Boardman police blind to township’s fiscal collapse

Boardman's administration has been run into the ground for years. Gallito and Miller are as useless as "those things" on a boar, giving perks to friends and family members......as for the police and their payrates, YOU DONT LIKE IT MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE and get a job as a cop. I appreciate the police in Boardman and when I need them I would hope that they are available. But I think that adjusting labor contracts at this time shows a lack of respect for the people they SERVE AND PROTECT. This is another example of the strongarm tactics that unions use to say to the world that they don't care about financial troubles of ANYONE. Unions bleed everything they touch dry. There is no allowance for anyone to make any type of profit when a union is involved. All a union is is a legal street gang, taking everything they can. I am looking forward to the opportunity to get the hell out of Boardman at the first chance. The ship is sinking thanks to our fiscally unresponsible leaders and the cancer that is the population of Youngstown moving in to rob and pillage. Women and children and non union members first!!!!!

The Vindy wrote: "And, if the past is prologue, as least when it comes to the Mahoning Valley, some individual with no sense of the economic realities of this region will give the police what they want."

They gave the police chief what he wanted from the beginning and he worked the first year without the certification required to be hired as a mere patrolman. In addition, the trustees voted 3-0 to pay for his tuition. I suggest the Vindicator go research the cost of some of the unnecessary whistles and bells he has purchased over the past two years.

What perks has Miller given to her friends and family?

Tug, What's wrong with the chief being the 3rd or 4rth highest paid employee in the police department? Did he get certified? As soon as he became certified, did he suddenly become a better chief? Tuition reimbursement is a common practice and I think available for many public workers. The PD has many perks that simply are ridiculous. almost 30 take home cars comes to mind including ones leaving the township.

Ap, you wrote,"Tuition reimbursement is a common practice and I think available for many public workers. The PD has many perks that simply are ridiculous. almost 30 take home cars comes to mind including ones leaving the township."

Tuition reimbursement while they are in a financial crisis was not a wise move. The 30 take home cars was the chief's idea and equipping and maintaining them is just another example of how the administration wastes money.

Before I forget, Ap, the chief is a politician. A pro.

"Politicians are the craftiest and most cunning of all con artists and salesmen. They can manipulate even the most cherished beliefs and intellectual arguments to convince you to give them immense coercive power over other people and eventually, even over YOU. They're so good at it that they can even convince many to become fanatic supporters, and themselves to believe their own bull$h#t." -- Rick Gaber

He's never been elected and was at one time an officer in Youngstown.

I've heard the main reason for the anti chief sentiment is that he wasn't an insider. When you go outside the established environment, those who thought they were in line for the job can cause problems and that's what is happening.

I've talked to Berarducci, and I get no feeling that he's a politician. The fact that he is already preparing to leave Boardman is a testament to that. The political machine is getting ready to dump him anyway and that tells me he's above politics.

Oh, and it was a former chief who implemented the take home car scam.

Ap wrote: 'I've talked to Berarducci, and I get no feeling that he's a politician. The fact that he is already preparing to leave Boardman is a testament to that.'

And two trustees applied for Boccieri's senate seat. Read the quote by Gaber again. He has you BS'd!
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"Oh, and it was a former chief who implemented the take home car scam."

And one trustee(Gallitto) made a big issue out of it. Now look at it.

to the vindy editorial board:

your recent editorial blasting the the boardman patrol officers for rejecting a factfinding report is based upon false information.

fact: the opba unconditionally offered to reopen negotiations over our contract in february, 2008, nearly 18 months ago.

fact: the opba has offered the following concessions:
1) increase employee health insurance contributions to 10% of the monthly premiums.
2) freeze wages for a period to be agreed upon, but at least through 2009.
3) reduce vacation leave for current and future officers.
4) reduce paid holidays for current and future officers.
5) various changes that would reduce overtime costs.

no matter how much we ofered to give, however, it was never enough. each concession on our part was met with more demands on the twonship's part.

the fundamental defect in your editorializing is that it is based solely on an unreliable source - the township administration. consider these questions:

if the township is headed for fiscal ruin, why did the administration bring back laid off firemen? why was a new patrolman hired? why does the administration continue to claim it intends to hire 10 more officers? if the township can't afford the staff it has, where will the money for 10 more officers come from? why is the special audit limited to just the general fund? if this audit is going to show financial problems as the administration claims, why did it insist on rushing into factfinding rather than wait for the audit results, as the union proposed? from our point of view, everything the administration says is contradicted by what it does.

township government is a very limited form of government. boards of trustees have very circumscribed legislative and executive power. a board of trustees has two critical functions: budgeting and hiring.

let's look at the administration's track record. a chief of police who brought morale, professionalism and a sense of public service to unprecedented levels was cashiered and replaced with a man who had 4 years of police experience from over 30 years ago, and who never rose above patrolman.

the prior township administrator was also shown the door and promptly replaced by the summer intern fresh out of college. mr. loree has many fine qualities but experience is not one of them.

does anyone believe that the board of trustees are handling their budgeting duties any better than their hiring and personnel duties?

