Local Prez 'says' what you were thinking...

[FD Bro']

I'm sure John Bryan was getting around to sharing this with all of you. Just in case you hadn't gotten it yet, here's how the St. Petersburg Association of Fire Fighters president responds to those who insist that we are all being lavished with largess...

June 21, 2007

To: Council Chair John Bryan

Re: Response to letter from Scott Swift

Dear Mr. Bryan:

This letter is in response to Mr. Swift’s letter dated May 30, 2007. Aside from Mr. Swift’s point of view, there have been other recent attacks by city, county, and state leaders, and citizens which focus on the many privileges, benefits, and "golden parachutes" that emergency services workers are purportedly enjoying. Please allow me, as someone who has earned, bargained for, and paid for these privileges, to respond.

Approximately one-third of your city employees are considered "Emergency Critical" and are required to remain available at ALL times when faced with emergency situations. Another one-third are considered "Emergency Essential" and are required to report back to work as soon as called. In both cases, these employees are required to leave their homes, families, and loved ones when duty calls, regardless of their own necessities.

How many private sector employees of this city can recall the last time they were notified while sitting at their desk job that they would be leaving in one hour for a 3- to 5-day deployment to another area to provide assistance to a storm or fire ravaged area? How many have been told during the day that they would not even be allowed to go home until after the storm or emergency has passed? This is what is faced by many of the employees of this city, and for these considerations, this is why they are afforded the privileges not seen by the private sector.

This city has an obligation to its citizens and business community to provide certain services to maintain a safe environment for its population. This is only possible through services that require public servants to operate, not only on a guaranteed basis and within set time frames, but also at a moment’s notice when faced with an impending natural disaster, unforeseen calamities, civil unrest, or to ensure public safety when the city puts on "the big show" for a national holiday. Many of these services require 24/7/365 staffing.

While Mr. Swift is concerned about the widening gap in values of retirement benefits between public and private sector employees, I felt it important to expand this letter to include comparisons of the health care provisions as well. In order to provide quality service to the community, a well-maintained and healthy work force is required, and, therefore, the City must provide health care that most private sector employers are gutting. For example, if, in the normal private services market, a business owner were to experience a loss of productivity due to a large number of employees becoming ill, it would not have the same impact on the community as fire or police shortages due to illness would have in times of emergency. Because we work with the public, we are encouraged not to come to work if we are sick with the flu or other contagious illnesses. This could not be accomplished if we did not have the assurance of paid compensation for sick leave.

As for the pensions, Mr. Swift stated in his letter that he has "worked for numerous Fortune 500 companies in the past 12 years." Employees in his situation are typically provided with a 401K or similar type retirement plan. America has seen a tremendous downturn in industrial jobs in the past two decades due to outsourcing to other countries where workers are paid less and provided with little or no benefits. In their exodus, corporations have chosen to provide for their upper level management while abandoning their promises made to the work force that they leave behind. Americans, as a result, have to live with substandard services and merchandise and deal with service centers located in other countries.

Mr. Swift fails to understand that there is a vast difference between the private sector and the public sector. When private sector employers abandon their workers, they continue to produce their goods and services in a competitive market. The public sector employer, on the other hand, must provide quality service to the community in which it exists. The community benefits from the many years of dedication and experience provided by long-standing employees. Rewards of guaranteed pensions provide an incentive to those employees who remain employed by the same city for many years. When a public sector employer adequately funds attractive health and pension plans, employees tend to want to remain with that employer. The private sector is driven by profits, often at the expense of employee wages and benefits. The public sector, on the other hand, must factor in competitive wages and benefit packages if the community is going to be well-served.

As a member of the Council, it is your responsibility to set a budget that assures that this city has all of the necessary equipment, staff, and finances available to endure the everyday routines as well as the unexpected. You cannot control the costs of insurance, fuel, food, or durable goods. You must, however, plan for and provide the means that will ensure quality service from experienced employees. We ask for your continued support and guidance to properly fund the services of this great city. The 3,000 employees and their families do not deserve to be punished in order to appease a small handful of anti-city government reformers. Is $2.47 per day from the General Fund (Citizen’s Budget Fiscal Year 2007) too much to enable us to continue to provide the quality of life services we have come to know and enjoy?

We understand that you and each member of Council will be faced with many unpopular decisions in the uncertain and difficult days ahead. Please keep in mind, a city is only as great as the services provided. While to some people, providing quality wages and benefits to public sector employees is viewed as a money loser, we believe that the City of St. Petersburg will be seen as a winner if it chooses treat its fire and police employees with the highest regard.

Sincerely,

Winthrop M. Newton

President IAFF Local 747

c Mayor Baker & City Council (All)




FD Bro'

Great response and thanks for posting the letter.

PD Bro

All this talk about budget reductions and Hillsborough County teachers are offered an 8% raise after receiving a 10% raise last year.

I read in one of the local rags that the city of Seminole is taking care of their firefighters pension, too... http://tbnweekly.com/content_articles/071807_smb-03.txt

Every time we appear to make some kind of gains, it's always years behind others and this city's Human Relations [sic] department can't understand why we don't kiss their azz and salivate at the thought of continuing to work for this great city.

Phuc that!

Last summer a Mr. Scott Swift asked council to cut spending on police pensions. As an "expert" he asserted that since private sector pensions are shrinking the city should spend less on police officer pensions.
Now Mr. Swift is attempting to get elected to the chairmanship of the council of neighborhood association's public safety committee. He could then have a platform to spread his poorly thought out opinions.
City residents will have a vote for this position through their neighborhood association representative to cona. That vote will take place this month.
The public is invited to attend cona meetings.


