The Pima County Board of Supervisors meets at the County Administration Building in downtown Tucson.
Members of law enforcement unions within the Pima County Sheriff’s Department will have an election next week over a new bargaining rights agreement with the county.
The election will proceed despite a legal challenge this week, from a lawyer representing the Pima County Deputy Sheriff’s Association (PCDSA), the union that has held bargaining rights since 2018 and supports Democratic Sheriff Chris Nanos.
Their agreement expires at the end of the month, and a union critical of Nanos’ leadership, the Pima County Deputy’s Organization (PCDO), presented enough signatures to hold an election for authorized representative.
A lawyer representing PCDSA Mike Storie wrote an opinion to the board that civilian employees and corrections officers should be able to vote, but after an executive session at the June 17 meeting, the Board of Supervisors found no reason to continue the issue.
“That was put on the addendum by the county attorney in case the board wanted to take some action, but that as I said, will not be necessary,” Board Chair Rex Scott said.
Storie also gave his opinion to the Board during call to the audience at the June 3 meeting. County Administrator Jan Lesher said the information from the county attorney was necessary.
“What we have to be concerned about as a board is, are we aligning with board policy and state law with regard to how these elections are supposed to be conducted, and most significantly, based on what you heard during call to the public not too long ago, who's allowed to participate in those elections. So we just need to make sure that we're staying within statutory parameters,” Lesher said.
The election is scheduled for June 23 to 27, and all department deputies, detectives, and sergeants are allowed to vote, according to an election notice distributed internally to employees and acquired by AZPM.
The Deputy’s Organization has about 279 members, while the Association has 135.
Read more coverage about the bargaining rights election here .
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