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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/31/07 Board of Public Safety Minutes~~~ PUBLIC AGENDA SESSION JANUARY 31, 2007 The Board of Public Safety met in the Public Agenda Session at 8:08 a.m. on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 with President Jesusa Rodriguez and Board Members Juanita Dempsey, Donald Alford, Bruce J. BonDurant, and Patrick D. Cottrell present. Alsa present were Police Division Chief Rick Bishop, Fire Chief Luther Taylor and Board Attorney Thomas Bodnar. The meeting was held in the Board of Public Works Meeting Room, 13`h Floor, County City Building, South Bend, Indiana. Board members discussed the following item(s) from that list. - Minutes -The Board found no mistakes in the minutes of January 10, 2007. -Donations -Fire Department - Monthly and Annual Statistics -Fire Department Chief Taylor stated that the figures were down substantially for inspections because all of the numbers have not been entered in the system yet. - Donations -Police Department - Quarterly Training Report -Police Department - Monthly Statistical Analysis -Police Department Division Chief Rick Bishop noted that it is an encouraging trend that burglaries are continuing to go down. He stated that larceny is up which is normal in December due to the Christmas holidays. - Grievance Hearing -Police Department Mr. Thomas Bodnar summarized the details of the grievance and indicated that this is the fourth step in the process. Corporal Anthony Ross is appealing the decision of Chief Thomas Fautz in denying him three (3) days leave for the birth of his child. Corporal Ross was denied the days off because he is not the spouse of the mother of the baby, as the contract specifically requires. Mr. Bodnar stated that this is the first time he can recall that this situation has come before the Board. Mr. Bodnar informed the members of the process involved and stated that due to the fact that this was not a discipline, the Board would just hear the arguments and make their decision in writing at the next regular meeting. President Rodriguez questioned their ability to vile against the Police Departments Working Agreement and stated that she was not comfortable having a hearing without counsel present. Mr. Bodnar stated that the Agreement could not be modified without a vote of the Fraternal Order of Police. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, President Rodriguez declared the meeting adjourned at 8:34 a.m. BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY Donald L. Alford, Mem 1 Juanita Dempsey, Member ~~ c~G Patrick D. Cottrell, Member Bruce J. BonDurant, Member n ~+ `~JJ PUBLIC AGENDA SESSION ATTEST: JANUARY 31, 2007 Linda M. Martin, Clerk EXECUTIVE SESSION JANUARY 31, 2007 1 The Board of Public Safety met in the Executive Session on Wednesday, January 31, 2007, at 8:40 a.m. The meeting was held in the Mayor's Conference Room, 14t" Floor, County City Building, South Bend, Indiana, for the purposes specified in I.C. 5-14-1.5-6.1 (b) (2) (B) and (b) (6) (A) and adjourned at 9:05 a.m. President Jesusa Rodriguez and Board Members Juanita Dempsey, Donald Alford, Patrick Cottrell, and Bruce J. BonDurant were present. Also present were Division Chief Rick Bishop, Fire Chief Luther Taylor and Board Attorney Thomas Bodnar. Board members did not discuss any subject matter other than the subject matter as specified in the Public Notice. ATTEST: Linda M. Martin, Clerk Juanita Dempsey, Member G~%l~~ Patrick D. Cottre 1, Member J. - Bruce J. BonDurant, Member REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 31, 2007 The Board of Public Safety met in the regular meeting at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, January 31, 2007, with President Jesusa Rodriguez and Board Members Juanita Dempsey, Donald Alford, Patrick D. Cottrell, and Bruce J. BonDurant present. Also present were Chief of Detective Division Rick Bishop, Fire Chief Luther Taylor and Board Attorney Thomas Bodnar. The meeting was held in the Board of Public Works Meeting Room, 13`" Floor, County City Building, South Bend, Indiana. APPROVE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS President Rodriguez advised that if there were no objections by members of the Board, the minutes of the Public Agenda Session, Executive Session, and Regular meetings of the Board held on January 10, 2007 be accepted as submitted 1 1 o~ Donald L. Alford, Me ber Q ~ '.. REGULAR MEETING FIRE DEPARTMENT JANUARY 31, 2007 ACCEPT DONATION TO SOUTH BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT