January 2010
AZ House OKs New Way to Reduce Revenue
Faced with a growing budget deficit that is currently estimated at $5 billion, the Arizona House approved a bill Thursday to further cut corporate and personal income taxes and provide rebates, payments and tax breaks to businesses that move to, or expand in, Arizona.
House Speaker Kirk Adams sponsored House Bill 2250 and believes the legislation, which also promotes additional job training programs, will help expand and stabilize Arizona's tax base, according to a story in The Arizona Republic.
SEIU Arizona director Scott Washburn said that while he shares the bill's goal of bringing more jobs to the state, "cutting general fund revenues at a time when basic services are already being slashed will make Arizona a less desirable place for business relocation and expansion."
SEIU Arizona is a member of the Arizona Budget Coalition, a group of more than 40 organizations working to preserve jobs, education, health and public services. The ABC will encourage state senators to kill the bill.
"Both voters and businesses expect our state to provide the assets we need for a strong economy - assets like roads, parks, health care and a world-class education system," said Dana Wolfe Naimark, President and CEO of Children's Action Alliance, in an ABC press release.
"Twenty years of tax cuts have left us short on these assets and contributed to the deficit we suffer from now," Naimark added. "More of the same tax cuts will only make Arizona less competitive."
Read the conplete ABC press release in the Tucson Weekly.
No KidsCare Means More ER Care
Gov. Jan Brewer's proposal to eliminate health insurance coverage for nearly 50,000 children of Arizona's low-income working families will force parents to go to already-crowded community clinics and emergency rooms, according to a spokesperson for the Arizona Association of Community Health Centers.
Tara Plese, director of government and media relations for the association, is also concerned about the public health impact on all of us when thousands of kids are without health care, particularly six-to-nineyear-olds.
"That's an age where they're getting another set of immunizations, they're more prone to being sick because they're in school, they're getting sick, other children are getting sick, and it's a time when they probably visit doctors with more frequency."
Gilbert Town Manager to Step Down March 1
Gilbert Town Manager George Pettit has announced his retirement.
A town employee for 25 years, and Town Manager since 2002, Pettit was the chief administrative official when Town Council approved a Meet Confer ordinance in November, 2007. The approval of the ordinance led to the creation of SEIU Arizona's Gilbert Chapter after town employees voted (twice!) to join our union in March and May of 2008.
"The thing I will miss the most ... will be working with the most dedicated public employees in the country," Pettit said in The Arizona Republic. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Fire Chief Colin DeWitt until a replacement can be found.
Meet & Confer discussions for our second Memorandum of Understanding will begin soon.
More details on the end of George Pettit's tenure as Gilbert Town Manager.
Budget Forums for Tempe Employees in Feb.
SEIU Tempe Chapter members have provided city management with dozens of cost-cuting and revenue-enhancement ideas over the past year and we continue to meet monthly with City Manager Charlie Meyer to discuss budget and personnel issues.
The city has also decided to seek comments from Tempe residents and employees in a series of budget forums to be held in February.
Employee forums are scheduled as follows:
Feb. 10, 9-11 am in the Vihel Center multipurpose room
Feb. 11, 2-4 pm in Council Chambers
Feb. 16, 7-9 am at Field Services Assembly Hall, Priest Yard
Feb. 22, 3-5 pm at the Escalante Center, in the Senior Center
The city is also accepting comments online.
Sales-Tax Hike on Gilbert Ballot
In a close vote, Gilbert Town Council approved a motion to ask residents if they'll be willing to pay a quarter-cent extra to pay for public safety services.
The decision to put the increase on the May ballot came at council's budget retreat held last Saturday and was approved on a 4-3 vote at the Town Council meeting Jan. 26.
The Town is looking for ways to close a 2010-11 budget deficit estimated at $15 million. About $3.4 million in cuts have already been accepted by council and the quarter-cent increase in the sales tax is expected to bring in approximately $7.3 million annually.
