This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 2, 2011 - Former state Rep. Jeff Roorda, one of the Jefferson County Democrats who lost last fall, has a new job with the St. Louis Police Officers Association.
His hiring may be tied to the group's fight with City Hall over the latter's push to end state control of the St. Louis Police Department. The association announced Tuesday that Roorda has been hired as its business manager, a newly created position. He is scheduled to start work March 14.
In the House, Roorda, D-Barnhart, was minority whip during his last term, 2009-2011; he lost his seat last November to Republican Paul Wieland.
Just a few weeks ago, Roorda -- an ally of Gov. Jay Nixon -- had been hired to a state job as a special assistant to the director of public safety. Roorda is leaving to take his new job with the police group.
Roorda earlier had been in law enforcement for 17 years. He was the Kimmswick police chief before his election to the state House. He earlier had been with the Arnold and St. Louis police departments.
The 1,000-member St. Louis Police Officers Association and vice-president/legislative director Joe Steiger indicated that Roorda's hiring was aimed at bolstering the group's representation in its dealings with City Hall and Mayor Francis Slay -- who has been leading an effort to persuade the Missouri General Assembly and Nixon to end state control of the police department.
"Jeff understands the plight of cops and other public employees," Steiger said in a statement. "He's shown the ability to fight for us and the willingness to bring parties together to avoid disputes between management and public employee unions. In the wake of the 2007 Supreme Court decision granting collective bargaining rights to police officers, it makes sense for our organization to have someone with Jeff's abilities to represent us ..."
Roorda offered equally assertive comments: "I'm honored for the chance to serve the men and women of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. For too long, they've been treated like second-class citizens. The Supreme Court said that we are entitled to the same rights that every other citizen of this state enjoys and I'll not rest until our members are treated with the fairness and equity that the law requires. These men and women place their lives on the line everyday for the people of St. Louis and they deserve fair treatment. The citizens of St. Louis appreciate the job they do and the city's elected officials should do the same."
Roorda continued: " I've got a good relationship with the city's delegation in the Missouri Legislature and a good relationship with most of the elected officeholders at City Hall. I plan to reach out to the city officeholders on behalf of the rank-and-file of the police department in the hopes of ending the long-standing attempts to undermine city police officers' rights through legislative maneuvering in order to move toward a scenario where the association and city government can have meaningful, good-faith, face-to-face interactions to resolve their differences."
