Long time no see....

Hey folks, there hasn't been much to update since October.  Most everyone is still working mandatory overtime, the Commissioners are still trying to shame the Sheriff on the issue of jail management and its business as usual on Comal St. 

Staff shortages are still rampant but the Sheriff recently said he recognized that the mandatory overtime was causing some serious morale issues and he wants it to go away.  Unfortunately, to do that a lot of things will have to happen.  First and foremost, the County will have to deny his request for additional officers which he will ask for on February 7th.  The Sheriff threatened to send even more inmates out of the county to bring our ratio to a safer level if he did not get an additional 92 officers.  Problem with that is we may not have the inmates to send.  Qualifications have to be met on the part of the inmate and not every County willing to take inmates wants what we have which are mostly Highs with violent crimes and gang members.

Election season is coming up quick and Susan Pamerleau and Larry Ricketts recently had the first, of what I hope is several, public debates.  As I understand, there is video of the debate and as soon as I get a link, Ill be posting it here.

Be back soon....

Voluntary overtime? Get sent home. Mandatory overtime? You have to stay.

So, I just got home from working voluntary overtime at the Annex.  Unfortunately, I only got to work about an hour and 15 minutes before I was relieved.  Apparently, as of last week sometime, the Commissioners accused the Sheriff of mismanaging overtime money and now, if there is any overage of officers at either the annex or the main jail, they balance it out by getting rid of the voluntary overtime officers and sending them home.  What kind of jacked up shenanigans is this?

I understand that officers working overtime cost the county more money than a straight time officer.  I get that.

I understand that if we have extra officers available that we may not need the overtime officers.  I get that too.

What I don't understand is why the VOLUNTARY overtime officers are being screwed when there are anywhere between 8-10 MANDATORY overtime officers sitting in a unit wanting to go home after working an 8 hour shift already.  This makes no sense whatsoever.

Im preparing an email for DSABC President Janssen as well as Lt. Balditt who oversees our personnel issues.  The Lt. that sent me home believes that this may violate our contract with the county with regards to the overtime issues with C/D towers in the Annex.  He may be right.  I simply want to know why they aren't sending home the people that do not want to be there vs. the folks that sign up for the extra work.  Even more so, why aren't we using volunteers for overtime rather than forcing our people to stay over?

UPDATE:  10/29/11 Wow, how things can change.  I brought this issue to the attention of Lt. Janssen, President of the DSABC and he promised to take it to Sheriff's Administration for further action.  After doing just that, Lt. Janssen contacted me to inform me that the course of action previously taken should not have been taken and that common sense should have prevailed.  He further told me that Chief Dovalina was rather upset that this was being done this way and offered to provide an Administrative Directive.  Lt. Janssen declined that offer with the counter that he would speak to the other Shift Commanders and remedy the issue in that way.  Now, if you are working voluntary overtime, you should not necessarily be sent home before the mandatory folks.  Of course, he did offer the caveat that Shift Commanders still retain the prerogative to send home who they wish, but this is a major step in the right direction.  Thank you, DSABC and in particular, Union President Janssen.

Finally, some news...

After a few weeks of no real developments on the issues, I got to have a long talk with DSABC President, Lt. Janssen.  I have to say Im very encouraged and impressed with the level of commitment that Lt. Janssen is exhibiting.  He has some great ideas and some plans that, if successful, will elevate the DSABC, positively promote our agenda and be successful in having a chance at a new relationship with commissioners court. 

Basically, with the election of this new board and executives, there is no remainder of the 'old guard' left in place.  These are fresh faces with fresh ideas and the desire to see change.  I am very optomistic at this point.

On the issue of our staffing, currently we are waiting to see if 40 new positions will be approved.  As I understand it, there are 20 positions currently far enough along in the process to qualify for a cadet class.  Now, I know you are wondering what the hell this is about when just a couple of weeks ago, we were looking at losing 100 positions.  Frankly, I can't answer that as it doesn't make much sense to me either, but honestly, its good news and Ill take all of that I can get.  Rumor has it that the positions are being permitted to offset the loss of the 100 officers and to absorb some of the shortage that we are experiencing.

The restraining order is still on track but its been pushed back a bit to allow the grievance process to be utilized first.  Apparently, there is no question that we will win the grievance and can then move forward with the restraining order.