In a letter to the Board, Chief Luther Taylor stated that Memorial Hospital made a donation ofthirty- seven (37) gift cards for Friday's Restaurant in the amount of $25.00 each, totaling $925.00. Memorial Hospital expressed their gratitude for the professionalism and quick response of the Fire Department to a fire on December 22, 2006 at the hospital. There being no further discussion, the donation was accepted. ACCEPT DONATION TO SOUTH BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT In a letter to the Board, Chief Taylor stated that the Wal-Mart Store on the South Side of South Bend made a donation to the Fire Department in the amount of $5,000.00 at their grand opening on January 18, 2007. Chief Taylor stated that the check has been deposited into the Fire Department's (EMSCIF) Emergency Medical Service Capital Improvement Fund #288, and will be utilized to assist in getting the Training Center started. President Rodriguez expressed the Board's appreciation and wished to thank Wal-Mart for their generous donation. There being no further discussion, the donation was accepted. FILING OF MONTHLY STATISTICAL REPORT -DECEMBER 2006 Chief Luther Taylor submitted to the Board the monthly report for the month of December 2006 compiled by the Prevention/Inspection Bureau of the Fire Department. A summary is as follows: 1 1 DECEMBER DECEMBER 2005 2006 STRUCTURE FIRES Property Damage--Buildings & Contents (Estimates) $421,250.00 $85,100.00 INSPECTIONS (Fire Prevention/Ins ection Bureau) 501 Inspections 270 Inspections 57 Re-Ins ections 20 Re-Ins ections INVESTIGATIONS (Police/Fire Arson Bureau) 15 18 Investi ations Investi ations 5 7 Arson Arson FILING OF ANNUAL STATISTICAL REPORT - 2006 Chief Luther Taylor submitted to the Board the annual report for the year of 2006 compiled by the Prevention/Inspection Bureau of the Fire Department. A summary is as follows: ANNUAL 2005 ANNUAL 2006 STRUCTURE FIRES Property Damage--Buildings & Contents (Estimates) $4,758,260.00 $2,458,660.00 INSPECTIONS Fire Prevention/Ins ection Bureau) 5585 Inspections 4875 Inspections 849 Re-Ins ections 691 Re-Ins ections INVESTIGATIONS (Police/Fire Arson Bureau 220 227 Investi ations Investi ations 84 84 Arson Arson ~J REGULAR MEETING POLICE DEPARTMENT JANUARY 31.2007 ACCEPT DONATION TO SOUTH BEND POLICE DEPARTMENT In a letter to the Board, Division Chief Gary Horvath stated that the South Bend Police Department, on behalf of the Community Relations Division, received a donation from Wal-Mart in the amount of $3,500.00. The Police Department requested that the money be used to pay expenses associated with the department's community/youth outreach programs such as the South Bend Police Boxing Club. They requested that the check be accepted and deposited into the South Bend Police Boxing Club account within the South Bend Police Department. Division Chief Bishop stated that Chief Boykin is doing an excellent job with the Boxing Club, mentoring approximately fifty (50) young adults. Division Chief Bishop invited the Board to stop by and observe the center and its programs. There being no further discussion, the donations was accepted. FILING OF QUARTERLY REPORT FOR SPECIALIZED TRAINING -OCTOBER THROUGH DECEMBER 2006 Captain Wanda Shock, Director of Training, South Bend Police Department, submitted to the Board a written Quarterly Report for Specialized Training for the period of October through December 2006. The report indicated the specialized training attended, the names of the officers who attended and the costs involved. There being no questions concerning this report, the Quarterly Report for Specialized Training as submitted was accepted and filed. FILING OF MONTHLY STATISTICAL ANALYSIS REPORT -DECEMBER 2006 President Rodriguez indicated that unless there were questions or objections by members of the Board, the statistical report for the month of December 2006 as submitted by the Police Department, would be accepted for filing. There being no objections, the following report was accepted for filing: YEAR TO DATE PART I OFFENSES 2005 2006 CHANGE ~ ~ CHANGE MURDER 1 1 0 12 10 -2 RAPE 10 1 -9 69 67 -2 ROBBERY 51 62 11 348 431 83 AGGRAVATED ASSLT 22 19 -2 356 292 -64 BURGLARY RES 108 93 -15 1085 1351 266 BURGLARY NON RES 35 34 -1 593 579 -14 LARCENY 309 351 42 4366 4895 -529 MOTOR VEH THEFT 59 56 -3 577 563 -14 ARSONS 5 7 2 90 86 -4 GRAND TOTAL 600 624 24 7496 8274 778 GRIEVANCE HEARING -ANTHONY ROSS Corporal Anthony Ross addressed the Board stating that on January 30, 2007, his fiancee gave birth to his child, but he was denied three (3) days off for his child's