Back from the Fire Commissioners' road show tonight but not ready to write about it because, although much of the discussion of the long agenda was about mundane matters which were presented in a remarkably obscure manner, the central issue was Chief Carleton's new and improved employment contract which had been changed 'to correct errors' (the ghost of George Orwell was surely smiling at that). However, although the substance of the uncorrected edition of the contract had been read to us last month, the substance of the corrected edition was simply described to us. It is to be posted on the Fire District's website tonight and until I read it, I can't really be sure about what was "corrected."
It would appear from the verbal description that Chief Carleton's newly corrected contract walks back all the full-time benefits that accompanied the half-time employment from last week's uncorrected contract. But without reading it, I really can't be sure what is on offer here.
So tomorrow, my mind fresher than it is now, I go to read.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Three Things NOT THE FIRE DEPT.
1. We dropped by the P.R. private airfield (but open to public use for small planes) that was operated by Robin Lamb until his death this past spring. Many people at the time of his memorial service wondered what would happen to the strip which is located off Marine Dr. We're pleased to report that the landing strip and apron are beautifully mowed. Clearly Robin's family members are doing a great job of continuing what he started.
2. We drove by, on Marine on the west side, right past the airport, a very sweet and tiny house I'd never noticed which is fronted by the saddest sunflower I've ever seen. Both house and sunflower: great sights. Take your visitors by?
3. There is now a donation button on this blog that has never been there before. Just wanted to point out that it is intended to allow people to donate electronically (credit card, paypal) to the library building fund. It is not for donating to this blog, which doesn't need anyone to support it in that way. Some things are free!
4. And, tonight, Wednesday night...Another Fire Commissioner meeting. I'm afraid so.
2. We drove by, on Marine on the west side, right past the airport, a very sweet and tiny house I'd never noticed which is fronted by the saddest sunflower I've ever seen. Both house and sunflower: great sights. Take your visitors by?
3. There is now a donation button on this blog that has never been there before. Just wanted to point out that it is intended to allow people to donate electronically (credit card, paypal) to the library building fund. It is not for donating to this blog, which doesn't need anyone to support it in that way. Some things are free!
4. And, tonight, Wednesday night...Another Fire Commissioner meeting. I'm afraid so.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Really...I Don't Get It
The discussion of the Fire Commissioners goes on at the APB to not much purpose. However, one commenter (the fake names stay for most of them and certainly for this one) announced that the Commissioners were taking into account the community's objections/uncertainties over Carleton's contract and were going to change things. In fact, the commenter said that they had already changed them. But, since that is patently not anything they can do outside of a public meeting, the commenter changed from they have done it to they will do it. I fear that is what is ahead of us this coming Wednesday which is, I think, just a regular meeting night and not a special meeting night, but I don't know that that makes any difference.
The thing is this: do they know anything about contracts and the writing thereof? Do they have any experience in their lives that would suggest that people don't usually get half-time contracts in which they are given 120 vacation hours upon being hired? That's really not the way it ever works in my experience. Nor do contracts ever say that you agree to the possibility that you will be fired 180 days from now for no cause whatsoever, but you have to indulge in mediation and arbitration in the interim. Would that be in addition to your 20 hours a week, or would that count as part of your 20 hours/week? What would be the mediator/arbitrator's job? To persuade the Commissioners to keep you on after the 180 days? Or to persuade you to quit even though you can hang around for 180 days? Surely not to determine whether there was any reason to fire you since they have stated that there was none. And would you gather another flock of paid vacation, sick, bereavement, etc. days after your were given your 180 day notice?
Just those two points alone are pretty strange. But if the Commissioners needed the public to point these problems out, then the Commissioners don't know much about what contracts look like, and maybe they shouldn't have such hard tasks as part of their responsibilities. I guess they depended upon 'their lawyer.' (Said lawyer, we were told, specializes in Fire Districts. Well, everybody got to be somewhere...). Malpractice, maybe?
I keep saying, 'I'm going to let this alone; just go to the meetings.' But there's something nutsy about it that keeps pulling at me. The whole thing just doesn't make sense. Which is why I keep getting dragged back to it. Where's the actual story here? I think it's going to keep on itching until we get some closure: Why was Kiniski fired? And why are they still the Commissioners?
On the other hand, the three nicest days of summer have occurred in the autumn this year. Like a desert wind outdoors in the late afternoon. Don't understand that, either: I mean, we live on the ocean...
