Mayor: Firing dispatchers a costly mistake for city
FITCHBURG— The new fiscal year has begun, but the repercussions from the city’s contentious budget talks are far from over, Mayor Dan H. Mylott said yesterday.
The city cut 77 positions to balance its fiscal 2008 budget, with the casualties including teachers, police dispatchers and the animal control officer.
Mr. Mylott said at his weekly news conference yesterday that he and Town Auditor Richard Sarasin are still trying to determine the impact of the fiscal 2007 revenue deficit and how it will affect spending in fiscal 2008. He said if fiscal 2007 expenses are below projected levels, then the lesser revenue stream will not be as problematic.
The City Council took a hard line on the budget, slashing more than $1 million from the mayor’s proposed spending plan. They froze salaries for employees who did not have contracts in place and cut the 10 civilian police dispatchers in an effort to keep uniformed officers on the job.
The officers took over dispatch duties after July 1. But the Teamsters union, Local 170, which represented the civilian dispatchers, has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the city with the state Labor Relations Commission.
The complaint says councilors transferred bargaining unit work to a nonbargaining unit and cut funding for the dispatchers without negotiating the impact of the moves with the union.
Police Chief Edward F. Cronin approached the city about buying out the remainder of his contract over concerns over the handling of his department in the wake of the dispatcher layoffs, but the council declined.
Mr. Mylott said he also opposed the council’s actions regarding the dispatchers and said it would prove a costly mistake for the city.
“From the night they made that decision I said it was a mistake,” he said yesterday. “Most likely we’re going to lose this case and we’re going to have to pay for it.”
Mr. Mylott said he had not heard from the Labor Relations Commission yet but expects the complaint will be investigated.
Fitchburg Police Union President Ronald L’Ecuyer, who works in the detective bureau, said the transition from civilian dispatchers to uniformed officers had gone well so far. The officers have had classroom training and yesterday began “shadowing” with senior officers who had been trained as dispatchers years ago.
The junior officers are adapting to their new roles, he said, recalling his own beginnings as a dispatcher.
“I’ve asked these guys, would you rather be laid off or would you rather be a dispatcher?” he said.
Other employee grievances have been filed over the budget, he said, noting that employees were entitled to step increases within existing contracts but those items were not funded in the reduced spending plan approved by the council. The mayor said he expects the city will have to find the funding to make up for those cuts, too.
The School Department took the biggest hit in the budget talks, with 55 positions eliminated, Mr. Mylott said.
Superintendent of Schools Andre Ravenelle said the district mailed layoff notices on June 15.
“Some people have been called back, based on openings,” Mr. Ravenelle said yesterday.
In Fitchburg, school workers who have been laid off go into a pool of former employees for two years, and if positions open up the district turns to the pool to help fill those jobs, he said.
The cuts included 25 teaching positions, adding one to three pupils per classroom at the elementary and middle schools, the superintendent said.
Mr. Ravenelle said he doesn’t yet have a final number on the cost of unemployment benefits for those workers who were laid off. He expects to have that amount in mid-August, he said.
Mary Jo Hill of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.
Posted by: fscpd907
Ex-dispatchers: Meetings illegal
Fitchburg councilor denies duplicity
FITCHBURG— It’s like an untimely death, said Terri Fuhs, a recently laid-off civilian dispatcher.
“First we were in shock, then depression, then denial; the whole bit,” she said as two of her displaced colleagues listened and nodded. “They dealt us a horrible blow. Our jobs are still there — they just gave them to someone else.”
Former civilian dispatchers broke their silence yesterday by alleging their jobs were axed as part of series of illegal meetings between city councilors and police union leaders. They also said the public’s safety is at risk from the loss of their experience and expertise. The Teamsters Local 170 union filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the city with the state Labor Relations Commission June 26 on behalf of the 10 laid-off dispatchers.
Ms. Fuhs pointed to an e-mail sent June 27 — a day after city councilors agreed to ax civilian dispatchers — by Officer Ronald L’Ecuyer, police union president, as evidence of the dealings. In the letter, Officer L’Ecuyer told police officers about the success of making their case to city councilors during meetings held at the Wine Cellar, a local pub.
“So far it appears as though we saved the jobs of nine union brothers,” the e-mail stated.
However, Officer L’Ecuyer said yesterday that any meeting with councilors was happenstance.
“Some police officers have bumped into them in social settings. They had some conversations that sparked some interest in some councilors,” he said last night. “Those councilors came to me looking for some comparisons. We provided them with some information. They went forward and did what they did.”
He said laying off the dispatchers was solely the council’s idea.
“But I can’t say I disagree with that,” he said.
Despite Police Chief Edward F. Cronin’s opposition, city councilors agreed to lay off 10 civilian dispatchers to save the jobs of nine newly recruited police officers during fiscal 2008 budget hearings. The move zeroed out $356,000 worth of expenses associated with the civilian dispatchers and instead placed police officers at the call-center helm beginning July 1. Currently 18 officers — nine rookies who shadow nine experienced officers — are taking turns manning the emergency call station’s three shifts.
Officer L’Ecuyer said the officers working dispatch have transitioned well because technology has made it easier to deal with incoming calls. He added that as officers, they have been able to dispose of minor lobby complaints more quickly than civilian dispatchers.
“How do you put a monetary value on that?” he asked. “The civilians did a fantastic job. But there’s no reason a police officer can’t do the same job, plus they bring an additional level of experience to that job. We can do their job; they can’t do ours.”
Council President Jody M. Joseph denied so-called “backdoor meetings.”
He said he knew of councilors meeting with police union representatives during the budget hearing process but didn’t feel that those meetings were improper.
“There was nothing secret going on. They were trying to get information. You can’t do your homework in a vacuum,” he said last night. “I think people make a lot of assumptions. That doesn’t make it reality.”
Councilor Dean A. Tran, who cast the only vote against laying off the civilian dispatchers, said the public should not make assumptions about meetings councilors have in private.
However, “I think being seen with a union representative may give the impression that wrongdoing is being performed,” he said. “That’s why in my eyes, (the meeting) is inappropriate.”
He said he was against the layoffs because it seemed to be a hasty execution.
“A decision to lay off 10 employees is a difficult and big decision that should be given due diligence and due process,” he said.
Then he said the move against the dispatchers felt inconsistent with the equitable practice councilors had touted throughout the budget hearings. “What we did was out of the norm. We totally disregarded the contract with the dispatchers.”
Councilor Jesus “Jay” Cruz said his meetings with police union representatives were merely about gathering information.
“I was doing my research,” he said. “Of all the issues that the city has, public safety is No. 1 on my list.”
Susan R. Kennedy, a laid-off civilian dispatcher, said the city is not safer because of the loss of their jobs.
“We were as much a part of public safety as the police officers,” she said.
Ms. Fuhs then shared her memory of an emergency call by a distraught elderly man who couldn’t find his car keys.
“He just kept saying over and over that he couldn’t find his keys,” Ms. Fuhs said.
“After a lengthy conversation, I came to find out that he had found his wife dead. He needed his keys to drive her to the hospital.”
She said patience, gut instinct and learning to expect the unexpected are skills developed by years of dispatch experience.
“Police are not trained in the same way. We have a human aspect and empathy to our job,” Ms. Kennedy said, adding to Ms. Fuhs’ example. “We know that there are times when things may not seem like a police matter. But we listen. We are trained to listen.”
Posted by: OutOfManyOne
I'd rather be a laid-off police officer straight out of the academy, go on the lay-off list and get a better job. FPD sucks with a $34K starting salary it's a joke.
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