Keep an eye out for this guy…
Below is an article from the Patriot News in Harrisburg. FYI
Carey,
If you haven't already, talk to Dave E, Joe Piro from Easton
bolobo@rcn.com and Greg from Nanticoke
pitt36@aol.com about this Sabatini jackoff. This guy is with Keystone Municipal Services, KMS, another Rendell connected private consulting regime. This guy has a history in Springettsbury of failure and has done work in Easton and Nanticoke. Gather the info and get it to your elected officials before they start taking him seriously. We did the same thing in Dunmore with a guy named Nearhood. We exposed him and he lasted only 6 months there. This guy is a condesending, arrogant, little prick. You don't want him anywhere near your city or making any decisions. He'll come after the employees and hard. Nip this in the butt as soon as you can. If we can assist in any way, don't hesitate to call.
Dave G
LEBANON
Consultant recommends financial strategies for city
Friday, August 24, 2007
BY AL WINN
Of Our Lebanon County Bureau
LEBANON - Lebanon is one of the best-run cities in the state, an executive of a company that works with cities to avoid financial and operational distress told the City Council on Thursday.
But that means Lebanon might be three or four years from bankruptcy, rather than one or two years, as is the case with many Pennsylvania cities, said Robert Sabatini, the managing director of Keystone Municipal Services Inc.
Keystone, based in Mechanicsburg, has studied Lebanon's government for about a year, and Sabatini told the council, "You folks have a little bit of time."
Sabatini then summarized a number of recommendations he said are included in a report to be delivered to the council members in the next few days.
"You have the ability to right the ship now to avoid hitting the rocks," he said.
Mayor Bob Anspach said that if the city had not been able to sell a piece of property to North Cornwall Twp. for about $750,000 this year, it would be closer to the brink.
The city has been aggressive in controlling costs, but those efforts might have some less-than-favorable long-term consequences, Sabatini said.
"You have a thin staff," he told the council. "One or two resignations could have a major impact."
He suggested establishing lines of succession and training employees in different jobs.
Management salaries are below market rates, he said. "That leaves the city vulnerable to poaching by both private- and public-sector employers," an executive summary of the report states.
Consultant recommends financial strategies for city
Page 2 of 2
The mayor's annual salary has remained $37,500 since 1993, Anspach said.
Sabatini also advised city officials to spend more on training supervisors.
Employee grievances are most likely to be about lower-level managers, he said.
Sabatini recommended a more conservative approach in some areas of spending. "I strongly urge you to be very aggressive in negotiations with employee unions," he said.
He said arbitrators aren't being as generous as they once were. "We're not seeing 5 percent to 7 percent increases for public safety anymore," Sabatini said.
He said the city needs more flexibility to increase taxes. "What would happen if you had significant flooding?" he asked.
Tax rate ceilings are set by Lebanon's home rule charter and can be changed only by referendum.
In 2005, city voters approved a $52 emergency and municipal services tax on people who work in Lebanon.
But council President Richard Wertz said asking voters to approve increased taxes is a political "death wish" for elected officials.
Wertz said the city contracted with Keystone for the study because the financial future had looked bleak. "We looked at our budgets going out a few years and decided if we don't do something, we're headed for Act 47," he said.
Act 47 is a state law that provides for a state takeover of cities in financial distress.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 17, 2007 4:00 PM
COATESVILLE CITY COUNCIL ILLEGALLY PUNISHES FIREFIGHTER FOR STANDING UP FOR CITIZEN AND WORKER SAFETY
Since the appointment of volunteer fire-company member Kevin Johnson as Fire Chief, and culminating in late-July and August Fire department staffing cuts, the City has subjected Firefighter Lentz and the city’s other career firefighters to a campaign of employer discrimination and retaliation in violation of their legal, contractual and constitutional rights. And the City has specifically targeted Lentz
"This is yet another black-eye for the City and the "Gang of Four" on City Council," says Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters President David Eckman. "The City of Coatesville has absolutely no basis for threatening and disciplining Firefighter Lentz. What this Council has done is flat-out illegal, and it shouldn’t be using taxpayer money to engage in illegal acts. Jim Lentz is a dedicated Firefighter who has responded to thousands of emergency calls for this city and its citizens over the years. He has done nothing more than speak up to protect Firefighters and citizens, and we will use the full resources of this Union to restore Lentz’s employment, and to restore safe working conditions for the City’s Firefighters."
Over the weekend of August 11-12, 2007, Lentz and other Pennsylvania Firefighters engaged in a campaign to educate Coatesville’s citizens about the safety threats posed by the City’s recent Fire Department cuts. Among other things, the Union informed the public that the cuts were illegally implemented and that in the days since the July 30
– James Lentz, a longtime Firefighter with the City of Coatesville and President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 3790, has been wrongfully threatened and disciplined by Coatesville’s City Council for leading an effort to maintain safe Fire Department staffing and to educate the public about recent unsafe Fire Department cuts. – The Union President – for his efforts to protect Firefighters and citizens. The cuts were implemented the Fire Department had operated with inadequate staffing and, in some cases, with no Firefighters assigned to one of the City’s two fire stations. "The Union stands by its statements," says state president Eckman. "Staffing was cut, the cuts were illegal, the Department has since been understaffed, and there have been occasions where fire stations were empty. Those are facts, and they are completely unacceptable."