The thing is this: do they know anything about contracts and the writing thereof? Do they have any experience in their lives that would suggest that people don't usually get half-time contracts in which they are given 120 vacation hours upon being hired? That's really not the way it ever works in my experience. Nor do contracts ever say that you agree to the possibility that you will be fired 180 days from now for no cause whatsoever, but you have to indulge in mediation and arbitration in the interim. Would that be in addition to your 20 hours a week, or would that count as part of your 20 hours/week? What would be the mediator/arbitrator's job? To persuade the Commissioners to keep you on after the 180 days? Or to persuade you to quit even though you can hang around for 180 days? Surely not to determine whether there was any reason to fire you since they have stated that there was none. And would you gather another flock of paid vacation, sick, bereavement, etc. days after your were given your 180 day notice?
Just those two points alone are pretty strange. But if the Commissioners needed the public to point these problems out, then the Commissioners don't know much about what contracts look like, and maybe they shouldn't have such hard tasks as part of their responsibilities. I guess they depended upon 'their lawyer.' (Said lawyer, we were told, specializes in Fire Districts. Well, everybody got to be somewhere...). Malpractice, maybe?
I keep saying, 'I'm going to let this alone; just go to the meetings.' But there's something nutsy about it that keeps pulling at me. The whole thing just doesn't make sense. Which is why I keep getting dragged back to it. Where's the actual story here? I think it's going to keep on itching until we get some closure: Why was Kiniski fired? And why are they still the Commissioners?
On the other hand, the three nicest days of summer have occurred in the autumn this year. Like a desert wind outdoors in the late afternoon. Don't understand that, either: I mean, we live on the ocean...
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
We Are All Calmed Down
The meeting was held and lasted a little over an hour. It was at 4 pm because Mr. Meursing was on vacation and had flown back to attend but needed to fly back to his vacation before it got dark.
First of all, the chairs and tables were all arranged as usual but the first row had little white tents on the tables announcing that those chairs were reserved: 2 for Commission Staff and 2 for Press. Pretty Fancy! A gentleman from the public arrived, and announced to the air that he was very hard of hearing and would like to be able to sit in one of those first-row chairs. Because I knew that only one of our press attendees would be there and because I was pretty sure that the Commission had only one staff attending, I urged the man to take one of the seats.
And then a lady from the public sitting to my right in row 2 informed me that I had no right to be giving away what was not mine. I considered giving her a little talk about the requirements of the Americans with Disability Act under the reasonable accommodation section, but didn't. Apparently, we were not yet all in a good mood.
And then the Commissioners and Mr. Carleton arrived. I don't know whether to attribute it to the restorative powers of vacations, prescription meds, or having finally figured out the political costs of the last two meetings, but Mr. Meursing spoke to us very conciliatorily, even saying that, despite the harshly worded announcements about no comments from the public, we would indeed be allowed to ask questions and that he was very happy to have us there: 'happier than you know,' he added. A provocative statement suggesting a mysterious complication.
They approved the minutes. And I've finally got it that they don't vote. They just make motions and second them, and then they think that's a vote. I don't think so, but I'm not a Commissioner.
Then, they read the contract for Mr. Carleton in full (more or less--there was considerable boiler plate that they slid by). The contract itself will be posted on the Fire District's website within a week so you, too, can read it. And if you have questions, Meursing and Riffle will be happy to have you contact them by email or by phone.
Carleton will be employed 20 hours/week at a salary of $3400/month with 100% CPI raises each year. The contract will extend to 12/31/2015, and will be renewable for 3 years, but can be cancelled with a 180-day notice (rather more than Kiniski got). They can fire him for cause or without cause, but in either case it has to go to mediation and arbitration. (That doesn't make sense to me and they didn't seem to understand it either, but when questioned offered to look into it with their lawyer.)
He gets 10 hours of vacation leave per month, but no health or dental insurance because his full-time job as Fire Chief in Ferndale provides him with all those benefits. "Money saved," says Meursing.
The three at the table in front then engaged in some considerable Q&A with the 11 or 12 people in attendance, with strained good humor, I thought. The Commissioners never considered advertising the position or have a search committee for candidates because in 2009 they did that and it didn't work out (That fire chief lasted only a month, and without 180 days of notice.)
And then they did their making motions dance and Carleton became the new Fire Chief.
I talked to Carleton for awhile afterwards. He wants to be liked and he wants to be likeable. And he seems the latter. He has experience. I wish him well. It's in all our interests that his tenure be rewarding and competency-based.
I reserve judgment about the Commissioners, though. A little slow to see what harm they were doing over the past month.
First of all, the chairs and tables were all arranged as usual but the first row had little white tents on the tables announcing that those chairs were reserved: 2 for Commission Staff and 2 for Press. Pretty Fancy! A gentleman from the public arrived, and announced to the air that he was very hard of hearing and would like to be able to sit in one of those first-row chairs. Because I knew that only one of our press attendees would be there and because I was pretty sure that the Commission had only one staff attending, I urged the man to take one of the seats.
