The following is a summary of some of the concessions the Mayor is asking for:
· Eliminate binding disciplinary appeals
· Restrict your ability to vote
· Eliminate body scans from physicals
· Eliminate the requirement for the department to fill promotional vacancies within 3 pay periods
· Eliminate holiday pay except for New Year’s
· Place caps on sick leave payout
· Acting rank pay only if in acting rank for 40 hours
· Eliminate requirement that the Department cannot alter schedules to avoid paying overtime
· Eliminate longevity bonus
· 10% reduction of base pay
· Eliminate hazardous duty pay ($125 biweekly)
· Eliminate non-sworn specialty pay supplement ($80 biweekly)
· Eliminate FDLE supplement (4%)
· Eliminate first responder supplement (5%)
· Eliminate night differential (5%)
· Eliminate requirement that transfers cannot be used as discipline
· Eliminate performance evaluation appeals
· Eliminate flex pay
· Eliminate non-job basis status for lieutenants
The Mayor also wants random drug testing. The entire proposal seems more retaliatory than anything else and they could not provide any cost savings or analysis on the vast majority of the proposals they submitted. The County was quick to threaten and reiterated that the Mayor WILL present a balanced budget and will not recommend raising the millage. We know for some of you the above may come close to losing almost half your pay.
Here is a letter from one policeman describing his experience:
Hello President Rivera,
I first want to thank you for fighting so hard for us and I know we have a long and hard battle ahead of us. I am so tired of the mayor making false claims or not having to justify his deceptive words and actions. He does not seem to care if he says one thing and does another and it appears that no one can hold him accountable. Look at what he did with the vote for the "no kill shelter" and there is no recourse for his outright deception! Could we please publicly ask the question as to why the economy is recovering and rebounding with most other police agencies and governments doing the same, yet regrettably, Miami-Dade County can't seem to manage its budget in a way that we are recovering too.
The situation just keeps getting worse and worse every year. Could it be the mismanagement by the mayor and the numerous Department Directors and Deputy Mayors he has hired on the down low for hundreds of thousands of dollars per employee each a year. Can we audit them to find out what the problem is??? It just does not make mathematical sense that we have less employees (via vacancy eliminations, almost no academy classes and retirements) than we did years ago (even when the economy was doing worse than in is now) and we still have such a huge deficient. Where is the money???
And how can the economy be rebounding and growing but we are still in despair and facing the worse cuts and layoffs in the 22 years that I have been a cop? Obviously someone is not doing their job and should not be re-elected if we are still in such bad shape. And all this after we have already given up so much! Furlough days for the civilians who make the least money, no holidays, overtime, night diff cuts, paying thousands for insurance supplements and paying for the most ratty and unsafe cars I have ever seen! Our cars are an embarrassment and unsafe. I would love to know how many of our fleet have over 100,000 miles. We used to have safety standards for our vehicles and their maintenance and they just keep lowering the standards, even if it means putting our officers at more risk.
In past years, I do believe that it was necessary for us to cut back and make sacrifices in order to facilitate a recovery; however, there is no longer evidence that those sacrifices are still necessary. I am personally worried about the safety and well being of the 400 plus sworn employees that are faced with losing their jobs and the many more who are faced with getting demoted at the cold hands of the mayor. It is a horrible and potentially deadly situation when officers are sent out there to do their jobs and their heads are not fully in the game because of the extreme stress caused by the impending job losses.
In November of 2010, our Career Criminal Unit was disbanded because of budget cuts and that Unit now became just one squad. I will never get over losing Roger and Amanda, as I am sure their families wont either. No matter what happens, I pray that the mayor does the right thing and stops this vendetta against those who proudly wear the "Brown Gown" and still serve the community faithfully. Thank you for your time and for your dedication.
37 comments:
I do not know if this is a theatrical act between the Mayor and the police union. If it isn't, than I agree mostly with the Mayor. When there is a budget deficit cuts need to take place wether you like them or not. This applies to ones household as well as government. The Miami-Dade County Police Department is an important entity but the reality is that it is over bloated and financially unsustainable. Many other departments in years past have been faced with budget cuts. The deficit problem has not been completely resolved and the time has come for the police department to tighten their belts. Another problem that has contributed to this is that wasteful spending along with corruption have not been completely addressed.
