When Simple Math Isn't Simple

There's a reason why it takes an M.B.A. to figure out government accounting in this day and age. It really doesn't work the same as it does for us at home.

Take, for example, Saturday's news release from the City of Akron listing the per-officer "cash sacrifice" cost of what the City says was it's best and final concession package offer. The members of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 turned the package down by 29 votes.

Saturday's accounting listed the following; I've taken the liberty of listing what the number would be, when available with additional notes in boldface:

-Defer (put in the bank for payment later) longevity (bonus) payments of 2010 and 2011;

-Work three, non-traditional holidays in 2010 at straight time pay rate. (Officers receive 13 paid holidays/yr.);

-Take 14 hours furlough in 2010. (Most city employees have taken 32+ hours);

-Have no wage cut or increase for 2010 and 2011 (actual amount unknown; City asked for clarification on "cash sacrifice" cost per officer based on current contract terms);

-Replace $300 cash fitness payment with a free gym membership for 2011

-Reduce 2011 clothing allowance (ranges from $1200-$1500) by approximately 25 percent. (Officers uniforms are provided by the City) (Cost to each officer: $300-375 based on ranges noted by the City);

-Make minor change in mail order prescription plan

-Agree that specific non economic issues would remain before fact finder

At this point the cost to officers in the fitness payment and clothing allowance alone is $600 apiece, and that doesn't include the "cash sacrifice" impact for straight time for three holidays, a wage freeze, or 14 hours of furlough pay for the remainder of 2010.

We asked the Mayor's office to explain how it arrived at the $450 figure that would set the "cash sacrifice" for the 449 officers now on duty.

In a response today, the longevity pay deferral over two years would amount to $720,000 over two years, or about $360,000 each year. That alone is worth $801.78, on average, to each officer. There is a promise to pay the amount back in 2012 -- just as the City and F.O.P. agreed to defer the 2009 amount to 2012, which means four years of longevity pay (2012 current + deferrals) would come due in 2012.

That's a whopping minimum $1,440,000 total police longevity pay bill due in 2012 -- $360,000 for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The actual amount will fluctuate depending on each year's makeup of the workforce; less longevity and seniority, lower payments.

The response also lumps together the clothing allowance, 14 hours of furloughs, straight time instead of holiday pay for three holidays, and changes to the prescription plan into additional impact on the balance of $1.4 million the City says it would save over two years.

Perhaps the oddest twist comes regarding the impact of the $300 per officer cash fitness payment. The City doesn't consider this a loss of cash to the officers, since they would be receiving value in a free gym membership in return. The gym is the CitiCenter Athletic Center facility, which is owned and subsidized by the City and was the focus of a 2007 story by the Akron Beacon Journal (archive access only) and AkronNewsNow.com over costs of over a million dollars over the past decade. In that year City Council approved a $233,000 subsidy for the CitiCenter Athletic Center even though membership fees only brought in $90,000. The athletic facility is managed by the Akron Area YMCA.

The CitiCenter website lists the monthly cost for city, county and state members of $37.60 -- a 20% discount from the regular membership. Based on the membership cost listed for government workers, coverage of all 449 police officers at the government rate would be $16,882.40 monthly, or $202,588.80 annually ($37.60 monthly x 449 officers x 12 months). The fitness payment now costs the City $134,7000 annually ($300 cash payment x 449 officers).

A spokesman for the Mayor writes the City has an arrangement with Medical Mutual that provides for lower health care premiums based on participation at the CitiCenter gym, noting that if police officers join it will lower costs.

So the "simple" math: $1,400,000 in savings over two years divided by 449 officers works out to $1,559.02 each year over the period, not $450 as reported by the City on Saturday, according to the City's own numbers.

We should note some of the City's concession package breaks no new ground; the FOP agreed to concession terms in 2009 that included deferral of 2009 longevity bonus to 2012 as well as working three holidays -- Columbus Day, Veteran's Day and the Friday after Thanksgiving -- for straight time rather than overtime at a time-and-a-half rate.

Around this time last year it was Akron firefighters on the grill rather than police. FOP members approved concessions by a 94% margin (399-27) while members of the AFD took layoffs rather than the concession package proposed by the City. Those firefighters were called back earlier this year when Akron was able to secure federal funding. The firefighters union appealed to the Akron Civil Service Commission, which rejected their appeal and noted the layoffs could have been avoided had firefighters agreed to concessions.