birth because he was not married. Corporal Ross feels that Article 24 of the Working Agreement is very ambiguous in its wording, stating that a child bom to an Employee only implies a female Employee who gives birth, but does not specifically state that. Mr. Bodnar requested that Corporal Ross address the three (3) factors that were referenced in a memo by Chief Fautz to Corporal Ross. In the memo, Chief Fautz stated that Corporal Ross was notified on January 5, 2007 that he was denied the days off for child birth but Corporal Ross didn't file the grievance form until January 13, 2007. That is one day past the deadline of seven (7) days. Secondly, Article 24 of the current Working Agreement in part states "in the event of a child born to an Employee or to an Employee's spouse, an Employee, as defined herein, shall receive three (3) days leave time without loss of pay to attend the child's/children's birth(s), upon the approval of the Chief of Police or his or her designee, whose approval shall not be unreasonably withheld." Chief Fautz stated in his memo that since Corporal Ross was not married, he was not entitled to the benefit. Third, is the matter concerning the 2006 vacation being rolled over to 2007. Article 16 of the current Working Agreement in part states "Earned vacations shall not accumulate from year to year, except in the case when an Employee incurs an on-duty injury where said vacation cannot be used in 1 1 1 QJ REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 31, 2007 light of the medically required recovery period." Since this did not involve an on-duty injury, even if he was entitled to the benefit for child birth, Corporal Ross would not be able to roll his days over from 2006 to 2007. In addressing these issues, Corporal Ross stated that he was on vacation until January 8, 2007, and he ' filed the grievance on January 12, 2007. He stated that was within seven working days of his return to duty. He stated that he understands that vacation days won't rollover, but he was told that they could switch his vacation to baby days and rollover his three (3) vacation days to 2007. Mr. Bodnar presented the Board with a copy of Black's Law Dictionary's definition of spouse which stated that a spouse is "One's wife or husband". He also presented the Board with a copy of the 2004-2005 Article 24 of the Police Departments Working Agreement and informed the Board that it had never allowed for an unmarried officer to have time off for the birth of their child. Division Chief Richard Kilgore addressed the Board stating that this situation had come up once in 2004. The mother was allowed one day for the birth of her child, the father was not allowed paid time off. He stated that there is also another Employee at the same time as Corporal Ross who was denied leave, and docked three (3) days pay. President Rodriguez stated that she was not comfortable proceeding without counsel and she thinks the Fraternal Order of Police needs to look at this policy and reassess it. She said that the Board of Public Safety signed the Working Agreement after being told the Fraternal Order ofPolice approved it. She does not believe they should discriminate against an employee based on their marital status. Division Chief Bishop stated that they can take FMLA. President Rodriguez noted that they are not paid at the same level if they take FMLA. Mr. Donald Alford stated that the Board is sympathetic to Mr. Ross's situation but cannot do anything. Mr. Ross questioned the Board's authority to change the language in the Working Agreement. Mr. Bodnar stated that any change would have to be voted on by Fraternal Order of Police members, that in the past the Board had produced Letters of Understanding which amended the agreements with the fire and police unions. Mr. Ross emphasized that he wants to see the wording changed to include employees who are not married be allowed to have time off for the birth of their children. He stated he will take his case to the next step, if necessary, to address future situations like his. President Rodriguez requested that the grievance be continued and stated there will be a Special Meeting scheduled to address the issue on Thursday, February 8, 2007. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, President Rodriguez declared the meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m. BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY Jesusa odngu resident ~~ Donald L. Alford, Me er ' Juanita Dempsey, Member 1. Patrick D. Cottrell, Member ~--~-; J . Bruce J. BonDurant, Member T EST: • Cl~~ nda M. Martin, Cler c