After chatting with a city employee I ran into, I questioned City Auditor Trent Williams about the
data I requested and included in a previous post regarding city employee benefits. In fact, there is one and only one union that has started paying 3% of their pension contribution.
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Because of the format in which the data were provided and the limitations of Blogger, it becomes a bit awkward to review. My apologies. |
The other thing the employee told me is that the unelected mayor told them there would be no layoffs. Hm? I don't know who negotiated for them, but they should have stuck with what police and fire received. Yes, they are paying $30/single and $75/family less per month, but that amounts only to $360/single and $900/family savings in health insurance. Their 3% contribution is 3% of gross...so, someone making $20,000 pays $600/year for pension contribution AND the annual health insurance.
These employees are also paid significantly less than police and fire yet they are the ones hit with overtime limitations. That is why we are forced to keep up with which day do we put our trash out this week? As my neighbor says...when the moon aligns with the third celestial...
Not funny you say? Well, be in for more of it. Because the unelected mayor and his chief honcho (the retired and rehired again) Juanita Jewitt have told the AFSCME folks to be prepared for layoffs. What about police & fire? Oh, they'll say, we can't do that because the city charter mandates a specific number.
The fact is, that number was totally political when it was added to the Charter and it could have been eliminated in the latest charter amendment increasing our income taxes...but Haas, Basham, Kalb, Malone, et al. didn't include it on purpose - more politics.
And those same politics have gotten the city into the financial quagmire it is today. Thanks, guys!
As the boys are now forced to deal with the financial disaster of their creation, there is one thing the public should make them keep in mind: everyone has a job to do, else the position should be eliminated.
In answer to the fire chief - no, firefighters are not more important than other employees. All one has to do is ask, "How many times a day do I turn the water on?" "How many times a day do I flush the toilet?" "How many times a week do I use the city streets?" "How many times a YEAR do I call the fire department?" "How many times a year do I call the police department?"
They all have jobs to do. Even the administrative people. And all are counting on fairness from the city elected officials...but they are not getting it.
City of Portsmouth Overtime
2011 and 2012 Through December 19,
2012
Department 2011 January-December
19, 2012
Service (garbage, streets, parks) $ 59,587 $ 36,728
*Police $199,075 $215,893 *Fire $ 32,424 $133,133
Water Filtration $ 52,829 $ 76,167
Water Distribution $ 76,709 $ 64,278
Sewer $ 93,408 $ 49,037
$514,032 $575,236
TOTALS
(including other) $528,428 $585,829
*Police
& Fire = 60% of total
There's nothing fair about the above.
There was nothing fair in 2011 when the boys cut the two positions in the Health Department that were doing all the code enforcement and weeds and junk abatement. Rumor is that the unelected mayor and his sidekick will have the people historically maintaining Greenlawn Cemetery doing other work too.How about going back to the plan of only 2 fire stations, save $100,000+ and keep these people doing important tasks for the public? How about treating the employees AND the public fairly?