Council president accuses mayor of excluding council
NWI Times
Jun 18, 2012
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/portage/council-president-accuses-mayor-of-excluding-council/article_09cf3b20-3db4-5c4e-9c2e-46cbcdf0439e.html
PORTAGE | City Council President Sue Lynch believes it's one of the council's duties to vote on matters regarding the city's finances.
She also believes Mayor James Snyder is trying to sidestep the council, preventing it from fulfilling its duties.
Snyder said Monday that Lynch is putting politics over what's best for the city.
At issue is a contract with Portage Firefighters Local 3151, approved in April by the Board of Works, but never brought before the council for approval.
Lynch said the contract should have been brought before the council for approval because it brought about a monetary change in the employees' benefits package. Lynch said she sought the opinions of the State Board of Accounts and the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns before making her concern public. She is putting it on the council's July 3 agenda for consideration.
Lynch said she has the backing of the majority of the council.
"The council should put the contract on their agenda as they will have to appropriate nearly 35K ($35,000) in funds to cover the contract this year," Snyder wrote in a statement, adding his administration had found the funds to cover the cost of the contract within the budget.
The issue of the firefighters contract comes after the council approved an ordinance at its June meeting, on a 5-2 vote, that would require council presence during contract negotiations. Snyder has said he will veto the ordinance.
Lynch said the mayor's recent actions is one reason the council approved the ordinance.
"The mayor doesn't think we should be in negotiations. I was involved in negotiations before this mayor. I think it is good to be involved," she said.
"The notion that I do not want the council to be involved in union negotiations is simply ludicrous and Council President Lynch knows this. We as politicians should not be in the room, and we will not be in the room, and press releases like this further strengthen my point," said Snyder, adding the City Council has never before approved a union contract.
Portage City Council Sue Lynch's statement
Recently Mayor Snyder negotiated an amended contact with the Portage Firefighters Local 3151 that brought about a monetary change in their benefits package with the city but did not include a single member of the City Council in the negotiations and did not seek Council approval of the amended contract.
As Council President, I believe that for this contract to be fully valid and binding it must be voted on by the Council at its next meeting.
As the Council President I recently asked Clerk-Treasurer Stidham to contact the State Board of Accounts and the Association of Cities and Towns attorney for an opinion on what we believed was an attempt to thwart our powers as elected officials.
Both the State Board of Accounts and the Association of Cities and Towns agreed that employee benefits changes should be approved by the City Council.
Also Indiana Code 5-10-8-2.2 and 2.6 states “A local unit public employer may provide programs of group insurance other than group health insurance for the local unit public employer’s active and retired public safety employees by purchasing policies of group insurance and by establishing self-insurance programs, However, the establishment of a self-insurance program is subject to the approval of the unit’s fiscal body.
As the fiduciary body of the city the Council is tasked with oversight of the “people’s money”.
Choosing to ‘remove’ council representation from the negotiation process, specifically when it comes to monetary changes of any kind, is totally unacceptable and one that will not be ignored.
It is time for the Mayor to recognize, and accept, that we are elected by the people and are expected to act on their behalf as their representatives.
Therefore, I will be placing the Firefighters Local 3151 contract amendment on the July 3rd agenda to be voted on by the full council.
Sue I. Lynch, President
Portage City Council
Portage Mayor James Snyder's statement
June 18, 2012
Re: Fire Department Contract
For Immediate Release to the Press:
The Council should put the contract on their agenda as they will have to appropriate nearly 35k in funds to cover the new contract this year. That is Council President Lynch's decision, and I applaud her for doing so as the previous Council that she was part of, as we can tell, did not approve one union contract. The savings of the negotiation should net the City nearly 250k in health insurance costs just on this year's projections and nearly 500k next year. We intended to use the budgeted benefit numbers from the City planner, IT coordinator and the building inspector that we did not hire this year to keep our cost low; if the Council does not feel this is appropriate, they can use whatever funds they choose.
Union negotiations are done in good faith, and the Council should be grateful as they would not want what they agreed to without the Mayor of Portage in the room to be publicized. As your Mayor, what I learned from this experience was that politicians have no place in union negotiations, and I have learned from my mistakes.
The notion that I do not want the Council to be involved in union negotiations is simply ludicrous and Council President Lynch knows this. We as politicians should not be in the room, and we will not be in the room, and press releases like this further strengthen my point. We are not on the same page, and we would get torn apart in any negotiation. The Council President and I met to try and keep this veto from being an embarrassment to the Council. The Council President and I shook hands on an agreement that we would agree on any negotiation before it went to ratification, and then she voted in a partisan fashion to be in the room. I also agreed to keep her and her team updated on negotiations before and after each negotiation; she stated that that would be fine. How do you work with someone who doesn't know the meaning of a handshake?
James E. Snyder, Mayor
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