Moving Onward, Moving Forward
Of all the dispatches to the SFPOA membership I have written over the years, this is the single toughest. It’s because after much reflection and consideration, I have decided to leave my current vocation as a union labor lawyer and embark on a new course in what I hope to be the second half of my life and career.
The past five-and-a-half years as general counsel for the SFPOA have been the capstone to a life in the law that I could only have dreamed about as a young man growing up in Indiana: serving as chief lawyer to the largest police union in Northern California and the world renowned City of San Francisco. It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve the Executive Board, numerous and diverse Boards of Directors, and, at the heart of it all, you, the members and your families. A lawyer could not have asked for a better client. The tenacity and courage that you display in your critical occupation inspire and fill me with unqualified admiration.
Indeed, the courage and honor that you display have no doubt played a role in my continued fascination with the literature and philosophy of the Classical world of Greece and Rome, where such qualities played a sizeable role. To anyone who has spent more than five minutes with me or who regularly reads my columns, this should come as no surprise, given my constant references to the ancient world, particularly Classical Greece. Having been accepted by Stanford University’s Classics Department to pursue graduate study in ancient philosophy, I hope to be able one day to teach this subject which I love so much. My fascination with the world of ideas, particularly Greek philosophy, is what led me to law in the first place and the thought of opening that world to young people is a thrilling prospect.
To be sure, I will miss terribly serving the rank and file, as being a union lawyer is also part of my blood. The pain of separation is lessened somewhat by the satisfaction in what we have accomplished in the time I have been honored to work with you: (1) a labor contract that remains the envy of police labor nationwide, the continued extensions of which have served to protect San Francisco’s finest from the draconian “takeaways” that have plagued other agencies, (2) the creation of a Legal Defense Fund that will serve to protect generations of police officers from unjust administrative, civil, or criminal actions, (3) a new set of Bylaws and revamped, unincorporated structure that puts the SFPOA in the strongest possible position to meet the challenges ahead, (4) numerous successes before the Police Commission and at the level of statewide legislation to safeguard the confidentiality rights of police officers, (5) legislation at the local level which improved the retirement prospects for officers who were able to enter the DROP program within the window of its lifetime and allow officers at SFO to combine PERS time with their SFERS retirement benefits . . . The list could go on.
None of the above could have been accomplished without the vision and commanding guidance of a police union president who is the best in the business, Gary Delagnes. Words are inadequate to describe just how extraordinary a union leader Gary is. Suffice it to say that working with and serving alongside Gary has been, for me, the summit of my legal career. I hope that the rank and file realizes just how lucky the SFPOA has been to have had such a one as Gary.
In closing thank you for giving me the best legal career a union labor lawyer could have imagined. Yours is the highest of causes, I am fortunate beyond words to have served it for so long, and its principles will always be at the core of what I do. Together, then, let us – both the SFPOA and I – move onward, move forward.
With deepest respect and gratitude,
John R. Tennant
“Roll the Union On . . .”
