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Min 08/16/1974 1000 Wichita Falls, Texas Memorial Auditorium Building August 16, 1974 Item 1 The Board of Aldermen of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas, met in called session on the above date in the Council Room of the Memorial Auditorium Building at 10:00 o'cicok A.M. , with the following members present: Max Kruger Mayor Harry Campsey X Lonny Morrison Joe N. Prothro X Aldermen J. C. Boyd, Jr. X Peggy McCullough X Gerald Fox City Manager H. P. Hodge, Jr. City Attorney Wilma J. Thomas City Clerk Harrison E. Taylor Absent The meeting was called to order by Mayor Kruger, stating that this meeting had been called primarily to accept the petition from the Wichita Falls Fire Department pertaining to collective bargaining. ' Item 2 i Permission was requested to advertise for bids on 25 eight cubic yard fixed containers, and one asphalt lay down machine for the Sanitation and Street Depart- ments. Moved by Alderman Campsey that authority be granted to advertise for bids as requested. Motion seconded by Alderwoman McCullough, and carried unanimously. Item 3 /i. The Mayor read a memorandum from City Clerk Wilma Thomas in which she stated / that the petition contained more than the minimum required signatures to call an election on collective bargaining. RESOLUTION NO. 1567 RESOLUTION CALLING ELECTION ON THE ADOPTING OF THE STATE LAW ESTABLISHING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR FIREFIGHTERS. WHEREAS , the Board of Aldermen has received petitions signed by the required number of qualified voters calling for a vote on collective bargaining for fire- fighters in the Wichita Falls Fire Department; and, WHEREAS, the City Council has heretofore called an election on the Bicentennial Memorial Center to be held September loth, 1974. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS , TEXAS, THAT: SECTION 1. At the city election to be held September 10th, '1974, there shall be submitted to the vote of the qualified electors the following question: FOR or AGAINST the following: Adoption of the State Law applicable to "Firefighters", which establishes collective bargaining when a majority of the affected employees favor representa- tion by an employees ' association and which preserves the prohibition of strikes and lockouts and provides penalties therefor. 1001 Item 3, cont'd. SECTION 2. Said election shall be held at the same polling places, and with the same presiding judges and alternate presiding judges, as were set forth in "Exhibit A" of Resolution No. 1551, which "Exhibit A" is incorporated herein by reference. The question on the collective bargaining for firefighters shall be on a separate ballot from the proposition on the Bicentennial Memorial Center. Moved by Alderwoman McCullough that Resolution No. 1567 be passed. Motion seconded by Alderman Prothro, and carried by the following vote: Ayes: Aldermen Campsey, Morrison, Prothro, Boyd, and McCullough Nays : None. Alderman Morrison stated that the question is now before the public, and he feels the Council should take some position on it. They have reviewed these matters where other employees are under collective bargaining, and he explained that the basic objection to the passage of this referendum by the public could be briefly summarized as follows. In the first instance, the decision making process will be, or could be determined by some person other than the elected representatives of the City, yet the City would have the responsibility of provid- ing funds for it. An arbitrator removes working conditions and wages from the responsibility of the Council. The second objection concerns City tax rolls. Thirdly, the power to strike is prohibited in the statute, but history has shown that this prohibition has been ineffective. The legal machinery for dealing with this particular violation has been clumsy. Furthermore, the incidence of collective bargaining has caused an, increased change in the responsibility of the City staff in these matters. Additional personnel may be necessary to nego- tiate any contractual obligations. Alderman Morrison stated that he goes on record as opposed to collective bargaining, and urges the citizens of Wichita Falls to review this collectively, and vote against it. Alderman Boyd stated that he concurs with Alderman Morrison, and read a