Almost ready for the family coming in tomorrow.  Turkey is brining, the salads are cooling down and just a few more things to do before we turn on the ovens and cook.

Carla put in a very long day today, but she is of that Lynds’ stock that don’t slow down. 

Have a good Thanksgiving!!

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Chapter 16

City Manager

The City of The Dalles has a City Council that appoints the City Manager.

The City Manager has a lot of power within the City.  He is literally the person that either directly hires personnel – usually department heads – or approves all other appointments.

The head of each department runs the department and makes decisions for and on the department.  However, the final authority is the City Manager and he could over rule their decisions if he wanted.

It is my understanding that the Charter for the city specifically states that Council is not to interfere with the day to day operations, nor has any real authority over any of the employees.  If they are unhappy with employees they tell the City Manager, if they don’t like his decision then they can find another City Manager.

Politics being what they are, there are some ways around that, but it must be done with care, careers can be damaged if someone makes a wrong step.

The City Manager I worked with was innovative and had firm control over the city employees.  Some of his decisions did not make many of our officers happy and his name was often spit out like a bad taste.  It was my understanding that many in the fire department were also unhappy.

The City Manager was the spokesperson for the City.  That is a decision that is jointly decided by the City and the manager, not all cities do that, and even our City has done both the Mayor as the spokesperson and the Manager being the spokesperson.

However, it is important that they all be on the same page so normally it is one or the other, not both.

I have always been management oriented.  While I was active in any Union I was part of, it was not because I was a Union person, it was because if someone was going to have a say over my working condition I wanted to have my input.

But, while I didn’t always agree with the City Manager’s decision I understood that he had a number of things on his table and from watching him I knew he was doing what he thought was the best he could for the City.

That was his job.

Earlier in this tabloid I mentioned that we had a 9-1-1 Center in the mid-1970’s.  I thought it was because the state was beginning to tax phones for the system for each government agency and they were using that money to offset the costs.

However, I since was informed that the state statutes and taxes didn’t actually become reality until 1981. 

The City Manager was a head of the game.  He found out that our phone company had the ability to do a 9-1-1 system (not all phone companies had that capability at that time.)

So, he began the process of converting an antiquated system to a more efficient system for the public to get emergency services quicker.  It also made it a lot safer for the Police Officers on patrol.

Now, instead of a Matron having to fit radio traffic in with everything else they were responsible for, the dispatcher could concentrate on the officer in the field and be ready at all times to both answer the radio and assist him with research, checking for warrants and if necessary getting him back up.

It took a while to get it to work, but work it did.

Unfortunately, when I took over the Sheriff’s Office they still had the Clerk doing everything including radio traffic.

That was no one’s fault; some of the county phone company’s did not, yet, have 9-1-1 capability.

It wasn’t until the late 1980’s that we joined with the City in a 9-1-1 Center; it really was a safety issue for the deputies.

The City Manager, both the position and the spokesperson for the City, took a lot of heat from city employees and certain people within the general public.

In the early seventies Public Employees were given permission to negotiate working conditions, wages, benefits and other issues with the management of the entity that they worked for.

Emergency workers, police and fire, were not allowed to strike.  If we couldn’t come to an agreement then we went to arbitration.  I had no difficulty with that requirement, it was reasonable; the public shouldn’t be without protection because we can’t come to an agreement.

The police officers decided to separate ourselves from the rest of the city employees.  City of The Dalles Police Officers formed an association. 

There were a number of attorneys out there that wanted to represent us.  I cannot remember the name of the person we hired, but he fit our department style very well, he wasn’t overbearing and wasn’t out for blood.  He just wanted to get us a good contract.

Originally the Sergeants were members of the Association, but the City challenged that, saying they were part of management.  The City won.

I was a PFC and I was one of two (maybe three not sure now) that was selected by our members to represent them on the negotiation team.

We met with our attorney who had a standard contract and then we personalized it for our department.

We submitted it to the City.  On the City’s side of the table were the City Attorney, a Councilman, the Mayor and the City Manager.

There was a lot of give and take.

In our research we learned that in comparable cities on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, we had the lowest pay; and considerably below some of them.

So that became a key issue for us. 

The other thing we wanted was a two year contract, with stair stepped pay raises; one raise in July the other in January. 

The City had negotiated a contract with the Fire Department and it was for just one year.  So, the council insisted ours would only be a one year contract.

They also stated that there would be no stair stepping.

Most of the issues were agreed upon, except for pay and the multi-year contract. 

I came up with a formula that would meet what the City wanted to give us in salary for the first year and then, I think, the same amount for the second year.

While the end of the year we would have a higher pay rate, it wouldn’t cost the City any more than they wanted to give that first year – however, it would give us a bit more money to base the second year raise.

I laid it on the table.

The City Manager was the lead on the City’s side of the table.  He reiterated that the Council was firm; they only wanted a one year contract and no stair stepping.

We talked about it a bit, when the Councilman looked at me and said, if we agree to this, will the rest of the officers vote for the contract?

Immediately the City Manager called for a caucus.  We had agreed that if either side wanted to step out and discuss an issue that they would call for a caucus and negotiations would stop until they came back in.

There was a long time before they came back into the room.

The Councilman looked at me and asked the same question.

I told him I couldn’t guarantee, but I was pretty sure they would.

They did.

The Councilman then got it passed by the Council.  It was one of the few times that they didn’t back the City Manager’s decision.

It was a fair compromise and I was glad that all agreed.

Through the years I had an opportunity to see the job the City Manager did.  Again, while I didn’t always agree with his decisions, I thought he did a good job.

Still, he was a lightning rod for anyone that disliked the policies of the City, whether it was employees or citizens there were some that were very vocal about their disagreement.

The City Council made a decision, during a particularly tense time, to ask citizens to write evaluations on the man and send it in to them.

Frankly, my first thoughts were they were throwing him under the bus, instead of supporting him they were encouraging criticism.

After a few years, I think that might not have been such a bad idea, here is why:

The one thing that I thought he was weak in was employee relations.  However, he had hired an Assistant and one of her duties, was employee relations. 

I was very concerned that the Council would be getting deluged by people who disliked him.  There appeared to be some kind of a push that was organized by someone.

So, what I did was take one of our evaluation forms, changed it a bit and wrote an evaluation on the man.

I pointed out what I thought was his good points and the fact I thought his weakness was employee relations, but pointed out that he had hired an assistant and gave her the responsibility of employee relations.

To me that showed that he knew it was something he was weak in and that he hired someone to take care of that deficit.

I submitted my evaluation to the Council.  When the time limit was up there was exactly two evaluations, mine and another – I can’t remember if it was positive or not.

Over time, I have come to the conclusion that maybe the Council had a good idea at that.

One of the things that does bother me is that people will complain and point fingers, but when it comes to standing up and saying what you think, and how you think it can be done differently, most people don’t do it.

They would rather complain than do anything that might put them under a microscope.  They can dish it out, but can’t take it.

While I realize that social media has changed that a bit; it is still a complainer’s way of venting off steam, without really having to put themselves out there.

But, I won’t get on my soap box as to how I feel about the use of those medias in spreading false information.

Copyright November 22, 2017 Art Labrousse

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1 Corinthians 15:56-58  KJV  “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Every Christian, no matter our circumstances, have God to thank for our salvation through Christ.

While everything else is nice, and sometimes needy, the most important thing we have to be thankful for is Christ’s death on our behalf.

Later, Art (-: