Police contract includes pay raise
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Word has spread since the June 23 confrontation between Supervisor Satish Mohan and Council Member Guy Marlette, and many are reacting negatively to accusations that were tossed out.

(See editorial on page four)

With no work session held Monday, the two have not yet met in a public setting since Mohan accused Marlette of corruption.

On Monday The Amherst Bee asked Mohan if he regretted some of the statements made in public and he said, "no."

"No, I don't regret what was said. It was spontaneous and I felt like that. I really felt something wrong has been done," he said.

Mohan said the details leading up the June 23 vote are "he said, he said" between him and Marlette, but Mohan expected he would be contacted about details before the vote.

Mohan said that in the past week he has been called a liar and he said wants the details of the contract to prove he was not lying.

He said he was upset that Marlette failed to negotiate health care, saying that officers still contribute nothing and Mohan was hoping to change the contract so they would contribute 10 percent. (Contract details are listed below.)

He also said that officers can still accrue 300 days off at the time of retirement and he wanted that changed. That issue was not addressed in the contract.

Mohan is putting together a report of contract details, and while it won't change the fact that the contract is in effect, Mohan wants the public to know what the salaries and benefits are.

Personnel Director Bob McCarthy said the information on the contract has been available to Mohan for some time.

The memorandum of understanding was signed June 11; the board heard a presentation on June 16; Mohan said he received the contract on June 19; and the board voted on June 23.

Mohan, visually frustrated, said he was not included in the final details and believes he should have been. He said the Power Point presentation on June 16 lacked information.

But as Marlette pointed out, Mohan never asked questions following that presentation.

When asked why he didn't ask questions, Mohan said he was waiting for the detailed contract.

Then why were all the board members ready to vote when Mohan said he wasn't? He said he didn't even know until Monday that the special meeting was to vote on the contract.

"I was really surprised the vote was that day, I thought it would be discussed first," he said.

Council Member Dr. Barry Weinstein, who was not part of the group that called the special meeting, said he learned about the vote two or three days before. He said he reviewed the changes made to the contract that were put in his mailbox and was ready to vote on Monday.

Council members Deborah Bruch Bucki and Mark Manna were named on the request for the June 23 special meeting, Marlette said.

The main contract details are as follows:

• Officers do contribute to their health care - veteran officers contribute for four years, then it drops to 0 percent. The contract change is, the new officers pay 5 percent in the fifth year. The first year is 15 percent, second year 15; third year, 10; fourth year 5; and fifth year, 5. After the fifth year they will also pay nothing for health care.

• The average salary increase is 2.75 percent for each year of the contract, expiring Dec. 31, 2010. Retroactive pay for active and retired officers will be paid for 2006, 2007 and the portion of 2008 in which the contract was not settled.

In 2006 and 2007 the increase is 2.45 percent; in 2008 it's 2.6 percent; in 2009 it's 3 percent; and in 2010 it's 3.2 percent. While the increases are actually higher, a savings is seen by splitting the percent into six months, McCarthy said. For example, in 2006 the pay increase was 1.625 in January and another 1.625 in July, which totals 3.25 percent. But the town only actually pays 2.45 percent.

McCarthy said the town made out well in the salary increases, but knew that pushing more for health care would have ended in arbitration.

"Trying to get contribution on a permanent basis would have been a deal breaker," he said. "At least this is something; something to look at."

He added that the delaying the salary increase from 12 to 18 months saves $5,000 instantly on each new hire.

"It's a fair contract," he said.

Marlette said that it was a disappointing week, following the June 23 meeting.

He said at the end of the day, union contracts will have benefits and increases, but keeping those increases in check is a successful contract.

As far as the accusations, Marlette said the issue is being reviewed but he was elected to do a job which he will continue to do.

"Never was an agreement made that wasn't thought through," he said, which include consulting McCarthy and Comptroller Darlene Carroll.