January 24, 2012

Fraternal Order of Police  

Lodge 141

Mahoning County Deputies

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 141, Mahoning County Deputies, is standing with our Sheriff, Randall Wellington, in the move to cease operations of video arraignments for the Youngstown Municipal Court.  For years now, the Board of Mahoning County Commissioners has balanced their budget on the backs of the Sheriff’s Office and the members of Lodge 141.  Video arraignments are not a statutory requirement of an Ohio Sheriff.  There are many government entities throughout Mahoning County that rely on the Sheriff and Lodge 141 members to perform services that are NOT required by law.  Video arraignments are one of these services. 

In February of 2009, 25 members of Lodge 141 were furloughed from this agency.  And concessions from the remaining members began with a 10% reduction in wages.  In June of 2010, 66 members of Lodge 141 were laid off and the remaining members accepted more concessions, such as loss of hazard duty pay, uniform and maintenance allowances, professional development pay and increased contributions towards their pensions in order to keep providing the most amount of services to this county.  When these concessions were accepted and put into place, Lodge 141 was told that the County Commissioners would seek the same concessions from every other employee in Mahoning County.  In 2011, our department lost several more members through attrition, to include 2 Chief Deputies, 2 Captains, 1 Lieutenant and 4 Sergeants.  None of these officers have been replaced.   Yet all of this time we have still been providing the same non-mandated services to all other components of Mahoning County’s Criminal Justice System.  This has resulted in an enormous increase in assaults on our members inside the jail and a lack of mandated services that we are required to perform on a daily basis.   Our members need to return to performing the required duties that we need to do in order to keep the jail facility, its staff and the inmate population safe.  We have for years gone out of our way to ensure that everyone else was still receiving their non-mandated services that we provide.  It is apparent from Commissioners’ belief that the elimination of the video arraignment service to the city as “stunt” shows that they do not understand nor do they care about the safety and well being of Lodge 141 members.  The reduced budgets that the Sheriff receives year after year are also proof that the Board of Commissioners does not care about the safety of this community or of Lodge 141 members.  Unless a federal court is ordering our Board of Commissioners to properly fund our operations, it does not happen.

No other employees in Mahoning County, other than members of Lodge 141, are on any type of concession at all.  In fact, the overwhelming majority of Mahoning County employees pay 0% to .5% of their pension contributions while Lodge 141 members pay 8.8% towards their pensions.  Asking these other employees to make concessions has not even been an option for the Commissioners, even though Lodge 141 members were told that it would occur.  Figures are not even available to show how much revenue would be saved if all other Mahoning County employees were paying 10% for their healthcare and 7% to 10% towards their pensions, without receiving a pay raise.  If that were to occur, then that extra revenue could be made available to the Sheriff, whose employees have been making these contributions for over a decade, and these non-mandated services could continue.  There is no parity in how employees are treated throughout Mahoning County. 

In 2011, approximately 500 employees throughout Mahoning County received pay raises and there have been multiple new hires.  All the while, Lodge 141 members were on a 10% to 20% give back in the form of concessions.  We are the only employees in Mahoning County who are continually asked to make sacrifices in order to keep operations going.  Not filling vacancies in other county departments and accepting pay freezes are NOT concessions.  What Lodge 141 members have done are real concessions.  So far in 2012, twelve (12) General Fund Departments have received funding increases from their finished 2011 budgets totaling approximately $1.3 million dollars.  There is also a carry-over of approximately $4.4 million dollars, which revenue could be used to fund operations of the Sheriff.  The Commissioners say that that $4.4 million carry-over is now allocated in the Commissioners’ Administration fund, but it was not there at the original appropriation, and we have been told that that extra revenue will be used to pay off debt.  But with thirty-four (34) Lodge 141 members still on layoff and the other members who are currently still making concessions, it is essentially the same as parents telling their children that they will not get to eat so that the parents can try to pay off their mortgage.