With SEIU Gilbert Chapter members working on further cost-saving and revenue generating ideas - and a reserve fund of $19 million - Gilbert would appear to be in a decent position to ride out the economic downturn without compromising quality public services.
Read more in this East Valley Tribune story.
Town Calls for Employee Ideas
They've heard from residents and other interested parties and now the Gilbert Town Council wants to hear from the men and women who provide the services Gilbert residents and businesses depend upon.
SEIU Gilbert Chapter members met at our East Valley office Jan. 20 to go through a process similar to what Tempe and Chandler members went through last year - identify and list any cost-saving and revenue-generating ideas they can think of.
"This is a good thing to do, even if we weren't looking at a $14 million dollar budget deficit," said Chapter President Melissa Kingsley. "Almost everyone who works for the town probably has an idea or two about how we could save some money and keep the same level of service."
Town department heads have been asked to trim their budgets by 5 percent, which could reduce the deficit by about $6 million if the cuts are adopted, according to the East Valley Tribune.
Council members will be meeting to discuss financial issues at a budget retreat scheduled for Jan. 23. SEIU members will be in attendance at the Jan. 26 council meeting as we have been during most of the 2010-11 budget discussions.
2010 Chandler Bargaining Team Elected
Chandler Chapter members chose amongst a record 23 candidates who stood for election to the 2010 Bargaining Team during two days of voting in mid-January.
They elected a strong team of eight members and three alternates who will sit at the table with city management to negotiate our new Memorandum of Understanding. Dates for the first Meet & Confer sessions have not been set yet.
Like most cities and towns in Arizona, Chandler has been facing a severe drop in revenues that is impacting its ability to balance the city budget and maintain the current level of services to residents.
Fortunately, the rate of sales-tax-revenue decline has slowed, according to a story in the Arizona Republic and city officials are hopeful the worst may be over. As we did last year, Chandler Chapter bargainers will work with the city to maintain jobs and services.
Here are the members of the 2010 Chandler Chapter Bargaining Team. You can also download a PDF that lists team members and their contact information.
Dominic Camillo - MUD / Larry Duffy - MUD / Nan Kahl - City Clerk's Office / Terry Linck - MUD / Carlos Martinez - Parks / Shawn Prisciandaro - Streets / Catherine Roeper - Police Dept. / Mary Lou Zavala - Library. Alternates are Mark Hardenburg - MUD and Robert Hoffmann - Streets.
Congratulations to the members of the Bargaining Team and to all the candidates who offered to serve on it.
A New Website for a New Year
Welcome to SEIU Arizona's new website. As you can see, there's still some renovation going on in a few rooms of our new house, a bit of sanding, spackling and painting still to do ...
But we're up and running and if you're here, you'll notice you don't need to register to wander around. And since our new system is based on a blog set-up, you can offer comments on most of the stories and features we publish.
We'll be adding more features in the coming weeks. In the meantime, let us know what you'd like to see to make the new website more useful and effective.
Tempe Members Continue Budget Work with City
As the City of Tempe faces "its most significant financial challenge in its history," according to Financial Services Manager Jerry Hart, SEIU Arizona Tempe Chapter leaders continue to work with the city to mitigate job and service cutbacks.
Thanks to an early retirement incentive package developed with the city by our union, more than 125 SEIU-represented city employees will be leaving the city by the end of June. Tempe Chapter members have also provided the city with a list of cost-saving and revenue-generating ideas.
Still, additional positions, including some in the police and fire departments, may have to be eliminated if the city is to close a $30-million budget gap for the next fiscal year.
Further details in this Arizona Republic story.
Pima Co. Employees Help Homeowners Go Green
SEIU member Jesus Duran, who works in Pima County's Community Development Department, is featured in a KVOA television news feature about the success of the county's Weatherization Assistance Program.
Thanks to the federal economic stimulus program, "Now we have a $1.7 million budget," said Jesus. "We will be able to possibly do three to four times as many homes in this 3-year period than we would've normally been able to do."
See a video clip of the story.