Plans are also in place to re-approach our relationship with certain members of commissioners court that have long held animosity towards us for whatever perceived wrongs they might envision.  This is where the fresh faces come in.  I have high hopes that new people equals new relationships and new ideas and ways to move forward.

The Mythical Temporary Restraining Order

So, back when the County was preparing to vote for the new budget, a threat was issued from the DSABC that they were willing to file a temporary restraining order for injuctive relief regarding our staffing issue.  Our CBA dictates that basically, neither the County nor the Sheriff can alter our work environment drastically without the approval of the union.  Welllllll, today I found out directly from Captain Thomas (soon to be Chief Thomas, so congratulations Captain) who was on the phone with Capt. Long of DSABC, in my presence, that CLEAT is apparently unsure as to whether or not the TRO should be filed.  What. The. Hell?

This issue should be a complete no brainer.  This is what CLEAT is supposed to do.  Instead of standing up for the labor issue and protecting the employees of the Sheriff's Office, they are going to meet with some representatives of the DSABC to determine who, or if anyone, is going to file this TRO.  This TRO needs to happen.  Now.  Its obvious the County is going to fight us tooth and nail regarding the CBA and as usual, they are going to try and screw us.  This should not happen and the DSABC and CLEAT should be fighting over who gets to file the TRO not whether it should be filed at all.  Was this just an idle threat in the face of the Commissioners?  I sure hope not.  They will never take us seriously again if it was.

If CLEAT stands aside and lets this fall to DSABC to file on the outside (and how long is that going to take?) then I would suggest that the DSABC re-evaluate its professional relationship with CLEAT.  When the labor issues become complex and serious, such as they are now, we need help and representation, not waffling and abdication.

UPDATE: I had emailed DSABC President Janssen regarding the restraining order and asking about the lawsuits and what progress was being made.  Apparently, the union needs to file a grievance through proper channels prior to asking for a restraining order and are in the process of doing that.  Im not sure if we have actual labor representatives pursuing this issue or if its elected DSABC personnel, but perhaps they can focus on using a labor attorney or other qualified representative to handle this issue so that we are not taking two steps forward and one step back, which is what it looks like.

Standby for a message from rumor control...

So, here is the latest info... out with the old in with the new.  The DSABC announced the election results and its no surprise that Lt. Janssen and his running mates were elected.  They are well respected from what Ive seen and heard and lets hope that they have the good fortune and dedication to turn the Association around.

Meanwhile....

Booking is going back to 8 hour shifts, allegedly, due to the claims made by Commissioners Court that there is apparently a 10% 'waste' of manpower at the time that the shifts overlap.  Im not a staffing genius, but when you change shifts, theres always an overlap of personnel.  Many officers sought those positions in booking specifically to have the 13.20 hr shifts to spend more time with family and have their lives set up for that schedule.  Also, some of those currently assigned to booking are being reassigned to the floors.

Classification is also slated to lose 4-5 officers across their shifts. 

I wonder if any of the officers in the 46 support roles outlined by Commissioners are going to be reassigned.

KSAT discovers the jail staffing issue

And not a moment too soon......  Meanwhile, today was the day the budget was to be passed and if passed, a temporary restraining order was to be filed by the DSABC to bring the issue of our staffing before a judge.  Comissioner Paul Elizondo called it "sabotage".  Interestingly enough, Elizondo seems to be the latest Commissioner with his facts out of whack.  He told KSAT that the "state" has said we are 200 officers over our minimum required.  I sent him an email asking where he got those numbers and if I should hear from him, Ill post the reply but I'm not holding my breath.  Those of us that work at the jail know damn well we do not have 200 officers over our minimum staffing level.  Almost every day we are at our minimum staffing level.  I think it would be incredibly refreshing to see the media fact check these Commissioners and their lackeys like Haven for Hope CEO George Block and call them on their 'mistakes'.

I've also sent emails to KSAT Reporters Jesse Degollado and Charles Gonzales asking them to confront the Commissioners for the claims they have made which are completely untrue.  I've yet to get a response from either reporter.

The DSABC strikes back

On Tuesday the 13th, the Bexar County Commissioners plan to meet and finalize the proposed budget that includes the elimination of 128 positions at the jail.  If they vote to pass this budget, the DSABC has said they will file a temporary restraining order for injunctive relief.  Right now, its unclear what effect this will have on the overall issue or if it will stop the elimination of those positions, but it should put the issue before a court.  If you can make it, be at the courthouse at 10:30am to make your voice heard.