PRESENT: Harry G. Lewis Mayor

Donald Adams Trustees Richard Balles

Dennis Hannon

Bruce King

Beth Westfall Attorney

Mayor Lewis opened the Special Meeting at 6:00PM by speaking to:

1. Proposal from Ciaschi-Dieterschagen-Little-Mickelson & Company

2. Resolution #85

Motion made by Trustee Adams-seconded by Trustee Balles to hire Nikki Freeman Account Clerk – Fire Department [at a base rate of : $20,463 subject to successful completion background check by the Johnson City Police Department and letter of recommendation from Johnson City Fire Chief.

Board polled

Motion carried Ayes 5 Nayes 0

2. Davis College Account

The Board reviewed the account and requested sample schedules for payments and terms of agreement.

3. Payroll audit request

Mayor Lewis informed the Board of the meeting on May 9^th, 2008 with the New York State Comptroller’s Office. The Comptroller will only conduct an audit back to three years. The State will respond as to what the scope of the audit will be. Trustee Hannon feels that the Trustees should have been given the opportunity to sit in on the initial meeting of the Comptroller. Mayor Lewis explained that the short notice of the availability of the Comptroller prohibited contacting all Trustees in a timely fashion. Trustee Hannon explained that he would have made any effort to make the meeting to be with the Comptroller as he had in fact requested the meeting. Trustee King requested that when the State Comptroller visits that all Trustees be present. Attorney Westfall reminded the Board that if the Board was in quorum that the meeting would have to be advertised.

4. Parade Permit American Legion

Motion made by Trustee Balles-seconded Trustee Adams to allow Memorial Day Parade to be held by American Legion.

Board polled

Motion carried Ayes 5 Nayes 0

Motion made by Trustee King-seconded by Trustee Adams to enter into

Executive Session to discuss a disciplinary issue in the Fire Department, personnel issues in the Fire Department, Fire Fighter Contracts and the prospective Retiree Plan. (6:31PM).

Ayes 5 Nayes 0

Motion was made by Trustee Balles–seconded by Trustee Hannon to exit Executive Session and enter into Special Meeting (8:18PM).

Mayor noted no voting took place in Executive Session.

Mayor noted that he suspended Fire Chief Henry Michalovic, effective May 19, 2008 for thirty (30) days without pay, pending a disciplinary hearing. There will be no further comment at this time because of pending disciplinary action.

Motion made by Trustee Adams-seconded Trustee King by to authorized Fire Department Committee to interview candidates for the Assistant Fire Chief position.

Board polled

Motion carried Ayes 4 Nayes 1

Trustee Hannon Nay

Trustee Balles Aye

Trustee King Aye

Trustee Adams Aye

Mayor Lewis Aye

Motion made by Trustee Adams-seconded Trustee King to accept the Village of Johnson City Fire Fighters Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Village of Johnson City and the Johnson City Professional Fire Fighters Local 921 [expires May 31, 2011; presently two years into this contract]

Trustee Hannon made the following comments, reading from a prepared statement:

“First, let me say that I am totally in favor of Collective Bargaining Agreements that are fair to both our hard working employees and the village. There has to be a balance. Having said that, this contract, if approved, is a giveaway that will prove to be unsustainable for the taxpayers of this village. The provisions of this contract are excessive and will have a devastating impact on the budget, and therefore the taxpayers. There is little justification for this deal between the Mayor and the Firefighters Local and the total future costs of this deal will be staggering. If approved, this deal will be very bad news for the taxpayers of this village, especially the retired folks who are on fixed incomes and have to decide between buying groceries or paying their taxes. You will hear the Mayor attempt to justify this giveaway deal by saying that the village has to pay an enormous price for two concession, and that the Village will save money down the road. I dispute this and have done everything I can to dissuade the Board form approving this. The price of the concessions is far too high.”

Board polled

Motion carried Ayes 3 Nayes 2

Trustee Hannon Nay

Trustee Balles Nay

Trustee King Aye

Trustee Adams Aye

Mayor Lewis Aye

Mayor Lewis noted that far too much is being paid in legal costs to carry this on any further.

Trustee Hannon made the following comments, reading from the prepared statement mentioned above:

“The Mayor gave this bargaining group percentage raises over four years that total more than 20%, excessive by today’s standards. The Mayor did not stop there. He also gave away what amounts to nearly a quarter million dollars ($248,000.00 to be exact), in substantial increases in base pay that have also been referred to as bonuses. If you include the bonuses with the percentage raises that equates to more than 42% in increases over the first four years of the deal. The deal increases the payroll budget alone for this one department about $805,000.00. The corresponding increases in overtime rates, holiday pay, extra hours pay, pension costs and clothing allowances will, I suspect, put the increased payroll closer to a million dollars. Health care contributions, while long overdue, are a step in the right direction, however the contributions don’t begin until the 3^rd year of the 4-year deal, when the greatest increases in salary were in the first two years. Again, the taxpayers lose. The Mayor’s justification is (1) co-pays: equates to a savings of about $64,000.00 annually. Pennies when considering the skyrocketing costs of health insurance and this overall deal, (2) reduction in staffing: The Mayor will say the Village will save money by getting the manning clause out of the contract and reducing the staffing of the department through attrition. There are at least two members of this Board who have stated they are not in favor of reducing the fire department staffing below where it stands today. As staffing is reduced overtime will skyrocket, thereby nullifying any potential savings. There appears to be an inability of management to control overtime costs. Since past performance is the best indicator of the future I expect the problem will continue. Last August, the then Village Board, granted the Fire Department shift minimums. This is a manning clause any way you look at it, so the Mayor’s attempt to justify these huge raises by saying we had to buy the manning clause is in essence, absurd. They simply provided the manning clause in a different form.”

Mayor Lewis noted this is not a “one man show” and took exception to Trustee Hannon’s statement and stated that the negotiations were not solely the Mayor’s doing. Trustee Hannon noted that the Mayor is the negotiating officer.

Motion made by Trustee Hannon-seconded by Trustee Balles to enter into Executive Session to discuss the prospective Retiree Plan and a personnel matter in the Fire Department (8:31PM).

Motion made by Trustee Balles–seconded by Trustee Hannon to exit Executive Session and enter into Special Meeting at 9:07PM.

Motion to adjourn.

______________

Jennifer Kakusian

Village of Johnson City

Clerk