This year it's the F.O.P. essentially playing chicken with the City, but it won't be the Civil Service Commission ruling that awaits. It's the ruling of a fact-finder, who's mission was triggered when the City couldn't convince the F.O.P. to take a concession package earlier this year during contract negotiations. Critics of the Plusquellic Administration assume the report will find against City Hall, but it is important to note F.O.P. president Paul Hlynsky has repeated said the findings may very well come in to the favor of the Mayor's position.

There's been plenty of drama distraction the past few months in following this story. There was the document released by the Mayor's office that threatened more than 90 police layoffs in light of a $4 million dollar projected deficit and protests from the Administration there were no other places to cut. But weeks later, that number shrank to 49 -- 40 layoffs and nine demotions -- after Police Chief Gus Hall was able to shift general fund spending to grants.

Then came the membership vote when the bargaining committee agreed to present the package to Akron police; it flunked by a relatively slim 29-votes, especially slim when considering these same officers approved concessions last year by a 94% margin. Before the ink was dry on the results, the Mayor suggested a political wrinkle that community leaders be allowed to observe the negotiating process.

In political circles this is clearly a tactic designed to position your opponent; who is in the room is a function of agreement by both parties, not the arbitrary wishes of one side over the other. The City points to an F.O.P. guest on hand last week, but fails to mention the "guest" was in fact a vice-president of the union and someone with a direct stake in the negotiations. Community leaders Rev. Ron Fowler and Judge Marvin Shapiro, while honorable men, are not parties to the negotiations. It was within the rights of the F.O.P. to refuse to accept the condition of meeting imposed by City Hall to include Fowler and Shapiro, just as the City would have been within it's rights to refuse to allow the F.O.P. first vice-president permission to attend.

The Mayor is correct when pointing out there's less money in the City budget to do what the City needs to do. Something has to go, and in a services-industry budget like government that "something" usually means someone. He clearly telegraphed the punch early, noting layoffs -- just like last year -- were on the line. The F.O.P. is correct in working within the parameters of the collective bargaining system, and proved last year members were willing to absorb some short-term hurt to help. But what hasn't helped is losing focus on meeting the growing deficit, made even harder by a call to base the budget on concessions that weren't agreed on by both parties. Just search the word "concessions" on AkronNewsNow.com and put the last year in context.

Lost in the swirl of soap opera on High Street remains what actions the City will take to avert a projected $4 million dollar budget deficit, and whether the political posturing of tying a funding proposal involving breaking the promise to use Issue 10 for purposes other than schools will cost voters the chance to decide whether they feel it is enough of a worthwhile investment to change the terms of their approval in 2003 of the school construction tax. That language -- while politically crafty -- may come back to outfox the Administration and City Council by tying their own hands in an attempt to position the F.O.P. rather than address the threat of an out-of-whack budget.

The decision of the City to move forward with a negotiating strategy that called into play a fact-finder has been costly. The name-calling by both sides has built an atmosphere of distrust and enmity. Tying the budget deficit to the police contract, neither side breaking out issues of agreement, the war of numbers that don't seem to add up...all bring to mind the popular scene from the movie "Dave", where accountant Charles Grodin is asked by his president-impostor friend Kevin Kline to figure out the federal budget.

They do so over a late-night meal.



If only it was a simple as a couple beers and sandwiches.

Akron FOP Lodge 7 voting and counting tonight on concession deal; details in AM on WAKR with Ray Horner, Larry States.

Nothing Good Happens At Closing Time

It's almost as though I've had to break my own fingers to hold off posting some thoughts on Mayor Plusquellic's most interesting adventure on Akron's downtown streets nearly a week ago...but now that just about all the video and audio has been viewed and heard, the fingers are doing the talking again.

By now the facts are pretty clear:

• Mayor Plusquellic had a busy Saturday night tending to official duties welcoming and introducing acts at the Ohio Ballet and Lock 3 before heading over to one of his favorite night spots to help celebrate a friend's birthday;
• the night went long, a few drinks may have been had, but overall nothing spectacular and the type of night many of us have enjoyed at one time or another with friends;
• as is sometimes the occasion at closing time, party turned to pounding. Outside a nearby club a nasty fight is underway; it does not involve the mayor's group but he is about to observe and witness;
  
• Plusquellic walks into a bad situation on the way to his car. He does the right thing, calling 9-1-1 for help...just what any good citizen should do.

That's when it goes sour.

