Portland City Attorney's Office

[October 15th, 2003] Everyone makes mistakes, even the Rouge--oops!--Rogue Desk. So it is with some misgivings that this week's fickle finger of shame is directed at the Portland City Attorney's Office and its typo that could cost the city millions.

For more than a year, the Portland police officers' union and the city have tried to agree on a contract. In August, they took their respective positions to a winner-take-all showdown before a neutral arbitrator, who is now reviewing the "last best offer" submitted by each side.

Unfortunately the city's final offer includes what city labor negotiator Ed Ruttledge calls "the typo."

Specifically, the city's proposal had intended for cops to get a 2003 pay raise of at least 2 percent. Instead, it calls for a pay cut of 6 percent.

The errors don't stop there. The city proposes to peg raises to the Portland Consumer Price Index--an inflation-tracking index that no longer exists.

While negotiators can seek a compromise between two conflicting offers, arbitrators in these cases can only choose one or the other. And no arbitrator will sign off on a 6 percent pay cut when the cost of living is rising. It's unclear whether Oregon law lets an arbitrator correct typos. Three years ago, the city of McMinnville screwed up the final offer it made to its police officers' union and asked arbitrator Donald Wollett to correct it. He refused and ruled against the city, saying a correction was "beyond my authority."

In the event of such a ruling, Ruttledge believes the city will win on appeal. But of four labor lawyers polled by Rogue Central, two said the city has a problem on its hands.

If so, it's a problem followed by a lot of zeros. The difference between the cops' "last best offer," a package of wage increases and health benefits, and the one the city intended could mean a $5 million hit to the city's budget.