Wednesday, April 12, 2000

Norwood director criticized

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Firefighter union protests

BY Walt Schaefer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        NORWOOD — The city's firefighters have issued a “no confidence” vote in Safety Director Cliff Miller, based largely on the manner in which he handled the city's opposition to a fact-finder's report during contract negotiations earlier this year.

PROVISIONS

The recently approved one-year contract provides for a 3 percent wage parity adjustment plus a 3 percent wage increase this year.         The beginning salary for a certified firefighter is now $34,633; for a four-year firefighter, $45,450; and for a newly promoted assistant chief, $57,770.

        Mr. Miller said Tuesday he was acting on advice from a Columbus-based consultant and was unaware if any illegalities were committed. He pledged to continue to review the issue — although a contract settlement has been reached — to determine if there were any improprieties in the advice he was given.

        Mr. Miller said he and the mayor had concerns over a 3 percent across the board wage parity adjustment to bring firefighters to parity with other departments in the area when a majority of the contingent earns in the higher third of firefighters in the region.

        Rickie Paul, president of Norwood Firefighters Local 445, said the city and the union were at an impasse over the contract. He claimed Mr. Miller, when presenting the city's position to council, asked for and received a nonbinding vote to assess City Council's position.

        Council then voted “unofficially” to oppose the fact-finder's recommendations. “Mr. Miller then caused an official rejection notice to be filed with the State Employment Relations Board (SERB), wrongly indicating that the recommendations of the fact finder had been rejected” — when no formal vote of council was taken, Mr. Paul said.

Criticism outlined
        “The firefighters believe that a safety director should be knowledgeable in public administration, management principles, labor management relations and conflict management. Anything less is a disservice to the citizens, an affront to the firefighters, and a potential liability to the city,” Mr. Paul said.

        Mr. Paul said the no-confidence vote was taken with 28 of the department's then 44 members present. “It was a voice vote and only three or four voted against supporting it.” Since the vote, seven new firefighters have been sworn in, and one more is being added soon to bring the department to 52 firefighters as negotiated in the new pact.

        Mr. Paul questioned Mr. Miller's appointment to the $51,000-a-year job by Mayor Joe Hochbein in November. It occurred about two weeks after Mr. Miller, 41, was defeated in his bid for an at-large city council seat. The 18-year resident had been a Republican ward councilman for four prior years when he chaired the finance committee which oversees city budgets.

        Mr. Miller replaced Mark Pottebaum, 24, whom the mayor said he removed for lack of experience. Mr. Hochbein could not be reached for comment.

        Mr. Miller said timing of the situation contributed to his taking the advice of Bob Windle, of Advance Management Systems, Columbus, a labor negotiations consultant retained by Norwood.

        Mr. Miller said he had no time to consult with Mr. Hochbein, who was out of town, and still meet a seven-day deadline. Mr. Windle told Mr. Miller SERB had imposed the deadline on the city to make a decision on the fact finder's recommendations.

       

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