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KOPOUT
President's Message - July 2009
Budget, budget, budget, and more budget! As you all know, the city and the state budget shortfalls have dominated the FPOA’s agenda. The city budget shortfalls required the city to address the budget with the various labor groups during open contract negotiations, as well as necessitating the need for the city to approach labor groups who were still in contract and ask for deferrals or concessions of benefits. Obviously, this did not sit well with the membership after seeing article after article in the Fresno Bee highlighting poor business decisions that the City engaged in that will cost the taxpayers millions of desperately needed dollars. The reality is, despite some poor business decisions, the city was not responsible for the global economic downturn that struck our entire nation as well as many other countries around the world. This economic crisis greatly impacted the city budget through current and future revenue collected from property tax. Adding to the dilemma was and still is the threat of the state stealing money from local governments to balance their budget. Budget cuts had to occur, and the possibility of demotions, as well as layoffs, became very real to our membership. The FPOA was facing some very difficult decisions, and it would be an understatement to say that I had a few sleepless nights. The past three months have been one of only two very dark times for me as the FPOA President.
The FPOA negotiations team ignored selfish pressures and put their personal opinions aside while making it their goal to work collaboratively with the City of Fresno. Our number one goal was to create a solution that would help the city financially, benefit our members, and lesson the critical impacts to our membership in a balanced way. We quickly learned that our goal was very ambitious. Through this process, Mayor Swearengin, City Manager Andy Souza, and Chief Dyer met collectively and individually several times with me, Bill and I, or the FPOA negotiations team. Whether you choose to believe it or not, Mayor Swearengin, Andy Souza, and Chief Dyer were all very much a part of the solution. If it wasn’t for the relationship the association has fostered with Andy Souza and Chief Dyer over the years, it would have been very difficult to achieve a positive resolution. Through our meetings, we worked to a tentative agreement to present to all of you.
During this process the negotiations team and many of you endured a multitude of rumors, propaganda, personal attacks, and then more rumors. Clearly, there was a tremendous amount of anxiety and tension among the membership. Through voicemails, individual meetings, and emails, Bill Trollinger and I asked all of you to remain calm and to have some faith and trust in your association leadership. Many of you listened and we thank you for the support.
We, as an association/family, managed to work through these issues and come together during a series of general membership meetings on June 17th. Each meeting began with a level of tension and anxiety in the room, followed by a power point presentation and questions and answers. At the end of each meeting, the membership cast their vote on an informal proposal that the FPOA negotiations team tentatively agreed upon with the City of Fresno. The end result was 82% of the membership who voted (594 members) approved the informal proposal. I want to personally thank all of you who have taken the time to show your appreciation to me, Bill, and the other members of the negotiations team. During difficult times, ones true character often emerges. Many of us witnessed this phenomenon during the budget crisis. I hope that we all evaluate our actions and make a pledge to ourselves to improve our character in the areas that we are deficient.
Okay, we made it through the first battle of the budget but the war is not over. We are facing some real challenges from the state budget and impacts to our city. I suspect we will see policy changes, department reorganization, and work load increases in an effort to maintain quality service to our community while addressing financial constraints. In short, we may see changes in assignment, or be asked to do more with less. To coin a phrase we often hear, during these times “our glass will either be half full or half empty”. The key to remember is that we individually decide how our glass looks. It doesn’t matter how someone else treats you, where you are assigned to work, or how many more CFS you handle then the other officers in your district or unit. You and only you decide how your glass looks. The point is, we control our stress and anxiety, to a large degree, by worrying only about those things that we can change or impact. Our challenge will be to identify issues that we can affect change, be constructive, and understand that our suggestions will not always be adopted. I encourage all of you to utilize the FPOA as a conduit to try and affect positive changes. But I challenge all of you to understand the difference between simply complaining vs. being constructive.
As police officers we took an oath to serve and protect our community. We are for better or worse, “Public Servants”. Let us never forget the responsibility, honor, and courage that comes with wearing the Fresno Police Department badge. More than ever during these difficult economic times our association family, city family, and our community need us. I ask all of you to commit yourself and your family to volunteer within your association, community, church, or school. Whether we like it or not, as police officers, our family, friends, and community identify us as leaders. I believe they are right!
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. USING POWER TO BENEFIT THE COMMON GOOD IS LEADERSHIP! Thank you and stay safe!
Please do not use the department email or voice mail to contact me. Email me at fpoapres@pacbell.net or call 442-3762.