Austintown park pact is a good deal for taxpayers

Austintown park pact is a good deal for taxpayers
EDITOR:
If The Vindicator is asking in its editorial of Nov. 11 for a reality check by Austintown Township trustees Bo Pritchard and David Ditzler for approving the recent labor contract with Austintown Township Parks Department, The Vindicator should equally do a reality check of all the facts. It should understand that this is an overall concessionary contract costing the taxpayers less in year-three than it does today.
As supervisor for Austintown Parks Department, I was impressed and pleased by the positive labor resolution that my department unanimously decided on in meeting the contract returned by the board of trustees. What should have been reported as a positive situation has been politically turned into yet another negative story for Austintown.
The park department was one of only two remaining nonunion departments in 2003. The four park employees realized the necessity to unionize the jobs they have valued and worked for in January of 2004. Contract negotiations did not begin until September and after just several meetings attended by the park employees, trustees, union representatives and myself, the park employees decided in the best interest of the township and the park department to meet the offer made by all three trustees.
They negotiated in good faith when they decided to step back from their request for retirement pick-up and met the trustees' request to allow the general foreman's position to be eliminated at the end of 2005, knowing these items would result in over a $60,000 savings a year to the township. The clothing allowance pre-existed the contract as it has for most departments. The 25 cents per hour additional for the union shop steward and the signing bonus have both been standard contract items with existing contracts of the other township departments.
Besides the personal concessions the park employees made, they also recognized the added expense arbitration would cost the township. So the park employees chose the best possible way to represent themselves and the department in these first contract negotiations while continuing to serve the community as well.
This five-person department has a long range of responsibilities and the four park maintenance employees take their jobs very seriously. They maintain over 250 acres of park land including Township Park and five satellite parks. The job requirements range from mowing, to building and equipment maintenance, trail and fields maintenance, repairs, and a long list of fall and winter responsibilities when the mowing season ends. This department has neither asked for nor received much attention, but has continued to perform their jobs with strong dedication and commitment to community.
As long-standing and knowledgeable trustees, Bo Pritchard and David Ditzler understand and appreciated the reality of dedicated employees providing maximum results for reasonable salaries and benefits in the real world.
JOYCE L. GOTTRON, supervisor
Austintown Township Parks
Nursing home staff reacted professionally to fire alarm
EDITOR:
Recently I was present at Greenbriar Nursing Home on South Avenue as a visitor when the fire alarm sounded and it was necessary to evacuate everyone from the building. It was raining that day and patients in wheelchairs and other conveyances were covered with blankets and quickly taken outside.
I would like to commend the staff on how quickly and efficiently they worked to get the patients out -- and may I also add cheerfully, as they smiled and reassured the patients that everything was under control and they would be all right. It is not often that the staff has the experience to actually evacuate the patients from the premises.
The staff received high praise from the management of Greenbriar and from the firemen on the scene. So I had to say kudos to the staff for a job well done!
PAULINE SZARY
Youngstown