Mahoning deputies continue contract vote today

Asked whether deputies were accepting the county’s proposal, a shop steward said, ‘We always give.’

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Official information on how the voting is going or what kind of offer is on the table was scarce Friday night as deputies with the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department met at Oakhill Renaissance Place with union leaders about their ongoing contract negotiations.

Chuck Wilson, staff representative with the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council, said that because voting will continue until 3 p.m. today, he would hold off on providing any details until after that.

Clearly, however, the deputies leaving the meeting were unhappy with the proposal on the table. There were loud outbursts coming from the meeting room and angry remarks in the hallway.

The proposal is rumored to involve the elimination of one work day, without pay, every two weeks, and elimination of the clothing allowance, longevity pay and incentive for not using sick days.

The sheriff’s department already laid off 11 full-time deputies earlier this month and left four positions vacant to save $500,000. All 15 positions were in the county jail.

Now the department needs to cut $2.5 million more, Maj. James Lewandowski has said. One employee in the 285-member department said the cuts amount 20 percent or 21 percent of an employee’s pay.

He said the department is threatening to make additional layoffs if the concessions are not approved.

Signals seemed to be mixed as to whether the FOP/OLC members were voting for the proposal or against it.

“Just vote no,” one deputy said on her way out of the building. But others were more accepting of the problems within the U.S. economy and the effect on the area.

Deputy Joe Hood, shop steward for the FOP/OLC, said information will be available as soon as the entire membership has voted.

When asked whether the membership seemed to be accepting the offer, he said, “We always give.”

County commissioners have cut the sheriff’s department budget from the 2008 level of about $21 million to a 2009 level of about $18 million as a result of reductions in sales tax revenues in recent months, as well as a decline in revenue from revenue- generating prisoners.