Red Bay needs to replace plan

By Staff
Action taken by the Red Bay city council Monday night regarding the Step Pay Plan for Red Bay Police is confusing at best.
Monday night the council voted to rescind earlier action, which implemented the plan. The crux of the whole scenario seems to be Police Chief Pat Creel's ability to award raises bi-annually at his discretion .
Stripping him of that authority hasn't really done much. When it's time to implement raises for the department, the council should look to Creel for his input. After all, he's their supervisor. What the city has done is create a middleman.
Furthermore, officers were hired on to the department in the past two years with the understanding this plan would be in place.
The plan included giving officers the ability to roll over sick days for up to three months, and the option to receive compensation for vacation days instead of time off if they have earned more than one week of vacation.
Like it or not, this is an attractive package regarding police officer recruitment and retention. We urge the City of Red Bay to look for a replacement program that's at least as attractive. It's going to be a lynch pin in the recruitment and retention of quality officers.