I disagree with Carlos Alvarez pandering to Steve Ross, Mickey Arison (Heat) and the spokesmodel David Beckham but I completely agree with every concession requested in the above list. And by the way, how could any cop oppose random drug testing? Don't good cops want to weed out bad cops? Or do all cops just want to "protect their own"?
Wrong mayor buddy. Should we recall this one too?
Hope the mayor isn't grand standing! Current police benefits are out of line. Start with the property & evidence dept and get rid of chacon, solerano and roman. Why do the police get paid for all these additional make believe job activities, it ridiculous !!!
If you look at the County payroll the VAST majority of employees making over $100,000 annually are police and firefighters. These positions require only a high school education. Something is wrong here.
If your COUNTY homestead taxes went up the MAXIMUM we are talking about under $100 a year - for most people that is less than $10 a month. Watch those city taxes--- no cap on them.
Nothing is wrong. Those are dangerous jobs. Would you want to face death or injury every day? I am just glad someone would for my safety. Don't begrudge the salaries of these men and women being compensated for serving dangerous jobs.
I wish the Doug Hanks story showed hourly rates for employees, not take home..
Yes some guys are workaholics..2500 hours is routine and much of the OT is paid for off duty work (not by taxpayers).
However excessive overtime typically shows bad management, not bad employees.. A lot of the six figure union guys' base pay is more in the $30-$40/hr range,($70k/yr) and that's with 20 years seniority.
ALL the $100-$175/hr employees I saw on the list are in management.
This could result in a 40% pay cut for some officers. How many of you can support yourself and family on that type of payout? Remember that is on top payouts and concessions from previous years. By te way, many of your police are college educated.
Why wouldn't they get holiday pay when other county employees get it?
It is unconstitutional to restrict one's ability to vote. If someone is eligible to vote, you cannot as a matter of public policy restrict any one's right to vote. In the case of Gov. Scott requiring drug testing of state employees and poor people to get services, the courts have already thrown that out. No sense in going down those roads as it would be a waste of legal fees paid by taxpayers. For him and his staff to even put these on the table is troubling.
Fully fund these departments or Fully shut down these departments. Simple.
Taxpayers are paying for a fully funded department. Tax payers cannot be charged for a fully funded department and only receive a half funded department. Fiduciary responsibility MDC Mayor
The reason why we are different from other countries is our democracy, and the rule of law. That is the reason why everyone in the world wants to come here. Local law enforcement are the prime keepers of our way of life, otherwise, we live in fear and terror of crooks like people in other countries. It seems that some of the measures are purely financial, others are administrative and procedural. It would be helpful to see the amount saved for each proposed initiative. The 10 percent reduction in pay may be the most impactful financially. But is that for everyone in the county or just for police? I guess the question is, how much do we want to spend for our safety?
Yes, the salaries are out of wack. Geniusofdespair, compare them to other areas of the country. It's ridiculous how off they are.
Police and Firefighters are around the 15th and 16th most dangerous jobs in this country. That doesn't mean they deserve earning multiples of others with the same education levels. By that reasoning, lumberjacks, fishermen, miners, garbage men (yes, more dangerous than being a cop), mechanics, roofers, farmers and soldiers should earn even more than police or firefighters. Nobody is forcing them into this line of work. Set the correct salary and I'm sure plenty of qualified people will still apply.
The City of Miami Fire Union members are the best paid firemen in the world. They can thank Carlos Alvarez for making them multi-millionaires. Incidentally, they do not fight more than 1-2 fires a month.
To the clueless fool above:
It is Miami-Dade County that is neig discussed, NOT the City of Miami!
It only takes one bad guy or one fire to end a career and destroy a family. I don't think that my CPA or my garbage man faces the same can of stress or danger.
The right to vote, i think is referring to the unions right to vote on a contract or settlement.
Yes it can be a dangerous business but Part of the discussion is a fire suppression business model it's over 100 years old.
Because of advances in construction materials and early warning devices fire rescue should be called the trauma response, event staffing, inspection and fire department.
