10/21/2008 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes 10-21-2008 Ordinance No. 2008-120 introduced by Mayor O'Grady was given its third reading. An ordinance dispensing with an RFP process and authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with Johnson, Miller & Schmitz LLP providing for the latter to continue to serve as the city's labor negotiator, and declaring an emergency. Councilman Gareau moved for adoption, and the motion was seconded by Councilman Barker. Roll call: Gareau, yes; Barker, yes; Jones, yes; Orlowski, no; Ryan, yes, with comment that he has expressed to the Mayor displeasure about this, and the Mayor has indicated to him and he's really hopeful that maybe we can address this differently the next time around. But he votes yes. Roll call continued: Mahoney, yes; Kearney, no. The motion passed with five yes votes and two no votes. Ordinance No. 2008-120 adopted. Ordinance No. 2008-121 introduced by Mayor O'Grady and Councilman Ryan was given its third reading. An ordinance to make and transfer appropriations for current expenses and other expenditures for the City of North Olmst~l for the year ending December 31, 2008. Councilman Ryan moved for adoption, and the motion was seconded by Councilman Gareau. Roll call: Ryan, yes; Gareau, no; Kearney, yes; Mahoney, no, with comment. "This issue for some reason has really led to a lot of debate. I initially, when this proposal came out in 2008-98, would not have voted in favor of it primarily because it included the directors, assistants, as well as secretaries and it just didn't seem to be feasible to hand out that amount of raises. I reconsidered that and looked at other cities. I specifically requested information from the Human Resources Director and Finance Director Carrie Copfer. But upon looking at the legislation from other cities and the pay rates, they really were of little value. It was hard to compare the different cities. But when a comparison could be made, I was astonished to find that overall what we pay our city's (employees) is either similar or above what other cities pay. So we are either above average for pay for those type of positions or we're right at the average. However, the Mayor pared that down and submitted with Mr. Ryan 2008-121 and asked only that certain secretaries and other administrative personnel be considered for a raise. I listened to carefully the arguments of both sides. Clearly this isn't going to make or break the bank for the city of North Olmsted from a financial position. And I listened to the Mayor and the administrative personnel that there is a tradition in regards to doing this. That there is an argument to be made for parity. That the unions received 9% over three years and we're asking for 6% for these personnel over three years. Again, it was significant to me that the Mayor and Mr. Ryan pared down the request for these type of raises. However, the principle of the thing is this: with our city facing what the administration indicated is perhaps one of the worst years we've faced in recent history, and even Mr. Ryan's comments about the dire straits of our finances, I cannot get around the principle of giving pay raises to people when we don't know what 2009 will bring from Council in terms of the budget. Lastly, and perhaps most compelling to me, is the notion that at last week's Finance Committee meeting it was specifically disclosed to me by the Finance Director and Planning Director that the administration is going through the budget process even now as we speak. The administration and the directors are aware of what type of adjustments or cuts are going to be made for 2009. Again, without knowing what those are, I'm not in a position to authorize the raises. This has nothing to do with whether the people deserve them or not. I have, and it's no secret to anyone in this room, I've been a County employee for 16 years. For way more years than I'd care to, I was 9