WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. From the Mayor’s Office. December 26, 2008: City Hall released a statement from Mayor Joseph Delfino this afternoon responding to and denouncing a letter signed by Council President Benjamin Boykin and Councilman Dennis Power (picked by pundits as the Mayor’s main political rivals for Mayor next fall) and published in the Gannett chain’s Journal News this week. He dismissed their comments as playing politics and as misleading and disingenuous. The Mayor’s statement:
A Statement from Mayor Joseph Delfino.
Setting the Record Straight
A Letter written by White Plains Council President Benjamin Boykin and Councilman Dennis Power that appeared in the Journal News on December 12 attempting to justify their rejection of the Police and Fire contracts which I negotiated was misleading and disingenuous.
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To say the contracts were negotiated without their consultation is misleading. By the City’s Charter, the Mayor is responsible for all negotiations with all unions representing City workers. In fact, The Council’s refrain from the beginning of time (particularly when they are lobbied by unions) has always been, “the Mayor negotiates contracts.”
Upon completion of the negotiations, the full Council was briefed on the specifics of the agreements by me, Finance Commissioner Gina Harwood, Public Safety Commissioner Frank Straub along with his two deputies, and my staff members. They were given comparables from other communities and details of how the new work schedules for Fire and Police benefit the City and the considerable concessions both unions gave which would have saved the City tens of thousands of dollars in training overtime, regular overtime and comp days. Additionally, the new contract would cost out at between two to three percent less than the current contract over its lifetime.
In addition, the new schedules would have provided between two to three extra police officers per shift and nearly two additional firemen – more police and firemen on the street.
To say that I rejected meeting with them subsequent to that briefing is downright dishonest. Council President Boykin and Councilwoman Rita Malmud requested a meeting with just the two of them to discuss issues with the contract. In return, I offered to meet in another work session with the full seven members Council so that all on the Council could be advised and informed of the issues. They declined this request.
In hindsight, it’s no mystery as to why they did. It’s a pattern that has become all too familiar over the past couple of years – they continue to put politics before people.
They site economic conditions, which they claim they have been warning about since our budget was adopted last May. At budget adoption, the Council chose – without consulting me or anyone in my administration – to reduce the proposed budget by one percent including a devastating cut to the reserve for financing. The reserve for financing line is the City’s contingency fund in times of emergencies. I said at the time that it might be the politically expedient thing to do, but that it would hurt the City. Only now are we seeing just how desperately it has.
They also dealt a crushing blow to the City’s finances by refusing to adopt, again for political reasons, my proposal to increase the City’s sales tax by one half percent. This increase, 90% of which would have come from people who live outside White Plains, would have only made us equal to the sales tax charged in other large cities in Westchester such as Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Yonkers and would have relieved the burden on our City’s property tax payers. It would have provided approximately $5.6 million more in revenue each year. By stalling my original proposal for months and delaying its implementation, while they played politics, and then by cutting the increase by a quarter percent, they cost the City an estimated $9 million in a year of unprecedented financial turmoil.
Our police and fire fighters are extremely professional and well trained. Without increasing head count they now serve an additional 7,000 residents, the size of a village in Westchester County, deal with much taller and complex buildings and much more activity (thank God) in the downtown area both night and day. They must work harder and do more with less.
The recent fire in a condominium on North Broadway that was well documented in your paper showed just how professional they are. Their rapid response time and tireless effort kept what could have been a devastating disaster to a minimum of damage.
They deserve raises that keep pace with the rate of inflation. The proposal the Council rejected, a 3.75% increase this year and two 4% increases the following years are well below the current rate of inflation for the New York/New Region put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of 4.72%. Council President Boykin frequently cites the national average which is much lower. But our police and firefighters live here, in this region, not North Dakota or Tennessee. These increases are in line with those recently given in other municipalities and the County.
We’re entering another election year, the next 10 months will be a very telling time of whether this Council will reverse itself and put the people of White Plains ahead of their political ambitions.
