Fishkill supervisor-elect charges terms of PBA contract were presented at last moment

http://midhudsonnews.com/News/2011/December/01/TFish_PBA-01Dec11.html

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FISHKILL – The Fishkill Town Board voted 3-2 Wednesday to approve a new three-year contract with its 39 member PBA.

Supervisor-elect Robert LaColla, who is a current town board member who voted against the contract for the part-time police officers, was upset with the process by which the agreement was reached.

“The information itself, the proposed agreement, and limited financial analysis were just delivered to the board members, apparently, [Wednesday] night. I happened to get an early copy of the agreement [Tuesday], but had not seen the analysis until [Wednesday],” he said. “I believe this type of process is what got the town into the financial trouble that it is in.”

LaColla said the pact contains a 12 percent pay hike over the three year life, an increase in the number of holidays, and an increase in differential pay along with an increase in the number of holidays in which officers will receive double time instead of time and a half.

The contract was negotiated for the town by outgoing Supervisor Joan Pagones. The town’s labor attorneys wrote to Pagones in a letter dated November 29 advising the town not to approve certain aspects of the contract proposed by the union saying that in some instances “the union’s proposal will serve to erode the town’s current authority and opens the door for future union demands.”