07-06-2010, 01:51 AM
PBA has no clue, same scare tactics as always.......just substite "fool police, I MEAN school police for GA PD..........and its us 3 years ago....WHAT A JOKE!
GREENACRES — With prospects for the city's police department merging with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office now dead, city leaders and the police officers' union are faced with working out their stalled negotiations for a new contract.
Those negotiations have mostly centered on raises that officers say they deserve and the city says it cannot afford.
But one demand the officers have made since November has nothing to do with pay: They want their leader, Public Safety Director Phil Ludos, fired.
"He has to go," said sheriff's Sgt. John Kazanjian, president of the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents the city's police officers. "He's not there for the guys or for the girls that work for him."
Ludos has been director of the public safety department overseeing both police and firefighters since October 2007. He was police chief for the city of Cocoa in Brevard County before that.
"I understand their frustrations," Ludos said of the officers. "The problems they have aren't in the leadership. They are the result of budget shortfalls faced all over the county."
In November, the union held a meeting where all the members who showed up - 34 on the department's fire-rescue side and 48 on the police side - cast a "no confidence" vote in Ludos.
One of their biggest complaints, Kazanjian said, is that Ludos has not done enough to get newer equipment for officers, who are driving cars that are too old and poorly equipped. The other major complaint is that the staffing levels of officers on the street are too low.
Newly elected city council member Jonathan Pearce has also been critical of those staffing levels. But he said he supported the job Ludos was doing and said the staffing issues were not his fault.
The city explored merging with the sheriff's office, but those talks were killed last month when Sheriff Ric Bradshaw rescinded his preliminary merger proposal without an official explanation.
Ludos said the typical staffing level of six officers on the street and one sergeant per shift is the same the city would have had under the sheriff's proposal.
He said decisions on replacing vehicles are made by the city's fleet manager, not him. This year he has been authorized to replace six pursuit vehicles and get rid of the six oldest cars, which were from 2001 and 2002. The city is also in the process of upgrading the radios in all patrol cars.
Mayor Sam Ferreri said the call for Ludos' firing seemed like a negotiating ploy. Ludos agreed.
"Unions when they get frustrated, there are some standard things they do such as no-confidence votes," Ludos said.
Kazanjian denied that any ploy was behind the officers calling for their boss to be fired. "This was a problem way before the collective bargaining agreement," he said.
GREENACRES — With prospects for the city's police department merging with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office now dead, city leaders and the police officers' union are faced with working out their stalled negotiations for a new contract.
Those negotiations have mostly centered on raises that officers say they deserve and the city says it cannot afford.
But one demand the officers have made since November has nothing to do with pay: They want their leader, Public Safety Director Phil Ludos, fired.
"He has to go," said sheriff's Sgt. John Kazanjian, president of the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents the city's police officers. "He's not there for the guys or for the girls that work for him."
Ludos has been director of the public safety department overseeing both police and firefighters since October 2007. He was police chief for the city of Cocoa in Brevard County before that.
"I understand their frustrations," Ludos said of the officers. "The problems they have aren't in the leadership. They are the result of budget shortfalls faced all over the county."
In November, the union held a meeting where all the members who showed up - 34 on the department's fire-rescue side and 48 on the police side - cast a "no confidence" vote in Ludos.
One of their biggest complaints, Kazanjian said, is that Ludos has not done enough to get newer equipment for officers, who are driving cars that are too old and poorly equipped. The other major complaint is that the staffing levels of officers on the street are too low.
Newly elected city council member Jonathan Pearce has also been critical of those staffing levels. But he said he supported the job Ludos was doing and said the staffing issues were not his fault.
The city explored merging with the sheriff's office, but those talks were killed last month when Sheriff Ric Bradshaw rescinded his preliminary merger proposal without an official explanation.
Ludos said the typical staffing level of six officers on the street and one sergeant per shift is the same the city would have had under the sheriff's proposal.
He said decisions on replacing vehicles are made by the city's fleet manager, not him. This year he has been authorized to replace six pursuit vehicles and get rid of the six oldest cars, which were from 2001 and 2002. The city is also in the process of upgrading the radios in all patrol cars.
Mayor Sam Ferreri said the call for Ludos' firing seemed like a negotiating ploy. Ludos agreed.
"Unions when they get frustrated, there are some standard things they do such as no-confidence votes," Ludos said.
Kazanjian denied that any ploy was behind the officers calling for their boss to be fired. "This was a problem way before the collective bargaining agreement," he said.