And then a lady from the public sitting to my right in row 2 informed me that I had no right to be giving away what was not mine. I considered giving her a little talk about the requirements of the Americans with Disability Act under the reasonable accommodation section, but didn't. Apparently, we were not yet all in a good mood.
And then the Commissioners and Mr. Carleton arrived. I don't know whether to attribute it to the restorative powers of vacations, prescription meds, or having finally figured out the political costs of the last two meetings, but Mr. Meursing spoke to us very conciliatorily, even saying that, despite the harshly worded announcements about no comments from the public, we would indeed be allowed to ask questions and that he was very happy to have us there: 'happier than you know,' he added. A provocative statement suggesting a mysterious complication.
They approved the minutes. And I've finally got it that they don't vote. They just make motions and second them, and then they think that's a vote. I don't think so, but I'm not a Commissioner.
Then, they read the contract for Mr. Carleton in full (more or less--there was considerable boiler plate that they slid by). The contract itself will be posted on the Fire District's website within a week so you, too, can read it. And if you have questions, Meursing and Riffle will be happy to have you contact them by email or by phone.
Carleton will be employed 20 hours/week at a salary of $3400/month with 100% CPI raises each year. The contract will extend to 12/31/2015, and will be renewable for 3 years, but can be cancelled with a 180-day notice (rather more than Kiniski got). They can fire him for cause or without cause, but in either case it has to go to mediation and arbitration. (That doesn't make sense to me and they didn't seem to understand it either, but when questioned offered to look into it with their lawyer.)
He gets 10 hours of vacation leave per month, but no health or dental insurance because his full-time job as Fire Chief in Ferndale provides him with all those benefits. "Money saved," says Meursing.
The three at the table in front then engaged in some considerable Q&A with the 11 or 12 people in attendance, with strained good humor, I thought. The Commissioners never considered advertising the position or have a search committee for candidates because in 2009 they did that and it didn't work out (That fire chief lasted only a month, and without 180 days of notice.)
And then they did their making motions dance and Carleton became the new Fire Chief.
I talked to Carleton for awhile afterwards. He wants to be liked and he wants to be likeable. And he seems the latter. He has experience. I wish him well. It's in all our interests that his tenure be rewarding and competency-based.
I reserve judgment about the Commissioners, though. A little slow to see what harm they were doing over the past month.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
At Least It Won't Interfere with Dinner
The Fire Commissioners, grateful for our recent interest in their activities, have scheduled yet another special meeting ($90 each, once again, for the two remaining commissioners; $0 for the public) tomorrow, Wednesday, at 4 pm at the firehall. The members of the public will not be allowed to speak, but the Commissioners will review the new fire chief's contract for our dining and dancing pleasure. I still don't remember their voting for him to be the new fire chief: just a motion made and seconded. But no vote.
I'm pretty impressed by the official notice from Commissioner Ruffle including the prohibition of the public's speaking. Says Ruffle: "The minutes from the last meeting will be approved and a review of the new Fire Chief's contract with action to approve or disapprove will be made. There will be no public comment as it is a special meeting."
I'm pretty impressed by the official notice from Commissioner Ruffle including the prohibition of the public's speaking. Says Ruffle: "The minutes from the last meeting will be approved and a review of the new Fire Chief's contract with action to approve or disapprove will be made. There will be no public comment as it is a special meeting."
A very special meeting, indeed. Free speech. I don't know; was that something from the Constitution or the Bill of Rights or...? Or maybe we just dreamed that.
Comrades! Join together at four and be told what we are to do next!
Added, from the Washington State Code:
The legislature finds and declares that all public commissions, boards, councils, committees, subcommittees, departments, divisions, offices, and all other public agencies of this state and subdivisions thereof exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business. It is the intent of this chapter that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.
The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.
[1971 ex.s. c 250 § 1.]
Comrades! Join together at four and be told what we are to do next!
Added, from the Washington State Code:
RCW 42.30.010Legislative declaration. |
The legislature finds and declares that all public commissions, boards, councils, committees, subcommittees, departments, divisions, offices, and all other public agencies of this state and subdivisions thereof exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business. It is the intent of this chapter that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.
The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.
[1971 ex.s. c 250 § 1.]
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Letting Go
I'm working at letting go of the Fire Commissioner to-do. The comments on the APB article are too emotional to be of much interest to read and too many of them are anonymous. It's not clear to me why people would choose to produce a view or conclusion or whatever and then fail to attach their names to it. Talk about not having the power of your convictions. I understand it can be scarey to sign it. But then, you don't have to write it in the first place.
Anyway, the discussion isn't particularly helpful, but even more important, the more I think about it, the less I see any way forward other than grinning and bearing it. The Commissioners seem to have no rule but their own will except at elections. They make decisions without allowing anyone to speak to them. I still don't get how Carleton got appointed: they make motions, and then there's never any time for questions/discussion from the public, and they don't seem to vote, either. It is as if they have amended Roberts Rules of Order such that if there are only two people on board, then when one makes a motion and the other seconds it: well, that's the vote.
