09-22-08 Common Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 22, 2008 and with both Unions working their contract would have rolled over anyway. To rollover the contract would have cost the City more money and could have caused a lot of many more issues. So doing what is being done tonight is not irresponsible at all. It would help if both side would recognized that and talked about that on several occasions and so therefore he stated that he has no problem in supporting this bill. They have taken the best numbers that could possibly have been taken given all the legal ramifications that they have to deal with. He thinks that when it comes to other issues that will have to be talked about with the budget that will be heard later on there are provisions in place so that they don’t necessarily have to cut everybody. He is clarifying the idea out there that they are making some decisions that are irresponsible concern him greatly because the teams spent a lot of time, the unions spent a lot of time, there was leadership to understand where we are and came across from both aisle to understand those numbers. The Controller presented them and they held many meetings to go over and over the numbers. These are very conservative things that make sense and feel safe for one year, not two, three, or four. He stated that the staggering of the contract was a great idea so that the City can see where it is in April of 2009 and that gives a chance for everything to be looked at and then if they need to make adjustments for the next year 2010, the year that everyone is scared about, 2009 should be able to be gotten through okay. Credit is due to those who made the effort to attend those negotiation sessions and get through those to get where we are tonight. Councilmember Puzzello stated that she was very impressed this summer and spent a lot of time attending the negotiations. She noted that she is the only member of the Council who is fully retired from a regular job. So that allows her more time to commit to the grueling schedule of negotiations, which she enjoyed thoroughly. She stated that it was a big job this summer. Both unions worked in a very professional way. She stated that she did not thing that she ever went to a meeting concerning finances for the City of South Bend, that there were not representatives from both the Police and Fire Unions there and they had done their homework and they knew what they were doing and they knew what was happening as much as any of us know. They worked in good faith, and one of the ways that you can tell that is that when you negotiate in good faith you listen to the union representatives and it’s something that Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski- Farrand does very well and she thinks that the Unions would agree with that assessment. The end result is not the same for both unions, because that is not what the unions wanted, they wanted it the way it came out. She was very impressed with all the professionalism by both unions, they ratified, even those the raise is not a very good one and did not bring them up in the standing very far, but they ratified because they knew that they had done the best that they could do and the representatives of both unions had done the best that they could do. She stated that they were concerned with the public’s safety and they reiterated that many, many times. The main issue was the public safety of the citizens of South Bend. That was one of the things that they work toward doing the best job for the people of South Bend at all times. Councilmember Rouse stated that he doesn’t disagree with the intent and the hard work. But, Ladies and Gentlemen, you cannot get around the fact that if he was to give a 2% raise, it is going to be compounded whereas if he does the same thing and make sure you have the money, and do it for a bonus, when he doesn’t know what his financial situation is next year, it is just more responsible. He stated that he doesn’t mean to offend any Councilmember or any person of the Administration or the Negotiating Team, but the reality is that HB 1001 has a burden on all of us as an unknown area that they simply don’t know where it is. To give compounded raises and that’s what it is, you cannot go back next year and start from step one. The Council has an obligation to everyone including the hard working taxpayers of this city. He is saying yes, give them all that you can give them, make sure that they are taken care of, provide the financial resources for the Fire and the Police, but do it in a responsible way which he says he considers differently, in a way that they are responsible for what they don’t know in the future. He stated that they can always go back and give them a 4% increase next year, if they have the money. But to compound it now, he personally thinks that it can be done better. He stated that this is not something that he started talking about tonight, he put an e-mail out to everyone of the Councilmember’s several weeks ago while negotiations were being undergone and no one ever came back and said Rouse look at this, this is what we are 11