The MML is an organization made up of voluntary members, much like the Fraternal
Order of Police. It is considered a management-oriented organization and their
membership reflects that. Primarily, the members are made up of city managers,
personnel and human resource directors, city attorneys, elected officials and
other management personnel of hundreds of cities across Missouri. A city joins
the MML collectively and pays dues. Naturally, when a city spends money, such as
on these dues, it's tax money.
WHAT DOES THE MISSOURI MUNICIPAL LEAGUE DO?
The MML purports to represent the interest of member cities in a
variety of fashions. They provide model policies, charters, ordinances and the
like. They host seminars to train municipal officials in a variety of subjects,
many of which directly affect FOP members.
But in reality, the MML is a political muscle machine that is involved in just
about every facet of the Missouri legislature, at our expense. They lobby,
provide fiscal and impact opinions on proposed laws and act as a liaison between
municipal officials and legislators. They act very much like a special interest
group and strongly push their political agendas. Since they have the ear of many
legislators, they tend to exploit that and often provide information that is
false, in order to further their agenda.
WHAT HAS THE MML DONE TO THE FOP?
The MML has lobbied against just about every issue that our membership
has wanted to pass in the Missouri legislature. They for years have opposed
collective bargaining, due process rights for police officers, additional
training, officer liability protection, a heart and lung bill as the
firefighters have, and even FOP license plates.
Several years ago FOP Attorney Rick Barry was invited to attend an MML
conference to provide a point-counterpoint position on what he was told was a
police rights seminar. When Rick arrived at the conference, he was enraged to
learn the name of the seminar was “How to fire a police officer.” Rick
walked out and refused to participate.
In May of 1999, the FOP was only hours away from passing a due process bill. The
bill had passed the House Committee 16-0. It passed on the floor of the House
101-57. It passed the Senate Committee 5-2 and was poised to pass easily in the
Senate. Two hours before the bill was to be heard, the Executive Director of the
MML, Gary Markenson, approached with Republican Senator John Russell in tow to
announce their intention to filibuster the bill, thus killing it.
There are other examples as well. Suffice to say that the MML and the FOP don't
share common ground.
The Missouri FOP has attempted to open a dialogue with the MML, but they have
refused to answer our letters and phone calls. The MML even refused to
acknowledge a letter from our attorney.
WHY IS THE FOP SO OPPOSED TO THE MML AND NOT OTHERS THEY DISAGREE WITH?
The MML isn't just a group that we disagree with. They're different
because we pay their freight. Remember above when I said they receive tax money
for dues? That makes them a tax-paid organization, thus, we believe, subjected
to a different set of rules, protocols and ethics than that of a privately
funded organization.
It's particularly disheartening when you learn that you are paying for this
organization to oppose you. Since it's tax money, you'd think that you'd get a
say on how it's spent. We don't.
Oftentimes the decisions about positions taken by the MML are reached only by
the city manager. Other times it's taken before a city council or board of
aldermen. Either way, they take a position, on behalf of the citizens, without
getting citizen input. That's flat-out wrong. It used to be called
"taxation without representation." It's our tax dollars and it's our
city and we should get a say on what positions are taken on our behalf and at
our expense. It's that simple.
DOES THE MML TAKE POSITIONS ADVERSARIAL TO CITIZENS AS A WHOLE, OR JUST FOP
MEMBERS?
It's accurate to say that the MML is pro-tax and has taken positions
opposed to the basics of democracy, therefore most citizens. Their positions
have included opposing tax exemptions for food purchases, not allowing 25% of
time at city meetings for public input, not allowing citizens to vote on who
provides their fire protection and others. These are documented positions by the
MML, not hype or propaganda. Some of their positions are actually shocking. And
considering that we, as taxpayers, fund these positions makes it all the worse.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DID THE PICKET IN KANSAS CITY MEAN TO THE MML?
We hoped that public awareness would pressure the MML into cleaning up
its act. We believe that if the public knew what was going on, they'd stop it.
Our efforts did not go unnoticed!
From the FOP perspective, we want legislators to know that they are listening to
an organization that doesn't represent the public that is paying their way. We
want legislators to see the MML for what they really are. If they do, we're
hoping that the largest block to law enforcement supportive legislation will be
removed. We're prepared to go further though and won't just stop at this
successful informational picket.
The FOP hopes that through a fair and impartial education process to our
legislators, we can catch up with the rest of the country and make Missouri a
fair place for law enforcement officers. Admittedly, the MML has much deeper
pockets than the FOP because they simply tap into tax monies. But when the
legislators learn this, we are confident that right will prevail.
It's also vital to point out that the MML controls another arm of our opposition
in the Missouri legislature, the police chiefs. The Chiefs are another
tax-funded organization and readily take their marching orders from their
bosses, those outlined as members of the MML. You can't expect the Chiefs to
oppose their bosses!
DO THE RIGHT THING, SUPPORT THE HEROS OF MISSOURI, MISSOURI'S LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS!