IN YOUR CORNER

Negotiations have begun between a Martin County management team and the

Martin County Fire Fighters Assn., Local 2959 for their next three-year

contract. We are extremely interested in the outcome, to the degree

that we plan to have an Association representative at each bargaining

session.

Their previous agreement, for fiscal year 2000 thru 2003, resulted in

an 11% annual raise compounded over a three-year period. Their work

week was reduced from 52 hours to 48 hours, and they were given a

"Kelly" day off with pay every seventh shift worked. This Kelly day

feature equals a two-week paid vacation per employee. With all this,

there was still an exorbitant overtime bill, ranging from $700,000 to

$1 million annually, over the past three years.

So far, some questions have come to mind. What is the County's Salary

Philosophy? What are the criteria for counties selected to be used for

the wage and compensation survey comparisons? Do the benefits achieved

by the negotiating unit spill over into management?

EMS is the fastest growing budget in the County. It has experienced a

32% increase in the number of employees over the past three years. For

these reasons, we feel this negotiation bears close scrutiny in order

to gain a better understanding of this department.

**

We also continue to observe the nearly empty Community Coach buses that

are running around in our County. There is a possibility that we will

be forced to join St. Lucie County and the City of Port St. Lucie in a

single Metropolitan Planning Organization. The Governor has yet to

decide on this issue. If we become involved in this much larger MPO,

the Martin County MPO would certainly lose some of its control over

costs with regard to public transportation. We feel it is appropriate

to review the entire Community Coach program now and consider more

cost-effective means of providing its services. Otherwise we risk

becoming trapped into paying even more for a larger scale version that

may actually offer Martin County less service than we have now.

**

Martin County continues to struggle with construction of necessary

roads and bridges. We observe that the transportation planning in the

County appears to be reasonably competent over the past decade.

Implementation of the planned improvements, however, appears to be less

so. No one wants new or wider roads near their house. It is time the

Commissioners accept that, and allow construction to proceed. Repeated

delays only lead to higher costs. Also, repeated delays allow us to

fall behind in our ability to fund improvements required by the

Comprehensive Plan and expected by the citizens as part of our quality

of life.

**

As mentioned previously, we are hosting our Annual Dinner on March 20

at the Martin Downs Country Club. Our guest speaker is Mr. Rawleigh

Warner, Jr. who will speak on "The Status of the Oil Supply". Mr.

Warner is a retired Chairman and CEO of the Mobil Corporation. For

tickets, please contact us at the address, phone number, or email

given below.