Pages

Thursday, October 07, 2010

FOIL Foiled: City Losing More Than Saving?


Is the City of Plattsburgh so focused on saving money that in the long run it ends up losing more?

That point is raised in a public response to WIRY radio commentator Ducky Drake by Working Families Party mayoral candidate Kathi McCleery. In her email reply McCleery mentions how the city has been trying to save money by challenging certain terms in contracts with union employees. She writes:

"I know that if a written contract exists, it must be followed. My point? The issues of contract law, Taylor Law and civil service law are apparently not understood by the current administration, which may or may not have large payroll experience. How can I make this statement? The city has lost every PERB [NYS Public Employee Relations Board] hearing (not some, not many, but ALL) for the past four years."

McCleery estimates that a quarter of a million dollars has been spent in losing legal battles with city employees. She did submit a FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) request to get more than an estimate but her request was denied. The reason: there was too much information for the city to provide. It appears, adds McCleery, the city has generated so many legal fees in the last four years that such data is unavailable.

Besides the legal fees, she points out there are other expenses such as travel costs, lost wages, court costs and arbitrators’ fees.

With McCleery's FOIL denied, Plattsburgh citizens may never find out how much of their money has been spent in failed legal maneuvers against city unions.

1 comment:

  1. Unbelievable! Well, then again, BELIEVABLE!!! The vindictive sandbox bully strikes again, this time it's our wallets. Mrs. McCleary's comment in the paper was spot on that treating people with respect may get them to work more productively. Who would want to work for a jerk like him if you didnt have protections of a contract or benefits... it's no wonder they are fighting so hard to keep them. You would think the law firms who are working for the city would advise better unless they are just taking advantage of his passion to break the unions.

    ReplyDelete