6/13/06 City Council Notes

By Dian Woodhouse

I attended about half of the city council meeting and then the Mount Ogden Neighborhood meeting because they were cross-scheduled. All Council members were present except for Bill Glasmann. The budget was approved, with the City Council showing an admirable concern for the nuts and bolts of running a city. Infrastructure, in a word, and concern for the citizenry, too. For instance, in the Standard Examiner a few days ago we saw an article that the administration was proposing a 13.34% increase in our water rates. The Council approved a 3.4% increase, and wants to appoint a committee to look into rates and solutions. It is said that we citizens are not paying for all the water we use, and our water use is being heavily subsidized by the city. But of course, the hows and wherefores of all this have to be looked into, and until it is, no large increase will happen.

Council Executive Director Bill Cook made the budget presentation, and there have been some interesting changes. First, as things now stand and have stood, we have been putting some of the lease revenue we receive from BDO back into BDO as per our agreement with the military. As of October, 2006, this arrangement will end, and we will then receive All of the lease money from BDO, which brings us an infusion of New Money. The council put this new money toward capital improvements. Not development.

(This brings up an interesting question, which might illustrate my own confusion on this more than anything, but the question is---We delegated 50% of BDO lease revenue to pay our mall bonds back during the rec center days. Is that figure now 50% of the total we will be getting in October, when we begin getting all the revenue, or the same monetary figure as it was when delegated, which would actually be 25% of the future total?)

Whatever the answer to that one, it was stated that we will have $1 million available for capital improvements. Money for a bond payment due in '08 has been set aside, and here are some, not all, figures for that $1 million:

$121,000 for asphalt trails
$49,000 for a shade screen for the amphitheatre in the summer
$25,000 for a portion of the roof of the Union Station
$10,000 for trails in general, as requested by the Trails Committee
$9,000 for plumbing for the fire station

Then, $180,000 has been left in the fund from which to draw upon in the future.

There are also two "entryway" projects---one on 24th Street and one on 31st. These are evidently being done to beautify the entrances to Ogden from the freeway exits on those streets, and it is timely to do them now since those portions of the freeway are being worked on.

The Council has also asked that an ordinance be drafted concerning CO2 protectors for police, and that a financial tracking system be instituted for the RDA.

This is heady stuff, to be sure. The Arts grants have been beefed up to $30,000, provision has been made for part time help for fire operations, and training has been added for the planning and landmarks commissions.

But there was a downside. The police and fire representatives were not happy. Not at all. It seems that both were given les than a 5% merit raise based on a score of 3 or higher on their evaluations. And to further complicate this, a new merit system is being considered for the police. Both received a 2% bonus, but I don't think either received a cost of living allowance.

One of the problems with this is that this a 5% merit raise was also given to UAGE, which accepted it rather early on in the negotiating process. However, the merit system for police and fire is much different, and I would imagine, more rigorous. To treat these three entities the same when they are all so different and when police and fire are way below average when compared to other cities along the Wasatch Front is not really a good decision, in my opinion.

This opinion was shared by those who spoke against this issue. One, a representative of the Civil Service Commission, said that the Council really had to take a look at what was happening in the matter of police terminations. Evidently, new, young police men and women hire on in Ogden City and, "They suck up money for our training and then they leave," because they get higher salaries elsewhere. "Ogden is a tough beat," this gentleman said, but, "To train them and lose them is penny wise and pound foolish."

An officer then spoke, and mentioned again the resolutions the police alleged in the hearing last week were not being complied with by Ogden City after Ogden City had agreed to comply with them. The final offer by Ogden City was "sending a message that the resolutions are null and void," this officer said, and stated that it was if the City were saying, "We'll tell you this much today, but we're not going to abide by it in the future."

He also spoke of the fact that the merit system was based on a sliding scale, and part of it has to do with the number of citations the officers give. "Should I write more citations so I can get a 5 instead of a 3?" he asked.

This last, in my opinion, really can't go on. I've heard that this was part of how the OPD worked, and now it has been confirmed. This does not bode well for a harmonious relationship between our law enforcement and us, to be sure. It makes it really difficult. It really taints the way we look at each other. Is it comfortable for us to drive around in the city knowing that we may be being looked upon by the police as a means to achieve a citation quota? Is it good working conditions for them to be under the gun to achieve this quota in order to make a living wage? Especially in terms of law enforcement, where violations are either there or they aren't, I think it puts a layer on how they have to do that job that really shouldn't be there at all.

Sharon Beech spoke in favor of revising the budget so as to get the police and fire employees more money. "I think it unconscionable that these men have to come here and beg for a living wage so they can take care of the rest of us," she said. She went on to suggest several ways for cutting the fat from the budget, one of which involved city employees submitting for gas reimbursement instead of being given blanket monthly car allowances. Another was to get rid of the lobbyist. "That lobbyist wasn't working for these men back here," she said, mentioning SB 229, and ended with the suggestion that Stuart Reid return his severance package. "I think there was chicanery involved in that, and I think he should give the money back."

Representative Neil Hansen spoke, and raised an interesting point, which was that the population of Ogden has grown, fuel prices have increased, utilities have gone up, and yet the employees hired to serve the city have not kept up with that changing pace in either number or wages. He too advocated budget revisions along these lines.

Finally, a fireman spoke, briefly and to the point: "We feel this budget has punished police and firefighters for going to impasse," he said.

Councilman Safsten brought up a few points, which were: that many things on the capital improvements list had been there for years, that if a department generates revenue, that revenue cannot be allocated to another department, and that the resolutions the officer referred to the City allegedly violating were year to year things, not constant.

And Chairman Garcia stated that in his 13 years of public service, this budget had been the most difficult one he had ever had to do.

The Council looked sort of glum at this point, and understandably so. In my opinion, many of the budgetary decisions and emphases made were quite good and on the right track. But everybody wants a win/win, and I think everybody in that room was wishing we could, for once have one. As matters stand now, we are involved in a losing proposition with the police and fire departments in that we are simply training employees that other cities then benefit from. This is not good for us as a city, it certainly can't be good for morale in those two departments, and it's more like treading water than actually getting anywhere. In the police presentation, the police said something like, "We have made a commitment to this city," and I think it's way overdue that we also make a commitment to them.

As always, corrections, additions, and comments are greatly appreciated.