Lyrics:
”
If we’re going to be buddies, better bone up on the rules,
’cause don’t nobody bring me no bad news. You can be my best of
friends, as opposed to payin’ dues, but don’t nobody bring me no
bad news.
”
That’s from
”
Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News
”
by Charlie Smalls, but it could just as easily have been written
by the Hollister City Council.
Lyrics: “If we’re going to be buddies, better bone up on the rules, ’cause don’t nobody bring me no bad news. You can be my best of friends, as opposed to payin’ dues, but don’t nobody bring me no bad news.” That’s from “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News” by Charlie Smalls, but it could just as easily have been written by the Hollister City Council.
It’s a good description of the reception you’re going to get if you show up at the city council and suggest they curtail spending; in a word, hostility. You’re likely to get lectured and scolded, but what you won’t get is a straight answer. That’s because the city government, by its own admission, doesn’t really know exactly where some of its overtime money is going.
Last Monday, a citizen dared to suggest that the city examine and, if possible, reduce the amount of overtime by city employees and the time-and-a-half expense that goes with it. Councilman Brad Pike, a firefighting professional, immediately launched into a spirited defense of firefighters’ salaries and the concept of paying overtime rather than hiring additional personnel. He addressed everything but the actual issue.
Hey, I love firefighters, but long before he was finished I was honestly wondering if Councilman Pike was representing the citizens or the “firefighter’s protective association.” It may be cost effective to pay overtime rather than hire additional staff, but it’s more cost effective not to have either extra staff or overtime. Not once did any member of the council or staff say that they had carefully reviewed the city’s policies and use of overtime, performed an audit, and found all the costs justified.
When it comes to public safety salaries, Councilman Pike, who is not running for reelection, has a clear conflict of interest. He doesn’t work for the city, but those salaries and benefits are based on surveys of surrounding communities. A raise anywhere has an avalanche effect and he benefits, eventually. He should take any community comment seriously and not just blow off the spending concerns as an attack on firefighters.
That is a disservice to the public.
Unless something has changed recently, there are no detailed overtime reports at the Hollister Police Department. Obviously, management cannot specifically determine where the overtime is going. Chief Jeff Miller’s recent presentation was that his officers are coding their time cards but the computer system will not take the entries and the city never bothered to hire someone to enter or correlate the data. Perhaps every minute of overtime is well spent, but how would anyone know? This astonishing revelation did not move a council member to say, “Get that fixed.”
Eventually, the discussion turned to the recent substantial raises for city employees. The city manager defended them, saying that when times were tough, city employees did not take some of their contract raises. Will someone please tell me when the tough times ended for the taxpayers? Somehow, the event escaped my attention. The city manager also failed to mention the key payback in forgoing those raises – more of employees were able to keep their jobs and valuable benefits. The arrangement was good for both sides – therefore, the city does not owe the employees anything extra for doing what was in their best interests. Besides, it appears and lots of overtime was still used.
When taxpayers ask for relief, the council members immediately start talking about “fiscal responsibility” and squeeze the cash drawer. They never use the term when discussing the Hollister Motorcycle Rally’s losses or the end cost of compounded raises after the cost of overtime and cash-ins are applied.
Until those in the general public are willing to demand accountability, one cannot really blame the city council for buying political support with OPM (Other People’s Money).
I assure you, if it were their personal funds, they would be able to tell you why every penny of overtime was spent and they’d keep that expensive practice to an absolute minimum.
