A 44-page fact-finder report from Michael Paolucci gives recommendations on several pending contract

A 44-page fact-finder report from Michael Paolucci gives recommendations on several pending contract issues between Youngstown and its police
patrol officers union. Here are some of the recommendations.

The city should be permitted to hire up to five part-time employees after the union’s membership reaches 120. The membership is currently at 117. The city wants to use part-time auxiliary officers to supplement staffing and increase patrols.

The city wants to require ill union members to obtain a physician’s certificate that states, among other things, the nature of the illness. The union said that provision is an “unnecessary intrusion into officers’ private lives,” and could violate federal health privacy laws. The fact finder agreed with the union that such a request is “too far reaching and too burdensome.”

The current policy is for retiring employees to receive a cash equivalent of 35 percent of their unused accumulated sick time when they leave the city. The union wants to make that 50 percent for any time over 500 hours, and a 100-percent payment if an officer dies in the line of duty. The fact finder only agreed with one change by the union: for those who die in the line of duty. As for the other union proposals, Paolucci wrote: “The increased payout percentage is too great a jump to be justified and is rejected.”

The city took away most of the union’s parking spots in a lot adjacent to city hall in April. The union unsuccessfully took the city to court to get back the spots. Instead the city provides parking near the city hall annex, about two blocks from the police station. The union contends the lot near the annex is “too far,” and “could put officers in danger by exposing them to attacks” while walking to the station. The fact finder agreed with the city, saying the annex lot distance is acceptable and “would be considered prime parking in other jurisdictions.”

The city wants to require officers and would-be officers to pass a physical abilities test to be implemented over a “gradual” period of time that would require officers to stay in good physical condition. The union objects to the proposal “as a condition of employment.” It also complained that the requirement would be unfair for long-term employees. The city argues many officers “are so out of shape that they have difficulty walking from the parking lot into the office while carrying equipment.” The comment came after Edward Colon, the union president, testified to that in the April parking lot court hearing. The fact finder agreed that the requirement should be implemented over a period of time established by a committee. If the committee doesn’t reach an agreement in one year the city has the right to implement standards.

Source: The fact-finder report between Youngstown and its police association