There's no dispute he was excited after seeing what he saw. Being a take-charge kind of guy, he wants to help (charitable view) or direct (critical view) what police do next. He doesn't dispute "adult language" may have been involved, admits he wasn't happy with the APD response he saw, and points out he is, after all, Akron's boss.

That's a big part of the issue. Now that this seems to be winding down, the issues of was or wasn't he (intoxicated) and did or didn't he (overstep his authority) seem to be working their way out. But the question most folks seem to have an opinion on seems to have less to do with policy and more to do with style. On that point, it would benefit both sides to remember a boss should be treated like a boss, and the employee should be treated with respect.

Apply The Other Shoe Test: if it had been Officer Plusquellic responding to the same situation and being cursed at, would Plusquellic have tolerated it? Eyewitness Wayne Jones, who says he was treated professionally by police, says the Mayor didn't cuss out the cop. I do know if we (John Q. Public) cussed out a cop, we'd be on the line for jail food the next morning. Then again, if my boss started telling me how to do my job I'd probably grumble about it but do what he said.

There's no easy answer, other than to hope the level of discourse between Chief Executive and people who work under the Chief of Police drops down a couple notches, and soon. Doubtful, given the response to city union leaders asking for more details about cuts they're supposed to swallow to help the City deal with the July budget surprise. Even from overseas, where he's talking peace in Japan on the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the mayor's response was typical: fault and pointing blame rather than collaboration. It's just his style.

Another chapter in the ongoing Hatfield and McCoy saga of City politics. Wouldn't it be nice to get beyond the feuds and get right to solutions?

- - -

This week, Columbus voters went to the polls in numbers even worse than Akron's recall election (just 18% voted) and by a slim margin (just 51.7%) approved hiking the city income tax to help stuff a big deficit and stem layoffs to "critical" city workers. Mayor Coleman -- a close friend of Mayor Plusquellic -- thanked residents for putting their money where their critical services are, in marked contrast to Plusquellic, who quickly dismissed an Akron F.O.P suggestion of a public safety levy here despite threatened layoffs. Columbus notes there are "critical" city services, including police; Akron takes the stance uniformed services should get the same budget treatment as other departments.

Question to Mayor Plusquellic and City Council: if there's a rush to reform the recall charter language without a public hearing why not even hold a single meeting to openly discuss giving Akron voters the power to decide for themselves if police, fire and EMS are important enough to shell out more?

The last time a "police levy" was on the ballot it was part of (a much smaller part of) a bid to load up economic development programs. With the budget $12 million out of balance -- according to this month's figures -- would it really hurt giving city voters the option of making public safety critical enough to pay for?

Notes On The Recall

Blowout. Not even close. Over when it started. Wiped the floor with 'em.

We've got the cliche wagon pulled over and I'm sure my fellow pundits will exhaust the supply to describe Tuesday's results of the Change Akron Now bid to recall Akron's Don Plusquellic. I don't know anyone (including Warner Mendenhall) who believed CAN could DO it. Citizens For Akron ran a smart campaign -- how could they not with a 22-to-1 money advantage? CFA understood all too well the value of CYA, leaving no stone unturned, the value of a professionally-positioned "grassroots" base and effort to define issues, control the agenda and get out the vote. And they did this all without the one candidate on the ballot stepping out in front of the target painted on his back. Don Plusquellic's defense worked best when his team played offense around him.

In the end, GOTV trumps shouting from the Town Square.

The 20% turnout is nothing to be proud of, summertime or no summertime. In the end it wouldn't have mattered if half that number turned out. A 3-1 advantage spells landslide, especially when "absentee voting" -- why can't we just call it early voting? -- provided everything the anti-recall forces could have hoped for. This is the strategy executed to a "t" by Obama in 2008, by Citizens For Akron in 2009, and future politicians smart enough to understand a 30-day voting window means 30 days to win.

Even with the crushing defeat, Change Akron Now promises a slate of council candidates, one led by oh-so-close Plusquellic opponent Joe Finley in 2007. I'll be very surprised if this works, unless they learn from their defeat in June and turn it into fresh strategy for September. These next few months will see the game continue, only with surrogates now carrying the standards for both sides. Those on the outs still want their piece of those on the inside, and the incumbent machine knows all too well they cannot afford to let their guard down now.

That said, I'm still wondering if this recall election was the reaffirmation of love Mayor Plusquellic needs? Or was the vote more a reflection of what most editorials noted: not really a personal endorsement of Don Plusquellic, and all his personality brings to bear, but rather a rejection of the concept of tossing the bull out from the china shop because he hasn't broken anything?

