Last night, Monday, March 14, the New Philadelphia City Council approved Police Department budget requests for the next two years. It made sense that they approve the pay increases for policemen, not that the pay increases were merited, needed, or justified, but because there was no way that voting against them would have made any difference. The citizenry of New Philadelphia were bested in another expensive fact-finding decision which the City can ill afford.
The Times-Reporter article of March 15, “Phila City Council approves report on police wage hikes”, states clearly how the police union won their case as heard by Fact-finder Thomas R. Skulina. What Mr. Skulina, in his opinion, mandated a 5.75 percent pay increase for the police department over the next two years. But it only makes sense if the facts are not taken into consideration and if the incompetence of the city administration is overlooked.
The Times-Reporter quotes Skulina as stating, “The evidence is clear that, even after the recession that plagued the city, it is still leaves the city with the ability, if it chooses, to increase the pay of its police officers.”
There are a number of questionable conclusions used by Skulina to make such a statement.
The depression, let’s call it what it is, is not over. The true unemployment rate in Ohio is hovering around the 20 percent level. Nationally foreclosures are predicted to increase this year to 1.2 million homes. Already in 2011 over five million homes are two months or more behind in mortgage payments. 2010 was bad enough with 1 in every 45 homes being foreclosed. 2011 has all the appearances of being worse.
The city is in financial trouble. The general fund, where the money comes from to operate the city, such things as paying the mayor, auditor, treasurer, law director, city council, pay the bills for city hall, run the parks, that sort of thing, starts the year off 430 thousand dollars in the red. Add to that the Street Department, 30 thousand dollars in the red, the Cemetery two thousand dollars, and the total budget deficit is $462,000.
With the police wage increases approved, the cost of operating the city will be increased by an additional $39,000 this year and $45,000 in 2012, for a total deficit increase of $84,000 for the two years. In 2011 alone, the budget will be in the red over half-a-million dollars.
Where will the money to pay for this deficit come from? Two choices. One is that the economy will pickup, which is highly doubtful. Second is to increase taxes, which the mayor indicated would be his choice when he ran for office two years ago. The third, which is not spoken of at this point, is to lay people off.
A deficit budget does not concern Skulina. After all, he argues, five other communities in Tuscarawas, Stark, and Guernsey counties pay their police officers more than does New Philadelphia. With thirty five cities having police departments in those counties, we can only wonder what those cities are. When 86 percent of the cities in those three counties have police with wage scales less then New Philadelphia, it doesn’t seem that New Philadelphia police wages are that far out of line.
Skulina also made an interesting statement, one which invariably comes up as a point of prejudice and bias, which is totally not supported by the facts. “As a fact-finder," he said, “I definitely find that safety-force employees that are exposed to serious physical danger are not the same as the things office clerks, secretaries and non-safety employees are exposed to. Hence, I am not constrained by the arguments that whatever I recommend for the police is necessarily a given increase for the large non-safety union’s positions.”
This is a biased, unsupportable statement. In supporting his argument for police wage increases, he debases other employees as inferior, both in position and in risk, to those of the police department. This is not only degrading to those other employees, but shows a lack factual basis for Skulina’s ruling.
A study done in Maryland in 2009 lists the top jobs for fatalities per 100,000 workers, as the following:
Timber cutting 117.8
Fishermen 71.1
Airplane Pilots & Navigators 69.8
Structural Metal Workers 58.2
Drivers Sales Workers 37.9
Roofers 37.0
Electrical Power Installers 32.5
Farmers 28.0
Construction laborers 27.7
Truck drivers 25.0
Sworn Police Officers 22.2
National average: 4.0
There is no doubt that a policeman’s job can have its moments, but a policeman’s job does not often relate to what is seen on today’s television series. He does not on a daily basis face life threatening situations. In this case, the question is not do New Philadelphia’s police officers deserve higher wages because of hazardous duty, but have they earned pay raises because of increased efficiency and public service.
Full blame does not fall on policemen of New Philadelphia for the inappropriate wage increases they have received. The fault lies with a system which leans on bias, favoritism, and selfishness on the one hand, and inability to properly administer the city’s finances on the other.
New Philadelphia administrations cannot compete with union lawyers on their own and refuse to engage competent legal help to negotiate for them. For the good of the city, both employees and citizens, the mayor should admit to his inability to negotiate effectively with professional union negotiators. He should hire competent legal council, one with experience, training, and the will to win to represent the city. Yet he does not and the result remains unchanged, the city loses negotiations, fact-finding, and arbitration with regularity.
The culprits of this most recent financial debacle are the same as in the past: a greedy union, an incompetent administration, and a biased fact-finder. The victims are the same as in the past: the citizens of New Philadelphia. How much longer will the citizenry accept an ineffective administration and legislature? It’s time to wake up New Philadelphia. It is your city. Get involved. Do something before the city disappears in a cloud of citizen apathy.
The Times-Reporter article of March 15, “Phila City Council approves report on police wage hikes”, states clearly how the police union won their case as heard by Fact-finder Thomas R. Skulina. What Mr. Skulina, in his opinion, mandated a 5.75 percent pay increase for the police department over the next two years. But it only makes sense if the facts are not taken into consideration and if the incompetence of the city administration is overlooked.
