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Youngstown council postpones 4 votes
YOUNGSTOWN
City council postponed votes on creating policies to protect whistle-blowers, address violence and bullying in the workplace and the improper use of city cellphones and computers.
“We’re in support of these policies, but members had some questions,” said Janet Tarpley, D-6th, council president pro tem, about not voting on the four proposals at its Wednesday meeting.
Ordinances sponsored by Mayor John A. McNally on policies governing the use of city cellphones and computers were given to council the same day it met.
“It would be irresponsible to pass the late [ordinances] the same day we received them,” Tarpley said.
When told that council has done that before, Tarpley said, “We may pass ordinances on the same day as we receive them, but we have prior knowledge of those.”
Though the computer-use policy is new, the cell-phone policy was implemented in December 2013 by then-Mayor Charles Sammarone, now council president.
That came after a public-works employee racked up about $450 in private calls and text messages on a city cellphone on city time.
That policy requires those with city cellphones to sign a document outlining restrictions on using the items such as no personal calls except in cases of emergencies.
Though the policy is more than a year old, Law Director Martin Hume said he believed it was a good idea for council to formally adopt the plan.
City council could vote on all four plans at its next meeting Feb. 4.
The whistle-blower policy would protect employees from retaliation if they reported suspected or actual wrongful conduct by other city workers.
The policy against violence and bullying in the workplace would give an extra layer of protection — on top of state and federal laws — against those victimized by those practices on the job, McNally said.
The city computer policy spells out what is permissible use and what isn’t with those devices, Hume said.
“City computers are used for city purposes,” he said. “Don’t use city computers for stuff you shouldn’t.”
Also Wednesday, council heard from Don Crane, president of the Western Reserve Building & Construction Trades Council, who said the city isn’t doing enough to collect its 2.75 percent income tax from all construction workers.
“It’s not a union/nonunion issue, but about not all contractors being held to the same scrutiny,” Crane said. “The city doesn’t have an entity to audit contractors. Contractors get permits, and there’s no follow-up. Warren has a licensing program, and Youngstown should have one, too.”
The city is asking the Regional Income Tax Authority, which collects income taxes for Youngstown, to better monitor this, said Finance Director David Bozanich. But for the city to hire someone to drive around and check on whether construction workers are paying income tax isn’t cost-efficient, he said.
In the coming months, a law-department employee will be tasked with monitoring income-tax collections and prevailing-wage issues in addition to that person’s existing duties, Hume and McNally said.
“We take this seriously,” McNally said.
Council approved a new contract Wednesday with its firefighter union to give its members a 2.5 percent raise starting with the next pay period and then a 1 percent raise in January 2016.