But even if they have, there's nothing the public can do about it. If they were appointing their cats or dogs the next fire chief, (as, you will recall, Caligula appointed his horse to be a Roman Senator), apparently there's nothing we can do about it except wait for the next election. We can keep going to the meetings to bear witness, of course, and I will try to do that. But I surely don't see how WE, the public, are going to have any say in who is appointed to succeed Gellatly. Mr. Meursing seemed to suggest Wednesday night that he and Mr. Riffle would make that decision. Back in 2003, when two commissioners resigned, the County Council seems to have appointed Gellatly to join Meursing, but I don't know how the third Commissioner got appointed or elected since there had just been an election at the time of the double resignation.
So, farewell to the Commissioners with respect to allowing them much file space in my brain. I don't think it's likely to go well because I think they've poisoned the water. But it's Point Roberts, I remind myself. That is to say, it is much like the moment at the end of the movie, "Chinatown" when the police tell Jake (Jack Nicholson) "Forget it, Jake: it's Chinatown."
Anyway, the discussion isn't particularly helpful, but even more important, the more I think about it, the less I see any way forward other than grinning and bearing it. The Commissioners seem to have no rule but their own will except at elections. They make decisions without allowing anyone to speak to them. I still don't get how Carleton got appointed: they make motions, and then there's never any time for questions/discussion from the public, and they don't seem to vote, either. It is as if they have amended Roberts Rules of Order such that if there are only two people on board, then when one makes a motion and the other seconds it: well, that's the vote.
But even if they have, there's nothing the public can do about it. If they were appointing their cats or dogs the next fire chief, (as, you will recall, Caligula appointed his horse to be a Roman Senator), apparently there's nothing we can do about it except wait for the next election. We can keep going to the meetings to bear witness, of course, and I will try to do that. But I surely don't see how WE, the public, are going to have any say in who is appointed to succeed Gellatly. Mr. Meursing seemed to suggest Wednesday night that he and Mr. Riffle would make that decision. Back in 2003, when two commissioners resigned, the County Council seems to have appointed Gellatly to join Meursing, but I don't know how the third Commissioner got appointed or elected since there had just been an election at the time of the double resignation.
So, farewell to the Commissioners with respect to allowing them much file space in my brain. I don't think it's likely to go well because I think they've poisoned the water. But it's Point Roberts, I remind myself. That is to say, it is much like the moment at the end of the movie, "Chinatown" when the police tell Jake (Jack Nicholson) "Forget it, Jake: it's Chinatown."
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Whatta Kid!
As regular readers know, I'm working pretty hard these days on raising funds for renovating the old Julius Firehall and thus turning it into the New Point Roberts Firehall Library. Today, as I was closing down some activities for the summer fundraising campaign, I was given an envelope containing $31.00.
With the envelope was a note explaining that 11/year-old Jacob Clifford had gone door-to-door in Sunny Point Park on Gulf, asking people to participate in a 50-50 donation draw. Somebody in Sunny Point got $31 and the other $31 went to the library building fund.
I'm grateful for every dollar, every quarter that everybody has given us so far and will give us in the future. But this summer, I have been particularly knocked out by two little girls who ran a lemonade stand to raise money for the library, and now, to Jacob Clifford who thought up and executed the 50-50 donation.
The library of course is building kids every day. The library in my home town probably did more to build me than the school system did, at least for the ten years after I learned to read. Which is why I'm working to rebuild this library. But to have kids working to build the library? I'm impressed by those kids.
What can I say? Thanks hardly seems enough, but I don't think any of these kids need a tax receipt. And I don't even have Jacob's address. So if you see him, if you know him, tell him thanks, from all of us.
(cross-posted at foprl.blogspot.com)
With the envelope was a note explaining that 11/year-old Jacob Clifford had gone door-to-door in Sunny Point Park on Gulf, asking people to participate in a 50-50 donation draw. Somebody in Sunny Point got $31 and the other $31 went to the library building fund.
I'm grateful for every dollar, every quarter that everybody has given us so far and will give us in the future. But this summer, I have been particularly knocked out by two little girls who ran a lemonade stand to raise money for the library, and now, to Jacob Clifford who thought up and executed the 50-50 donation.
The library of course is building kids every day. The library in my home town probably did more to build me than the school system did, at least for the ten years after I learned to read. Which is why I'm working to rebuild this library. But to have kids working to build the library? I'm impressed by those kids.
What can I say? Thanks hardly seems enough, but I don't think any of these kids need a tax receipt. And I don't even have Jacob's address. So if you see him, if you know him, tell him thanks, from all of us.
(cross-posted at foprl.blogspot.com)
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