And if you live in Pima County, find out if you're eligible to take advantage of the program.
Photo: Jesus Duran
'The Arizona We Want'
Under the present circumstances, there probably isn't a better time to take a hard look at our state and see where we think we should be going.
The Center for the Future of Arizona did just that in a report called "The Arizona We Want." Unlike many previous assessments, the Center used extensive polling information to clarify where we are and where we want to go.
What do we like about Arizona, what don't we like and how do we change things for the better? These are vital issues that need to be addressed as we prepare to celebrate our 100th birthday in 2012.
Part 1: Examining the Most Important Questions Facing Arizona
Part 2: How to Repair Ariz.'s 'Broken' Government
Part 3: Ariz. in Race with Other States to Grow, Recruit New Jobs
State Employees Respond to Gov's Address
A day after Gov. Jan Brewer delivered a partisan political campaign speech masquerading as her first State of the State address, SEIU State Employee Chapter leaders delivered a message of their own to the governor.
"In the history of this state, no other governor has cut state government more than I have," the governor boasted in her address. "... We have reduced government spending more than $1 billion and decreased state jobs more than 10%."
"In yesterday's State of the State address, you remarked that no other Governor has cut state government more than you have," said the letter from the SEIU State Employees Organizing Committee. "This dubious distinction is a measure of the failure of your administration - one which you would do well to remedy immediately."
The letter called on the governor to implement furloughs rather than pay cuts as a means to reduce state payroll costs. Furloughs would not reduce pay scales and would not negatively affect future earnings, including pensions.
"To comply with Budget Bill S1001, the Department of Administration is currently drafting rules for employee compensation reductions up to 5%," the letter continued. "We urge you to demonstrate true leadership now by instructing DOA and state agency directors not to balance the state's budget on the basis of slashing wages and eliminating more jobs."
With more than 4,000 employees laid off so far and thousands more taking furlough days, State of Arizona workers have already made substantial sacrifices in the on-going effort to balance the state budget.
State employees provide more services with fewer staff as compared to the majority of states in the nation. Arizona ranks 47th in the nation in the ratio of full-time-equivalent state employees compared to the overall population of the state, according to the DOA's 2009 Workforce Report. Furthermore, Arizona's current staffing level is 13.7% less than the staffing levels of 2002 even though the state population has increased by more than 1.25 million people since then.
SEIU State Chapter members will continue to press for fair and respectful treatment from the governor and state agency directors.
Photo: A staff member in Gov. Brewer's office accepts the letter from SEIU member Victor Lopez.
OT Victory in Pima County
The applause that rang out at the Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting Jan. 5 was for the unanimous vote in favor of rejecting proposed changes to overtime pay calculations. But it might just as well have been for the effective use of Meet & Confer.
"County employees are already being asked to do more work with fewer resources and overtime, in many cases, has already been eliminated or reduced," said Jess Gauntt, a mechanic at the Ina Road treatment plant. He added that those employees who are still receiving overtime are usually providing services in emergency situations that have a direct impact in public safety.
SEIU Pima Chapter members had spoken out against the proposed overtime pay changes at the December Board of Supervisors meeting. Had they been adopted, those changes would have eliminated annual leave, compensatory time and paid holidays from being included in OT pay calculations. SEIU members at yesterday's meeting successfully encouraged the Board to do the right thing and reject the changes.
"As this issue demonstrates, open dialogue between management and employees works," said Library Associate Maya Castillo in her remarks to the Board. "This new year is a time when we know Pima County will face a lot of tough questions. We are more ready than ever to help find answers."
Supervisor Richard Elias agreed. He praised the work of SEIU members in challenging proposed changes to the personnel rules and said other issues that may arise should also be referred to the Meet & Confer system.
With the recent election of our new Bargaining Team, Pima Chapter members are indeed ready to sit down with management to find solutions that will maintain jobs and services through another tough budget year. As this victory demonstrates, we not only have a voice, we have a voice that's listened to.
Photo: Pima Chapter member Jess Gauntt