Despite the branding of "our" mayor for "our" city, there are few who disagreed that Plusquellic's style leaves much to be desired. In between stomping around with hurt feelings after opponents questioned the obvious timing of a flood of pro-Akron announcements, cherry-picking interview opportunities -- did he do ANY radio live or long-form? -- he still managed to rub many the wrong way with behind the scene hardball which lends easily to depictions of him as "The Don." I give him great credit for the rep: he's earned it.

This isn't just my observation; the Beacon Journal, Plain Dealer, WAKR/AkronNewsNow, other bloggers, other media -- all made note of the ill-temper described as "passion" as not enough to warrant being tossed out. His own supporters, at the same time calling the vote a mandate for the mayor, also hope he learns to tamp it down; this scuffle cost a quarter-million dollars and plenty of their time. Which Don comes out of this as the smoke clears? Does he sit down and bury the hatchet with the FOP as they've asked? Will he ever talk with enemy-for-life turned anti-recall ally Don Robart again? Will he ever say the name of his chief opponent in public?

Even Obama knows how to say Cheney. The key to the next chapter in this political soap opera is whether those in support offer honest counsel and not just what he wants to hear. That a head-on approach need not be offensive to be a good offense; that being defensive need not be so offensive. That a legacy politician with an iron grip on the job can and should be satisfied everyone knows he's the driving force without having to tattoo it on their foreheads. Which Don Plusquellic will we see, the statesman elected to represent his nation's mayors or the one stepping into the ring?

This is a legitimate question, and one not so easily glossed over. As owner of the "company," Akron voters are the managers; they decided their highest performing employee gets results and needs to stay, even if he can occasionally be a real piece of work. The stakeholders want to keep him because he gets the job done. Even if he snorts and throws his weight around, so long as the dishes don't break. The main message conveyed with such clarity over the past 90 days has been he leads, even with a few scratches; Akron voters know to not mess up a good thing.

But the danger, if he allows the ego of unchecked incumbency to swell beyond his vision, is in continuing to ride that wave of performance goodwill for those times when the next big challenge comes. When a younger, fresher, more energetic version seizes the moment. When Akron's good name is finally dragged down to the level of the other northeast Ohio big cities. Those times when some with new ideas poses a real threat to more people beyond the 25-30% who always say no.

Blogger Pho's Akron Pages is no fan of Change Akron Now nor it's tilting-at-windmills leader Warner Mendenhall. His observations are pointed, but thoughtful. His post "Whither Akron" reads from the heart: who will step up and challenge the status quo, in this case Plusquellic, in the interest of confronting power? It's a core question: just how healthy is the cult of Don for Akron's function as a democracy over the long haul? Akron, Pho writes, needs a "sensible loyal opposition."

Unlike the fairly universal acknowledgments of Plusquellic's prickly personality, this isn't a concerned aimed at him as a manager, a political leader, or as a person. Few of the serious thinkers in this debate disagree in private that more open debate and decision-making is a bad thing. We just want it to mean something, and drive the community forward in ways that Cleveland and Youngstown just can't seem to figure out. We know Akron is too progressive to be considered a fiefdom, but we fear losing the iron will to fight to keep the train running on time will mean we will be lost having to do it without the conductor ahead.

It's easy now to villify those who dare ask the question, or push the system to hold a midsummer's day vote. But even losing in a landslide, voices wondering about alternatives or even succession planning can be heard. And the conventional wisdom won't be able to drown them out forever.

- - -

A note on the media coverage of the election: what a vacuum we are seeing develop as a city of a quarter-million people boils down to a handful of outlets. Former WKYC-TV producer Chris Hyser notes correctly in his "Diminishing Returns" post the brave new world of learning results. Those good old days of multiple, competing media outlets using all the tools at their disposal have shrunk when it comes to servicing Akron. The blog world hasn't stepped in, and those outlets in a position to step up didn't show it Tuesday night.

I have a very vested interest in this; for the most part we did what we thought was best on Election night, just as the Beacon Journal did in getting results, analysis and coverage to the public. But seeing the region's second biggest city shunted aside to true suburban status on a single, important issue ought to be an eye-opener for all of us.

This was a campaign successfully managed professionally to maximize positives while minimizing risk of damage, which meant no town hall-style forums on cable, broadcast, or digital television. No Press Club luncheons at the Martin Center, where a couple hundred folks could feast on split chicken breasts as the pros and cons were delivered. This was a great example of controlling the message, and not allowing it to get messy. Using websites to position and parry, and employing social media such as Twitter and Facebook to bypass the mainstream. Who needs to sit down with Ray, or Larry, or Howie or Matt? Can't control what they ask, but you can control what others hear and read.