The Union has authorized its legal counsel, Richard G. Poulson, of Philadelphia firm Willig, Williams & Davidson, to represent Firefighter Lentz and the rest of City’s Firefighters in a pending arbitration hearing, as well as other court action as a result of the retaliatory conduct by the City and its representatives. "The bottom line," says attorney Poulson, "is that Mr. Lentz has the right and even an obligation to take action to prevent the gutting of this City’s Fire Department. He has a right to protect his members. He has a right to educate the public on the dangers of fire staffing cuts. And Firefighters in Coatesville and all across this state will not hesitate to fight to protect those rights, just as they do not hesitate to risk their lives in order to save the lives of citizens."
The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, DC represents more than 270,000 professional firefighters and paramedics throughout the United States and Canada. The Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association is the IAFF’s primary affiliate organization in Pennsylvania, and represents over 10,000 Firefighters throughout the Commonwealth.
More information is available by contacting PPFFA President David Eckman at (717) 221-8800, or Richard Poulson at (215) 656-3600.
AUGUST 16, 2007
PA INFORMATIONAL ALERT: A SERVICE OF THE PENNSYLVANIA FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES INSTITUTE-Tom Savage, Executive Director ===========================================================================================
Firefighters flood city
By JENNIFER MILLER
David Eckman, president of the Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association, talks with reporters outside of City Hall prior to Monday’s meeting.
About 75 firefighters rallied Monday night outside City Hall to protest the city’s changes to the fire department.
Union officials allege the changes violate its contracted staffing guidelines.
As City Council prepared to meet, union members with the International Association of Firefighters protested with firefighters from departments in Reading, Norristown, Upper Darby and Johnstown.
The meeting room at City Hall overflowed with about 175 firefighters, both paid and volunteer, and concerned residents.
City officials clashed with union officials over the reorganization, which demoted two firefighters to part-time status. That change has created staffing shortages, according to union President Jim Lentz.
Lentz, one of the firefighters whose status was changed to part time, said more than 200 hours of shifts have gone unfilled after the city’s reorganization plan went into effect, a claim city officials rejected.
Fire Chief Kevin Johnson has said all shifts have been covered, though he acknowledged that in several instances the department relied on volunteers to do so.
That appears to be part of the city’s strategy going forward, as Johnson and City Manager Harry Walker both indicated some tasks, such as driving fire trucks to fires, could be done by volunteers. Johnson said 20 volunteers are certified to drive the truck.
"There are volunteers in the station, and there are volunteers close by," Johnson said. "People are still showing up."
On Friday Johnson said the city recently hired three part-time, paid firefighters. Paid firefighters are hired to stay in the station and drive trucks to fires, where volunteers join them. Walker also emphasized that the firefighters who now work part time can still work as many hours as they wish, therefore the staffing hasn’t really been cut. Gaps in the schedule, he said, do not exist. But last Friday, according to Lentz, he was the only paid firefighter on duty.
The union has a contract with the city that outlines firefighter staffing requirements. Currently, three firefighters are supposed to be staffed weekdays during daylight hours and two are staffed at all other times, according to the contract.
According to Councilman Kareem Johnson, that contract is "based on false financial information." "I don’t think that the agreement is worth the paper it’s written on," he said. Union officials disagree, however. Fliers handed out at the rally suggest the union was ready to sue the city to reverse the cuts.
Council members Monday did their best to calm residents’ fears and downplays allegations that the cuts represent a safety issue. Some questioned Lentz’s credibility. Councilman Martin Eggleston claimed Lentz had called out sick so that shifts went uncovered just to make a point. That type of behavior must stop, he said.
Councilman Kurt Schenk said the decision to make cuts was not made lightly. "We are in a financial crisis," Schenk said. "It’s not a joke ... No one wants to get rid of the paid firefighters."
Councilwoman Robin Scott said that on the issue of safety, rumor has overpowered fact. "I didn’t feel the public was put in jeopardy," Scott said.
Councilman Ed Simpson called for paid firefighters and volunteers to work out their ongoing issues. "We have to come to some sort of happy medium," Simpson said.
Councilman Johnson criticized the way Lentz "created mass hysteria in this city" by falsely portraying the plan’s impact on residents.
Walker also challenged Lentz’s allegations. "To pretend the organization of the fire department is a sacrifice of public safety is unfair and untrue," Walker said.
The city and the union anticipate going to arbitration over the contract soon.
City Council approved the layoff plan in July to address a $1.2 million budget hole that was supposed to be filled by selling city-owned real estate. Walker estimates the cuts will save the city $400,000. And more layoffs are expected this year to balance the budget, Walker said.
Here we go again; it seems that the cities leadership would rather play the odds!
Since so many are willing to play the odds with the lives of the citizens and ours!
Let’s not do this with our own!
Stay Safe!
For more on Coatesville, go to: http://coatesvillesidebar.blogspot.com.
To contact staff writer Jennifer Miller, send an e-mail to jmiller@dailylocal.com. It seems to me that the city is playing the odds
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