Largo Firemen Voting On City Offer With An Impasse LoomingBy Leo CoughlinLARGO - Members of the city's fire fighters union are scheduled to begin voting today on the city's "best and final offer" in negotiations that began last summer. Voting will continue through Friday and Saturday according to Henry Schubert, an assistant city manager. The contract with the International Association of Fire Fighters terminated September 30 and work has continued under an agreed extension of the contract. A strike or work stoppage - the only weapon any union has ultimately - cannot come into play. According to Schubert, if the fire fighters do not vote to approve the city's offer, the city will declare impasse. A special magistrate will then hold a hearing. If the parties do not agree with the special magistrate's recommendation, the issue then goes to the City Commission for a final decision after an impasse hearing. At Tuesday night's City Commission work session meeting, Chief Lester Aradi outlined the policy regarding take home vehicles for officers. This was an issue brought to the forefront by Commissioner Curtis Holmes when he requested that it be scheduled for a work session. Aradi's memo supporting his presentation points out that the Police Department policy is, in part, tied to the labor agreement with the police union and specifies that the city, at its option, may provide vehicles to officers and sergeants for personal use "including, but not necessarily limited to, travel to and from their residences." The Police Department has 137 vehicles, according to Aradi, of which 18 are now designated for take home. Besides providing an employment benefit, Aradi's memo points out, the program offers expedited response time for off-duty personnel in an emergency, enhanced community police presence, more accountability for the vehicles. Police Department figures indicate that the program is apparently cost effective. The annual average maintenance cost for three non-take home vehicles in the period 2007 to 2009 was $15,200 while the cost in the same period for three take-home vehicles was $10,400. Aradi cautioned that the figures were for discussion purposes only and did not represent a controlled cost benefit survey. With the city's Outreach Program scheduled to terminate at the end of next month, the commission approved an effort to continue the program, which is basically after school day care for children, through the end of the school year. The city staff was asked to identify $30,000 in the current 2010 budget to fund the program for an additional 10 weeks. That amount was found in the Human Resources Department and Police Department, both of which had otherwise unanticipated savings because of position vacancies. The commission directed that the program not be included in the budget for fiscal year 2011.
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