Write a commentOswego, New York Mayor Billy Barlow met recently with the Oswego Police Union (Lake City Police Club) representatives to sign a memorandum of agreement that would provide a mechanism to reconcile the City – Union contract language with New York State Law which allows qualified US Veterans the ability to “buy-back” their military time to use toward their New York State Retirement benefit.
Prior to this memorandum, each employee was handled on a case by case basis with no guarantee that the city would allow the member to retire with city earned benefits when retiring under this provision of the law. The agreement states that eligible members of the City of Oswego Police Department will be afforded the opportunity to buy back from the State of New York up to three (3) years of active military service toward their retirement as defined in Article 20 of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL). An eligible member that utilizes this section to qualify with full benefits as defined in their New York State & Local Retirement tier will be allowed to retire with all rights and privileges which would be afforded a member who has served twenty (20) years of service with the City of Oswego.
Mayor Barlow stated; “Today’s signing is yet another step to align our city services with the experienced workforce coming from the US military. Earlier this year I signed an agreement as part of the US Army’s Partnership for Youth Success (PaYS) program which guaranteed US Army Veterans an interview for potential positions in the city’s workforce. Today we are reinforcing our commitment to help encourage gainful employment of qualified US Veterans. I want to thank the members of the Oswego Police Union for pursuing this agreement for their members who are also US Veterans. On this Veteran’s Day, as we honor all US Veterans I offer a special thank you to the members of the City’s workforce who are also US Veterans. Thank you all for your service to the city of Oswego and to our country!”
The Oswego Police Union President, Kevin Hadcock, who is also a US Veteran serving with the US Coast Guard, states “I would like to thank Mayor Barlow for his continued support in recruiting, retaining and honoring all US Veterans and especially those who are current members of our police union. The members of the police union are grateful for the Mayor’s willingness to hear us on this important issue and to see it through to the signing of this agreement.”
Police Chief Tory L. DeCaire states, “It was an honor to be able to stand with the members of the Oswego Police Department who are also US Veterans as the Mayor and union representatives signed this agreement. I am grateful to Mayor Barlow for seeing the benefit of having in our employ the experience that a US Veteran brings to the table which is well worth guaranteeing them the benefits that they have earned. This agreement will undoubtedly assist the Oswego Police Department in recruiting and retaining qualified and experienced personnel.”