The Times-Reporter quotes Skulina as stating, “The evidence is clear that, even after the recession that plagued the city, it is still leaves the city with the ability, if it chooses, to increase the pay of its police officers.”
There are a number of questionable conclusions used by Skulina to make such a statement.
The depression, let’s call it what it is, is not over. The true unemployment rate in Ohio is hovering around the 20 percent level. Nationally foreclosures are predicted to increase this year to 1.2 million homes. Already in 2011 over five million homes are two months or more behind in mortgage payments. 2010 was bad enough with 1 in every 45 homes being foreclosed. 2011 has all the appearances of being worse.
The city is in financial trouble. The general fund, where the money comes from to operate the city, such things as paying the mayor, auditor, treasurer, law director, city council, pay the bills for city hall, run the parks, that sort of thing, starts the year off 430 thousand dollars in the red. Add to that the Street Department, 30 thousand dollars in the red, the Cemetery two thousand dollars, and the total budget deficit is $462,000.
With the police wage increases approved, the cost of operating the city will be increased by an additional $39,000 this year and $45,000 in 2012, for a total deficit increase of $84,000 for the two years. In 2011 alone, the budget will be in the red over half-a-million dollars.
Where will the money to pay for this deficit come from? Two choices. One is that the economy will pickup, which is highly doubtful. Second is to increase taxes, which the mayor indicated would be his choice when he ran for office two years ago. The third, which is not spoken of at this point, is to lay people off.
A deficit budget does not concern Skulina. After all, he argues, five other communities in Tuscarawas, Stark, and Guernsey counties pay their police officers more than does New Philadelphia. With thirty five cities having police departments in those counties, we can only wonder what those cities are. When 86 percent of the cities in those three counties have police with wage scales less then New Philadelphia, it doesn’t seem that New Philadelphia police wages are that far out of line.
Skulina also made an interesting statement, one which invariably comes up as a point of prejudice and bias, which is totally not supported by the facts. “As a fact-finder," he said, “I definitely find that safety-force employees that are exposed to serious physical danger are not the same as the things office clerks, secretaries and non-safety employees are exposed to. Hence, I am not constrained by the arguments that whatever I recommend for the police is necessarily a given increase for the large non-safety union’s positions.”
This is a biased, unsupportable statement. In supporting his argument for police wage increases, he debases other employees as inferior, both in position and in risk, to those of the police department. This is not only degrading to those other employees, but shows a lack factual basis for Skulina’s ruling.
A study done in Maryland in 2009 lists the top jobs for fatalities per 100,000 workers, as the following:
Timber cutting 117.8
Fishermen 71.1
Airplane Pilots & Navigators 69.8
Structural Metal Workers 58.2
Drivers Sales Workers 37.9
Roofers 37.0
Electrical Power Installers 32.5
Farmers 28.0
Construction laborers 27.7
Truck drivers 25.0
Sworn Police Officers 22.2
National average: 4.0
There is no doubt that a policeman’s job can have its moments, but a policeman’s job does not often relate to what is seen on today’s television series. He does not on a daily basis face life threatening situations. In this case, the question is not do New Philadelphia’s police officers deserve higher wages because of hazardous duty, but have they earned pay raises because of increased efficiency and public service.
Full blame does not fall on policemen of New Philadelphia for the inappropriate wage increases they have received. The fault lies with a system which leans on bias, favoritism, and selfishness on the one hand, and inability to properly administer the city’s finances on the other.
New Philadelphia administrations cannot compete with union lawyers on their own and refuse to engage competent legal help to negotiate for them. For the good of the city, both employees and citizens, the mayor should admit to his inability to negotiate effectively with professional union negotiators. He should hire competent legal council, one with experience, training, and the will to win to represent the city. Yet he does not and the result remains unchanged, the city loses negotiations, fact-finding, and arbitration with regularity.
The culprits of this most recent financial debacle are the same as in the past: a greedy union, an incompetent administration, and a biased fact-finder. The victims are the same as in the past: the citizens of New Philadelphia. How much longer will the citizenry accept an ineffective administration and legislature? It’s time to wake up New Philadelphia. It is your city. Get involved. Do something before the city disappears in a cloud of citizen apathy.
I would like to see some discussion on the latest Fire Department contract and how their raises were more than those of the Police Department. What productivity have they shown? The top payed firefighter in New Philadelphia made in upwards of $90,000 last year. The top payed police officer made just over $60,000. You didn't feel the need to include that did you? I find it odd how you never bring the Fire Department into your great blog, but seem to include the police department at every turn.
ReplyDeleteIn your Maryland study the deaths cited aren't accurate due to the fact that the cause of death, which in job related deaths are nine times out of ten caused by some sort of human error, are not cited. Where as police in the line of duty deaths more often than not are caused by an assailant and not some error the officer or their partner made. So for you to cite these statistics is inaccurate and misleading at best. I find very few times when a clerical worker has to make a decision in a moments notice where the outcome could affect so many lives. I'm not saying that all officers are worth what they are paid, or for that matter should be making what they make, but the fact remains an officer's life can change in the amount of time it took me to write this response...
ReplyDelete