Hello, Collar City! This is Issue 20, dated Feb. 1, 2019.

City Takes PBA To Court

. In this issue: a disputed PBA grievance, a potentially electric bus line, and the mayor's latest line on the sanctuary city proposal.Let's get right to it!

The city of Troy has filed a lawsuit against the Troy Police Benevolent and Protective Association, the union that represents the city’s police officers and sergeants, asking a judge to block the organization's demand for arbitration of a grievance related to an unfilled captain position and to declare part of the collective bargaining agreement cited by the PBA in its demand to be unlawful.



The PBA and the three highest-ranking sergeants on the civil service list—Randall French, Salvatore Carello, and Stephen Seney—filed a grievance in December with the city after Captain Chris Kehn was promoted to assistant chief and the city did not fill the vacated position with 30 days, as the union claimed was required by the respective parties' collective bargaining agreement.



The PBA sought the appointment of French, Carello, or Seney to captain with back pay and benefits retroactive to Nov. 1, 2018.

The city denied the grievance early last month, and a demand for arbitration from the PBA followed soon after.In its petition filed in state Supreme Court this week, the city says that the PBA's grievance was untimely, captains are not covered by the CBA (so the issue can't be arbitrated), and the city retains ultimate discretion on filling vacant positions, among other arguments. A hearing in the case is scheduled for later this month.

A spokesman for the mayor's office didn't respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

“The PBA is looking forward to going in front of Judge Ceresia on the 28th," Officer Nick Laviano, president of the PBA, said in a statement. "As a county court judge he was one of the best. I had the pleasure of testifying in his court room on several occasions. The residents of the 3rd judicial district should be proud to have him on the bench serving them.”

