Below is a letter to the editor published as a courtesy to readers; all opinions expressed are
that of the author and not necessarily that of the Insider staff.
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In the Middletown Press is an article about the high amount of
overtime paid over the last 3 years. I've several comments about the
article and statements made in it. First of all for as long as I can
remember, overtime has been an issue for the City; the mantra has been
"we need to control our overtime costs." The Mayor is quoted as now
requiring the Directors to control overtime costs; news flash - not new,
the Directors have always been cognizant of overtime costs and
responsible for their budgets. The article states that we've a new
Chief Management Analyst; I would like to know who this new employee is?
when hired? job description? What department?
Also, the article states that of the three years, 2012
was the lowest. However, not mentioned is the change in scheduling that
was supposed to provide better coverage and to lower overtime. Is that
a factor or not?
Also, the article states that they are adding 5 new
employees from a grant. Has this grant actually been accepted? The City
will have to absorb the cost of these employees after the grant
expires; has this cost been compared to the cost of overtime?
We've had a couple of really difficult years with
storms and have been lucky to have some of our costs reimbursed by
FEMA. Also, we've learned through experience that having a fully
staffed department, Central Communications is a prime example, that
overtime costs go down.
But from what I'm reading, looks like not much has changed: overtime is still a problem and nothing has changed.
Linda Salafia, Middletown
Salafia (R) is a former Common Councilmember, retired city employee having served as Payroll Supervisor, and former vice president of AFSCME Local 466 Municipal employee union for the City of Middletown
The city is so far out of line with the real world that they are getting away cheap with the amount of overtime needed. They city needs more staff and better organization. The recent dis-org is based not on best practices but inefficient opinions from a task force that did what the mayor wanted them to do. Best words to describe the city is unprofessional, unconventional and down right disastrous.
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