The county could gain additional revenue if they made county employees live in Miami-Dade.
recall Mayor gimenez and Kick bell out of politics for good.
does anyone out there know that when calculating Agriculture exemptions, the house on that property, is still taxed- not in Miami-Dade County! yup, you can put a mansion on a property, plant a couple trees on it and call it exempt. that's just a tip of the iceberg. Gimenez is as bad it has its ever gotten here in this county that so many of our children I leaving
oh please, the police and firefighters for decades have had their unions and union lobbyists getting them better and better salaries and benefits, just compare with other FL counties. The process works based on "campaign contributions". Just compare which commissioners cave to the unions and what goes to their campaign chests from these crooks. That is why this county has more police and firefighters paid over $100,000 annually than all the other county employees combined, and I won't even get into the 1000s of other county employees hired and promoted due to nepotism. This is unsustainable, and why isn't Giminez going after firefighters the same way? Stop whining and be thankful for your jobs uncountable increases over DECADES.
Last comment- oh please! You are a number 1 putz!
The comment regarding the agricultural exemption is false. The house and the area of land that it occupies is not exempt, only the surrounding land that is strictly used for agriculture is exempt.
Enough is enough , mayor Gimenez . Hard working employees are being targeted that give their lives to this county day in and day out. The impact will be a domino effect thru out the county. Going on the media and telling the tax payers that we want a raise is a Mis representation of fact and a clear out lie. It's funny when you were a commissioner you thought different , and now you back stab the ones that were with you since day one. Game on brother but remember "all is fair in love and War"
I guess soccer is more important to the mayor than public safety. Thats truly sad to have a leader with such poor leadership skills and character.
The unions never quits. We never give up the fight – no matter how tough the odds, no matter how long it takes.
Refer to the Miami Herald article "A look at Miami-Dade government’s 500 best-paid workers" in this weeks paper, 140+ police officers are on the list, salaries from 130 to 180 K. This represents more than 30% of highest paid workers. The facts.
Are those police salaries from police officers who work long hours that paid by outside businesses? Or are they 30 year executives that are high ranking police officers overseeing staff that is responsible for the safety of 2.5 million people? What would high ranking executives in the private public safety industry get paid for that type of responsibility?
Hell, what do the executive directors of the big cultural arts facilities get paid? Do they protect us?
"The county could gain additional revenue if they made county employees live in Miami-Dade. "
That would only lead to having more angry new residents able to vote out the current county leaders.
Anon above, I have been fighting that war for a long time. We can no longer subsidize the region. Every county needs to stand on its own. A lot of our tax money leaves the county and doesnot circulate within our economy. I view these workers as pimps who pay no taxes, use our services for free, and take jobs and money away from the people who actually live here, raise their families here, pay taxes here, and contribute to our economy. Many jurisdictions place seperate taxes on people who work within a jurisdiction but live outside it boundaries.
The Eye on Miami turns a blind eye to the bloated salaries of the Miami PD. The Eye blinks as officers double dip working as security for private firms when on the city clock. The Eye on Miami needs glasses.
How Cute, the Eyes don't see everything do they?
All Miami-Dade County employees should be forced to live in Miami-Dade County. That goes for city employees too.
Having negotiated union contracts my whole professional life I can assure you This is political grandstanding. Yes the budget is in serious trouble three years of bad management has dug a very deep hole. But instead of addressing issues of procurement, project management, bloated salaries and bureaucracies, ridiculously top-heavy chain of command (which is where the high labor cost originate not with some $30 an hour cop working tons of overtime) the mayor focuses on sports franchises and lets Spanish language radio set his political agenda
While Gimenez claims the unions won't negotiate with him and instead typically declare impasse so as to be heard by the BCC it is pretty clear from this proposal that is his intent again this year. He wants to take no responsibility for his bad administrative decisions, claim the unions are not bargaining in good faith and labor costs are the only thing between him and a balanced budget.
For example You will note most of the labor concessions he's asking for actually save no money and are only there to piss off labor and act as his PR tool to demonize his workforce.
And by the way speaking of negotiating skill mr. Mayor, how do you walk out of a negotiation with a sports franchise oweing them $50 million more than when you walked in and say mission accomplished?
you have all the time in the world to play realtor to sports superstars stars, yet I have never seen you personally at the table with your most important resource, your labor force.
See you at the BCC.
What about the non union citizen taxpayer? Everybody balks at the idea of government workers being something or other what about the citizens? hell our government employees make more than twice the population!!!!! when those that serve serve themselves its what? 100,000 to be a police officer or a fireman is insulting!
Post a Comment