MOUNT VERNON — In a somewhat unusual move, city council members waived the required third reading and then voted down legislation granting a one-time payment for non-bargaining unit employees.
The ordinance received its first reading on Dec. 13. Up for its second reading Monday night, the legislation would have given 13 hourly non-bargaining unit employees a payment of $500 for a total outlay of $6,500.
Mayor Matt Starr said the one-time benefit is to show the city’s appreciation for the employees during COVID and try and get to the compensation level recently recommended by consultant Clemens-Nelson and Associates.
At the start of Monday’s meeting, council members received an amended version to consider. The amended ordinance granted the $500 payment to all 35 non-bargaining unit employees, changing the total outlay to $17,500.
During a Finance and Budget Committee meeting, Councilman John Francis, committee chair, said, “Between Dec. 13 and today, they changed the legislation. It is unacceptable to give us legislation the same night we are doing our business, especially when they are adding money. … This has to stop with same-day legislation.”
Council member Samantha Scoles questioned whether bargaining unit employees received anything comparable to the $500 payment. Dzik said that each union — police, fire, and OCSEA — negotiates different contracts.
For example, the OCSEA received a $250 payment, but the police opted for additional vacation hours. Dzik noted that the bargaining units will again have a chance to negotiate in 2022.
Complicating the one-time payment discussion was companion legislation that might have been added to the agenda had council agreed. That legislation included 2.5% and 3% raises in 2022 and 2023.
“I’d rather forego this and make it up to them next year in salary. I’d rather put the $17,000 toward that,” Council member Tammy Woods said. “One-time payments worry me.”
Council member Julia Warga said she was open to amending the ordinance to a $250 payment vs. $500.
During the committee meeting, Francis announced his intention to suspend the rules and take the ordinance in its original form — $500 to the 13 employees — to its third reading. Council unanimously voted down the ordinance in its legislative session.
Council then discussed part of the companion legislation in an Employee and Community Relations Committee. The discussion focused on the police and fire chief salaries, which are the same.
Scoles, committee chair, pointed out that the fire chief has added Gambier and College Township coverage to the department and is supervising 20 to 24 additional part-time firefighters.
Additionally, the fire chief has three support staff compared to the police chief’s five support staff.
“In my mind, I think there’s a lot more responsibility laid onto the fire chief,” Scoles said.
After briefly touching on longevity payments and compensation, council members halted discussion when they discovered they did not have the same numbers as Auditor Terry Scott. Scoles, therefore, recommended that council not add the legislation to the agenda but rather leave it to the incoming council.
In the remarks portion that concludes council meetings, Dzik urged council to move swiftly on the employee compensation.
“Many have been following these negotiations the past few months,” he said. “Compensation is not yet a factor, but I do fear it will become more of a problem.”
Council member Amber Keener said she was disappointed in not passing compensation legislation and that council once again failed.
“Council should be prepared to see employees leave,” she said, adding that proper compensation is vital and should be a priority.
Two other ordinances received a second reading, but because council will not meet again in 2021 to give them a third reading, the legislation died when council adjourned on Monday night. Next year’s council will have to reintroduce the ordinances and restart the process should it choose to do so.
Ordinance 2021-49 amended the city’s code for distributing the lodging tax. The amendment merely changed the contract term to Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2023. The distribution percentage and entities remained the same.
However, because several council members are voting board members on entities receiving lodging tax money, they had to abstain from voting on the ordinance amendment. That meant there were not enough votes to suspend the third reading and take it to a final vote.
The second ordinance that died was related to trucks being off state routes within the city.
Council did adopt as an emergency an interim budget to get the city through the first two months of 2022. Of the $8.9 million appropriated, the general fund accounts for about $1.7 million. The non-general fund includes restricted accounts such as police and fire; water, wastewater, and storm water; and TIF (Tax Increment Financing) districts and CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funds.
Council also took the following actions:
•Approved an agreement with the Ohio Department of Development that allows the city to apply for CDBG and other grant funding
•Authorized the transfer of funds, bill payment, and supplemental appropriations
•Suspended the three readings and approved an ordinance dividing the city into four voting wards. At the recommendation of Todd Hill, clerk of council and administrative assistant to the mayor, council kept the same boundaries as previously. Hill said that after looking at census and election information, there was essentially no change among the four wards.
•Waived the three readings and consented to annex 14 acres into the city. The land has multiple homeless campsites, and law enforcement has faced jurisdictional issues between the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and the Mount Vernon Police Department.
Dr. Jim Brown of the Shade Tree and Beautification Commission updated council on 2021 activities. Highlights include:
•Trees on Public Square removed, repurposed, and items auctioned
•80 bags placed in the Tree City Partnership Program where the city plants trees and residents water them
•Celebration at East Elementary School and trail dedication in memory of Dave Carpenter for Arbor Day
•Revised the city’s tree ordinance
•Removed 125 dead or dying trees, pruned 340, planted 274
•Planted 1,000 daffodils (under South Main viaduct along the bike path) and 21 trees (12 at Shellmar Park and 11 along the Kokosing Gap Trail) in conjunction with the Knox County Career Center
