Department heads at the end of the line
Published on June 29th, 2005
Police Chief Greg O’Keefe’s contract expires at midnight Friday
The town’s Board of Selectmen entered into two executive sessions Tuesday night in an attempt to break a contract negotiation stalemate between Town Administrator Ron Florino and Stoneham Police Chief Gregory O’Keefe.
With the police chief’s current contract set to expire on Friday at midnight, the Selectmen reportedly recommended that Florino agree to an unspecified compromise between O’Keefe’s demands for a three-year deal and the Town Administrator’s offer of a temporary 30-day contract extension.
"We made a recommendation for the Town Administrator to make to Greg. But we really can’t tell you specifics, by right, it’s only fair that [the chief] finds out first. Then he can either accept it or not accept it," said Selectman Cosmo Ciccarello at the close of Tuesday night’s second executive session.
O’Keefe did not return phone calls for comment as of press time.
However, according to Florino, with the town gearing up to enter into negotiations with its municipal unions – as those employees’ present three-year contracts expire at the end of June of 2006 – he wants to set an example for the fall talks with the handful of department heads and administrators holding year-to-year agreements.
"We aren’t looking to sign any long-term agreements right now," the town administrator explained. "We’re anticipating tough budgets for FY’ 07, so I didn’t want to tie our hands."
Completely agreeing with Florino’s hard-line approach to negotiations thus far, Ciccarello believed that Stoneham had run out of financial options.
And with the next few years’ budget forecasts looking tight, the type of benefits and salary increases the town’s unions normally enjoy just aren’t fiscally feasible, the seven-term Selectman added.
"On the one hand, you don’t want to single out a single person. But we’re in a tough position. We’re trying to get everybody to pay more health insurance," Ciccarello said. "If we could show that management took 20 or 25 percent, then they would really make an example. Otherwise, we’re in deep trouble."
While setting an example for this fall’s negotiations ranks as the highest motivation for refusing to enter into a long-term agreement with the seven or eight administrators holding individual deals, the Selectmen are also mindful of the status of Fire Chief Lawrence Lamey, who’s been on leave since suffering a heart attack this spring.
And should the fire chief ultimately decide not to return to his position, the Selectmen would consider combining the police and fire chief roles into one safety officer position.
According to DPW Director Bob Grover, secondary motivations such as those drive his demand for a contract extension, as working without a deal leaves little job security.
"To be honest with you, I don’t see why they shouldn’t [extend my contract]. It just gives you the reassurance that you’re employed for another year," Grover remarked.
"I don’t think we’re asking for anything outlandish. All we were looking for was a one-year contract that would take us through the same year as everybody else. You’re going to single out seven or eight workers because they’re not in unions?"
Disagreeing with Grover, Florino argued that the DPW director’s situation was far different than the police chief’s, as O’Keefe is required by law to have some type of formal agreement.
But for the handful of other managers with year-to-year agreements, their current contracts include language providing for a continuation of the current year’s benefits.
"The have a rule over provision, so they are covered. It says any benefit they received under the old agreement will continue until a new one is reached. But the police chief is one person who doesn’t have that," Florino explained.
Regardless of that provision, Grover still believes that settling the contracts is a matter of fairness, especially since many of those covered under a year-to-year agreement did so at the town’s behest.
"The reason we’re in [individual] contracts was at the town’s request. The agreement was they would give us similar contracts to the unions," the DPW director said.
"We’re only asking for a one-year extension. It’s no secret that they’ll be asking for things like bigger health insurance contributions, but just keep us on a level playing field with everybody else."
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