statement (attached) expressing his feelings. He noted several newspaper ar- ticles pertaining to strikes of public employees. Alderman Campsey stated that he agrees with Aldermen Morrison and Boyd that this is a very serious situation, and strikes at the heart of the nation. He asked why we can't be smart and learn from the mistakes of the past where gov- ernment employees have been unionized and cause so much chaos. He stated that he is very much opposed to unionizing government employees, and hopes that other people of the city feel the same as he does. Alderwoman McCullough stated that it has been suggested that the Council should take an official position. She stated that she feels it would be a mis- take to take an official position, and feels it should be done on an individual basis only. She mentioned the referendum of last summer, stating there was no official position taken, but various council and staff members made some state- ments, and it was assumed that there was an official position. She feels that the Council was placed in a very untenable position after the election. She is not addressing the issue itself, but definitely feels the Council should not take an official position. Alderman Boyd stated that we are elected officials and citizens, but since we are elected we should let the people know how we feel about the matter. Mayor Kruger read a statement in which it was stated that public employees are not like other employees. He believes that what the firemen are seeking at this time is something that would usurp the powers of the Council, and he is f opposed to that. Firemen are only one segment of our public employees. He presented a proposed resolution opposing the referendum. RESOLUTION NO. 1568 BE IT RESOLVED BY the Board of Aldermen of the City of Wichita Falls : That, the City of Wichita Falls, speaking by and through its Board of Aldermen, opposes the institution of collective bargaining procedures for municipal employees and urges all citizens to carefully review this matter and vote against the same on September 10, 1974. 1002 Item 3, cont'd. Moved by Alderman Boyd that Resolution No. 1568 be passed. Motion seconded by Alderman Campsey, and carried by the following vote: Ayes : Mayor Kruger, Aldermen Campsey, Morrison, Prothro, and Boyd Nays : Alderwoman McCullough Mr. Charles Harper appeared as Vice-Chairman of the City Planning Board, r presenting a proposed plan referred to as Midtown 2000. Flat angle parking, im- proved lighting, tree planting program, and demolition of unsafe structures are among the proposed ideas. Alderwoman McCullough mentioned that September 17 is a Jewish holiday, and she moved that the Council meeting scheduled for that date be changed to Sept- ember 24, 1974. Motion seconded by Alderman Boyd, and Carried unanimously. Moved by Alderwoman McCullough that the meeting be adjourned. II Motion seconded by Alderman Boyd, and carried unanimously. 'i The Board of Aldermen adjourned at 10:40 A.M. PASSED AND APPROVED this I=4,461— day of ��� 1974. I Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk Mr. Mayor: AtrgL=�t9�4 The refe=endunn asked by fiieMen requesting citizens to authorize "collective bargaining" between the fkemen's association and the City council Is, I believe, the single mr>f tr�pt9r4grrt_ - proposal presented Wichita Polls since its incorporation. �717s i 't f r Not so many years ago, filenien in DetRoit asked and received "collective bargaining" . Today Detroit ha5 ,1-31 r-rir�,icipal labor union:; or bargaining units , l",lew York at last count had 265. It is now possible for New York City to have a "slowdown" or orike every- fiorking day and by a diffeTent municipal onion each time. This strikes at the very foundation of our democratic foiwi of go"veinrnent , Let me give an illustration: Cur city charter requires the city manager to p�epa e aY7d submit an annual budget estimate to the council . The most important annual decision bv any member of the council is determining what is a proper budget and setting the ad valo"em tax rate. At present, the city manager, and council have absolute freedom to make this decision, and they try to arrive at what is in the best lritere_;1 of all citizens. The seven council rnembe-s are respon- sible only to the soverign citizens of Wichita Falls. If, however, when This vital decision is made in the future, it may be necer,;a•y for the city manager and council to bargain first with the firemen's union, then the police union, then the sanitation union, the street department union, the parks and recreation union, the grater department union , thr;�stenographers union, the department head;' union a;Td on and on I J.1 r 7` until we finally comple erpu.r bar gaining,-,oi i-the-der# prrrz-Fa�ri rs-try<en of� enc rx4-ji prhx}. Then it would be obvious to any ,or)e the present democratic process had long gone out the window. The question before u , then, is not "collective bargaining" , froe real question is whether or not we want our clernocratic process to endure. hope voters, and particularly citizens who are nouv urwor, nicrnbew , will not be confused between the olde, established unions and this newe° --rave of municipal employee and other unions composed of government workers. Penccips the ti,osi basic disticction between the two types of union is this: The older" unions are out ide tine government ,vhereas $e newer unions are inside the government. Does or) employee union inside any level of democ+atic gave rimerif help or hinder the no-mal democratic process,? I invite youi attention to the chaotic condition: of Britain and Italy, where problems are siaggering.. But take a closer look at conditions of home, ,lbich caused nationally syndicated columnist Victor Risel to recently note: "In <otrie cities public employee union rriembers haven't buried the dead. Or gathe'ed the gorbacie, Or guarded prisons. Or patroled mental institutions. Or have been battling the police_ That is, where the police haven�f been atriking , National Guard 4--T& � have been throw-. into the streets , . . But the public has seen nothing yet. Marching Fide by side: with yai"bage men, the cops, the prison guards and blue-collar workers are the people's white-collar employees." I'm snare we have shaken out heads over problems that have had Baltimo-e on the -open, The July 22 issue of Time magazine pictured youths looting stoie�3 clu i�)g a police strike, when 1300 of the 2300 policemen were off duty. Three thou rind gr)rbaryr collerto bad walked out several day` before, _2_ As far as 1 can find out, eve�,, :)o,,e��nPrier,t employee -ho Fvr—lf on t;-ike violated the law, i know of no union contract it'h a X trove:—lien, body that doe: of t,o ,e a pdovi iou paohibitang public servants from sHki,"g I', <plte of these re �ti ictio''1`- .e,fe �ee> P-nn'7ple afif" e�omple of munlcA al rnernbe,s def h-, tf)r!? la', nnj c.t?t," t ��'tlrt �'. A �c�"�E q AlR " n P y g gr p g ac:y faith in r+o-utrike provisions of a gove,,nnierat -Pjq` ll^.,o co, f'cict 'L:0 ha,�n�t beer payi,,q nttk'otl0+i, For some rno,tk,4° we. brave been bombarded ,iih accusat,'o- ci.,d plea. f'cwr fire department spokesmen accusing the city admwi-ration, the p�revr,,)u COL- c-il a-�d this roue kcal of being unfair, insensitive, uninformed and iirco',; �df raie i,� ,-hgo�rd to fi1r ',rero'= coy fir �<atior , Firemen have been fa-I,y ccrnperlated. Compen:atio " of city is a continuing concern to the council , Roof is tl,e fart tine city 4pero S 18r000 ors a '972 c.omp�,ehensive classification and salary study to dele iiii ne ,hat wag a fair '�alo y= o,-npa,Pd to area indust�y and business and to citie ,Pith ope�atio�r, si--nilau to ,Carµ" This council might do wall to f r d oust what the ove age fi,cmcn thir.l<� of i i_ job., Y know of no bette" vvay tha�'i to ey,ami:ne hovv often, he gi\,es it up, t"le la:-If too cod one-half years, only 17 firemen have .e igned , Du!"ing that same pe,iod 32 polirc-ner have �L'it, 3`2 sanitation depar°trrien,t employees have moved on, 99 people left foe rf- eat depa,ime,,t and 82 quit the parks and recreation depsiptrnent, The fire depci tme ;t I,cas tl'e based on the tenacity h lo�v°est turn-over rate of a��,y rncsjor depa-f�re�kt I,r; oajrr city, wi+ic they cling to their job.:, a good a g.,�,,nwat co0d be made that they are actually the mast ,atisfied of all city eniployeea , if oyi�e, city ertlploye-e loved their jobs as much as fl enien 0 ff d,,ecto!r of personnel co41d p,o,- t;, ally ;,tart do-,�o his job application desk, f r On September W, vote : wvill decide -whether the sighs Of z„� e_`j be given firemen, Fe- or,cilly, 1 can think of no 9�eater cal-n-nit," t:,r 1` bOh act o�',;,r city than app-oval of this referendum. Aldermo:,,, Plo-e 5 i