Youngstown council members won’t fight the mayor’s policy

July 22, 2015 at 6:53p.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Rather than argue with Mayor John A. McNally over his decision to change how some 100 nonunion city employees are compensated for extra hours of work, city council decided to see how it goes.

McNally’s administration asked council about six months ago to consider a policy detailing which nonunion workers are eligible for accumulated time and compensatory time when exceeding 40 hours of work in a week. When no action was taken, McNally decided two weeks ago to implement the policy, effective this Saturday. That raised the ire of some council members.

At a Wednesday council finance committee meeting, McNally said department heads will provide him with reports of employees’ extra-hours pay in order to keep better control over those dollars. The mayor said he would forward those reports to council members.

“I’m going to give it a chance and see how it works,” said Councilman T.J. Rodgers, D-2nd, who expressed concerns about the policy. “I’m not happy with all of it, but I’m willing to get reports. There’s too much discretion by managers about who gets what. It can lead to abuse. Somebody can play favorites” granting extra-time benefits.

Councilman Janet Tarpley, D-6th, who also didn’t favor the policy, said Wednesday, “We want to monitor it. We’ll come back in three months and make sure everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”