Sheriff Wellington and the members of Lodge 141 have continually gone out of their way to provide extra, non-mandated services for years while at the same time attempting perform what state law requires us to do.  Although we were promised relief from the Commissioners, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.  Lodge 141 members certainly understand budget cuts, especially the cuts coming from Columbus.  But the commissioners do not ask anyone else to help except for us.  Eliminating services that are non-mandated are not “stunts”.  The elimination of these services is what is needed

in order to remain in compliance with state law, and are also necessary to keep Lodge 141 members safe.  The Commissioners have stated to Lodge 141 members that the reason they continually cut our budget is that we are the biggest budget and also the easiest to take money from.  Also, that the Sheriff cannot order his budget through court orders as the judiciary can do.  They have also told us that when they allocate money to the different departments and agencies, it is completely up to that department head or elected official as to how that budget allocation is spent.  Since that is the case, why are they now taking an interest in how the Sheriff chooses to operate the agency and what services he chooses to have his staff perform and which services he chooses to eliminate?  Lodge 141 members and the Sheriff have come up with many cost saving and revenue producing initiatives that could be performed by the Sheriff’s Office, yet a blind eye is turned to these programs, some of which are currently being performed by private contractors using tax-payer dollars.  We have been able to prove that Lodge 141 members could not only perform those services at a savings to the taxpayer, but can increase revenues to the County at the same time.  

The Sheriff and the members of Lodge 141 are not using the City or any other political subdivision as pawns, although the members of Lodge 141 have most certainly been used as political pawns in the past.  Whenever a sales tax needed to be passed or renewed, Lodge 141 members were laid-off in order to help ensure passage of the tax.  Whenever reductions or cuts needed to be made, Lodge 141 members were the first employees in Mahoning County who had to make the cuts or were threatened to have their brothers and sisters lose their jobs.  Now, when the current staffing levels and the current budget allocations, coupled with the fact that the Commissioners refuse to allocate more revenue, dictate that we stop non-mandated services, we are being blamed for creating a safety risk at the city courthouse.  Yet no one has ever expressed any concern for the Lodge 141 members who work in a facility that is becoming ever-more dangerous, over-crowded and understaffed with each dollar in our budget that is cut.

After personally speaking with the members of the Youngstown Police Association, which represents patrol officers from the Youngstown Police Department, they are standing behind Lodge 141 and the Sheriff in the decision to eliminate video arraignments.  They understand it will put more of a strain on their operations, but they also understand the unfair and unjust treatment the members of Lodge 141 have received at the hands of the Commissioners and they know how unsafe our operations have become.  The Commissioners were made aware of the deteriorating conditions

with the Sheriff’s Office over a year ago, yet they have done nothing to help us improve out plight.  So if the commissioners want the Sheriff and Lodge 141 members to continue to provide non-mandated services, then the commissioners need to fund us appropriately.  If it can be proven that other county employees are making concessions on a level comparable to what members of Lodge 141 are making, then the commissioners have the right to keep asking us to do more with less.

Sergeant T.J. Assion

President - F.O.P. Lodge 141         

25 E Boardman St Suite M-37 Youngstown, Ohio 44503 (330) 744-5700

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 773 Youngstown, Ohio 44501-0773

Cell Phone contact number: (330) 717-8876

President: Samuel Mosca     Secretary/Treasurer: Doug Pesa     Grievance Officer: Michael Anderson

Trustee: Ron Jankowski     Sgt at Arms: George Wallace

SERVING THE SAFETY, WELL BEING AND PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS OF ALL YOUNGSTOWN POLICE OFFICERS

January 20, 2012

To: Sgt. T.J. Assion

Re: Letter of Support

I am writing this letter to inform you that the members of theYoungstown Police Association are aware of the obvious neglect of funding to the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office. As result, we have been informed that the Sheriff will be discontinuing the video arraignment process with the City Court.  This is an unfortunate act that can be easily resolved by making jail operations a greater priority in county government.

We are also cognoscente of the extra strain that these changes present to the function of our department and the court. Although this will cause an extreme inconvenience to the daily operations of the City Court and Jail Unit, our members support the men and women of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office.

It is truly our hope that this matter will be swiftly resolved in order to maintain a strong partnership with the County S.O. and the City of Youngstown.

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