[/quote]Mr. Swift fails to understand that there is a vast difference between the private sector and the public sector. When private sector employers abandon their workers, they continue to produce their goods and services in a competitive market. The public sector employer, on the other hand, must provide quality service to the community in which it exists. The community benefits from the many years of dedication and experience provided by long-standing employees. Rewards of guaranteed pensions provide an incentive to those employees who remain employed by the same city for many years. When a public sector employer adequately funds attractive health and pension plans, employees tend to want to remain with that employer. The private sector is driven by profits, often at the expense of employee wages and benefits. The public sector, on the other hand, must factor in competitive wages and benefit packages if the community is going to be well-served.

:?

This guy needs to grow up and stop attacking hard earned pensions.
CONA wouldn't elect this clown, would they? When is this election?

I've watching this blog for months and reading the responses. My concern is that people have contunually attacking me based on what Mr. Winthrop wrote attempting to speak for me. He and I spoke in July after me first learning of his positing and "clairifed" many mistatements he made that were alluded to me. If anyone ever wants to know my intention of the letter or discuss some facts please give me a call (727) 385-1529.

I look forward to your call.

Sincerely,

Scott Swift

If Scott Swift really wrote the above letter then he needs to return to school, I would guess the 4th grade, and learn how to write.

[FD Bro']

I've watching this blog for months and reading the responses. My concern is that people have contunually attacking me based on what Mr. Winthrop wrote attempting to speak for me. He and I spoke in July after me first learning of his positing and "clairifed" many mistatements he made that were alluded to me. If anyone ever wants to know my intention of the letter or discuss some facts please give me a call (727) 385-1529.

I look forward to your call.

Sincerely,

Scott Swift

A school aged child might have said, "Well -- you started it!"

In your brief missive, above, you opined that Mr. Newton clarified many "mistatements." Not being a part of that telephone conversation - I'll have to take your word for it.

I went back and reread Mr. Newton's letter that's posted at the top of this thread. Some of its force is directed at you, but very little of its actual content can be attributed to you, so the misstatements that you speak of must be in his original content? That's where I find a rub.

Whether or not he referenced your name in the letter - the intent of each one of Mr. Newton's statements, still stand on their own merits! In fact, if he'd left your name off of the letter all together - I doubt seriously that the content or intent would have been much different.

Maybe - instead of looking for straw men in your Police and Fire & Rescue service, you should be politically erudite enough to put some restraints on Mayor Baker and some of his cohorts looking to succeed him in office in two years. So much of Mayor Baker's efforts at funding pet projects, revolve around his perception of his 'legacy'. Properly funding Police and Fire pension plans don't fit into his "Tribute to a Mayor" mindset.

If the general mentality of preceding Councils was that of "take care of those who take care of us," the present Council likely wouldn't find itself scratching to fund benefits packages (that should have previously been funded) with present day dollars. Each succeeding Council tries its best to turn a deaf ear to unfunded liabilities and inequities in benefits packages that they don’t personally share in.

Anything worthwhile is worth paying for. Services that are essential and done best when performed by local government, include water, sewer, Police and Fire & Rescue services. Most would agree that private enterprise has no place in these mission critical arenas. With that said, in local government’s pledge to protect your quality of life (or your life) the very best qualified individuals from a limited pool of applicants must be sought and retained.

One only has to read the pages of this site for a very short period of time to find where this city fails on its pledge to you all. On a daily basis – this city is operating on ‘the cheap’ and is cheating each one of it citizens. No longer are the most qualified being hired by your Police and Fire departments. The best qualified individuals are just like you in one important regard. They are comparison shoppers. They shop for the best employer that will provide the best security for their family’s needs.

As of late, we’ve not only found quality Law Enforcement Officers leaving St. Petersburg in their quest for a secure place to work for the next 30 years – many show no intentions of applying here.

In my own department’s quest to keep the ranks filled with the best qualified Fire Fighters and Fire Fighter Paramedics – the pool of applicants yielded just two Paramedics. That number probably doesn’t mean much to you, but it will. We aren’t attracting the quantity or quality of individuals needed to stay ahead of the shortages that are occurring NOW! Heretofore St. Petersburg was always known to be a Paramedic oasis. It was THE place to work.

Pinellas County provides for the funding of two Paramedics on every Rescue but the numbers tell another story. With the elderly population that inhabits St. Petersburg and the sheer number of baby-boomers that are reaching their retirement years, wouldn’t you like to know that you’ll be getting the very best return on your investment in tax dollars when you need them the most?

Ask the Mayor and Council to stop throwing tax dollars into the deep pockets of the Rays ownership and ask that they attract and retain the best Police Officers and Fire Fighter/Paramedics that your money can buy.




There’s no free lunch and as NASA found out – “Cheaper, Faster, Better” turned out to be the incongruent catch phrase of a lifetime.


FD Bro'

"I've watching this blog for months and reading the responses. My concern is that people have contunually attacking me based on what Mr. Winthrop wrote attempting to speak for me."

I'm sure Mr. Winthrop meant well.


Oh... I read Mr. Newton's letter. I thought it was SPOT ON!


Attention to detail can make or break your case...

Assuming that really was Mr. Swift invoking the classic political response "I've been misquoted!" (and if you work for SPPD you've heard a few staff members claim that one before) then his response begs one unadressed question.......


What exactly is your opinion on all the benefits we public safety employees are showered with? You invite us to communicate with you, you will never have a more direct means to communicate with us enmasse that via this forum.

Tell us what you really think, I'm curious.