This is the new politics, and Akron's media landscape is not ready for what is to come.

- - -

For those who missed hunky Lt. Governor Lee Fisher's "guns," note YouTube has taken down videos containing the copyright material.

The posts are still up on this blog but you won't be able to see the buff Lee flexing over a late-night video visit while he's answering email.

The Fisher folks worked quickly to flag the video, so it's a no-no now. Fisher followers, rest easy; Brunner backers, at least you had a laugh over the last week.

Back to good government now...

R Minus 7; No News2Night; Marriage Politics & Got Safe?

Both AkronNewsNow and the Akron Beacon Journal provided extensive coverage over the weekend of the Mayor Recall race, and with just over a week to go you can expect to see a stronger push from both sides. That'll include saying anything to energize their vote.

At this point, the question isn't what voters think but how many can be counted on to turn thought into a mark on the check box. So far, the conventional wisdom is the Citizens For Akron crowd have done a better job of getting their vote out early.

CFA have performed extremely well in Ward 8, expected to be a stronghold for Mayor Plusquellic's bid to turn aside a recall push his side is already toasting money-wise by 40-to-one. The interesting thing about this election, however, is the sense that big money may not be a big factor. Funny thing about grass roots efforts -- and despite the spin, the ChangeAkronNow folks are grass roots for sure -- is they are not predictable. Nobody really knows for sure just what motivates voters to apply shoe leather on their own to cast their ballot; even in the 2008 highly-hyped Presidential election the actual turnout percentages were higher four years prior.

Likely doesn't translate into for sure, which is why there will be a flood of web postings, emails, news conferences, robocalls, direct mail and photo ops showing either the foot soldiers who wrap themselves in reform or the Administration wanting to be seen as on the job.

Wonder how many events the Plusquellibots and Mendenbots can squeeze in?

The final decision still rests with the votes cast right up to 7:30 p.m. a week from this Tuesday. Early voting continues all week at the Board of Elections 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Saturday and against 8:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. next Monday.

- - -

The timing couldn't have been worse for PBS 45/49, aka Western Reserve Public Media, forced to bump NewsNight Akron from the usual Friday night lineup because of a mandate from the public television network. With a week and a half to go, host Eric Mansfield lined up Akron FOP Lodge 7's president to stop by and explain the vote his members took last week on the recall. No go, not even online, but Eric tells me they did talk with Paul Hlynsky and it's slated to air this Friday.

Among items in my goofy file: the listing of Mansfield in the Citizens For Akron financial report. On WAKR this morning, Eric related how his name also appears with wife Lisa's on their checks; I know, joint checking -- who'd a thunk? So when she signed up for an under-$30 fundraiser because she's running for the Akron School Board and is politically active, the CFA folks gladly took the check but instead of listing her they listed Eric.

This sexism in financial reporting is very common; campaigns (all stripes) will look for the names and addresses on the check when listing a contribution. Enter the CAN conspiracy theorists, who first cried out it showed bias and then switched gears to show sloppy book work from CFA.

I guess anything works to stir up the crowd to close to an election. Memo to any couple who ever thinks about attending a political function: set up separate checking accounts.

- - -

The Downtown Akron Partnership, in the meantime, picked a strange time to circulate a poll asking folks just what they think about safety and security downtown. Crime in Akron is one of those "under the surface" issues getting lots of comments and ink from folks following at home, but it wasn't a major topic addressed by either side in interviews over the weekend. After reading and listening to the respective combatants, and our (the media's) focus on the economy and pure politics at play, maybe you have something to say to the power-that-be that can help track just how the public feels about downtown Akron as a safe place to play.

It's a good idea to get a read on how the true customers of Akron's downtown entertainment offerings feel about the social core of this region. We've seen how center cities can drive perception, and despite the political back and forth on downtown v. neighborhood it doesn't take a rocket scientist to compare the health of cities with more vibrant downtown neighborhoods and the impact it has on quality of life overall. This kind of polling -- asking questions we all ask ourselves -- is invaluable in moving beyond the anecdotes and working on policies to address problems.

The link to the poll in an email says the poll can also be accessed from the Partnership's web site, but I couldn't find it when I checked this afternoon. The Downtown Akron Partnership advises it is in an orange box on the left after a scroll down.