay Hotels LLC to extend it until 2023.

•Finalized document coalition for city ordinances added and removed in 2019.