The Vindy editors won't print that information. They'll just stick to blaming the cops and their union. And why wasn't the fact that the department is down FOURTEEN positions (including one captain, one lieutenant, and two sergeants) printed, with how much those vacant positions are saving the township? Can anyone NOT on the the Vindy payroll report those numbers without twisting them around? Oh, and lets not forget that the underqualified, overweight poor excuse for a chief is being paid approximately $30,000 more per year than the previous chief who was run out of town by Gallitto and Miller. Hey Vindy, why won't you report on the search committee formed by Gallitto, Miller and Mancini to find qualified candidates for the position of police chief, and the fact that all three members on that committee said Berarducci is not qualified and should not be hired? Report on why his background check was not done. And why won't you report on the fact that Berarducci is friends with Nick Levinsky, who just happened to be married to Gallitto when Berarducci was hired? It's funny how facts like these are omitted. I'm sure you meant to include those, but they probably slipped your mind.
P.S. Will somebody PLEASE inform that misinformed a**hole to get his facts straight before posting comments. Officers who live outside of the township are not allowed to have a take-home car. Once again, it's public record.

Let's really clear the air - the union is taking advantage of the dimwit Trustees. It is obvious to everyone that the township is out of money. The only reason the Trustee’s brought back the firemen and one police officer is for political purposes this year.

The unions should stop acting like a bunch of thugs and start acting like members of this community. I would like to see them go door to door and find out if their demands would fly with their neighbors that work in the private sector, the answer will be a resounding NO.

If Rome (Boardman) needs to burn to the ground, so be it. Let the state come in and tear up those union contracts. The Sheriff can patrol Boardman, and volunteers can be reinstated in the Fire Department. Budget balanced, end of story.

I heard a funny story today:

I spoke to a friend of my family, who has lived many places in her life. She told me of an encounter she had with the police last night in her Boardman home.

Due to the storm and the power surge, apparently numerous house alarms were set off, including hers. She said that her husband had already spoken to the alarm company and that everything at the home was in order.

He barely had time to hang up the phone and what was waiting on her door step in the pouring rain. Two Boardman police officers. They told her that they already knew that she spoke to the alarm company but that they were going to go to each house alarm anyway, just to check on the home and those living there.

She said in all her years, and all the places she lived, she had never seen anything like this. She said the officers, despite being outside in a midnight rain storm, were courteous and professional. Now she says she feels absolutely safe in her home and knows that they will be there if she needs them and she is getting the service she is paying for.

Seems like they are doing a pretty good job to me! I don't think they are asking too much.

Unfortunately, if this paper and certain others get what they want, those services will essentially be unheard of when there are even fewer cops on the streets. Then the whining and griping we'll hear is "Where are the cops?! I had to wait two hours for a report. Why am I paying taxes if they're slow to respond, or don't respond at all?" Essentially, the cops are damned if they do and damned if they don't. And don't even go into that "they chose their profession. Nobody made them become police officers" bullsh*t argument. Cops are well aware that doing the job is 100% their decision. They don't want sympathy from anyone. Just respect from their employers who claim to care about them.

And if people do start complaining about a slow response time from the pd, maybe some of the firemen can be sent out. After all, there are eleven of them on duty at the three fire stations (you know, compared to the six officers on the road). But once again, it's all the cops and the union's fault.

I hate to see any of the safety forces cut. After all, as a whole, police and fire have been slighted for YEARS when everyone else was doing fine.

Take-home cars link:
http://www.boardmantwp.com/trustees/M...

Chief’s tuition link:
http://boardmantwp.com/trustees/Minut...

No union in the township has tried to break the bank of the township and it is very disapointing to see that some people have tried over and over again to discredit all the township employees. The facts are clear evey group in the township has had cuts in staff and has made concessions. It is not responsible journalism to take a fact finding report and blast the Police Department. You took one side of the whole negotiation process and formed an opinion. I will say it again as I have many times over every employee in the township wants to continue to provide the best service to our residents. All of us would not have moved to boardman to raise our families and proudly say we work here.

I've read all the responses and haven't read anything that says Boardman's financial woes are the fault of the police department. I don't believe they are. I do agree there has been mismanagement and failiar to look ahead. I believe the police do need to realize, unfortunately they are in this mess. Everything that is happening with local companies (GM, Forum Health, etc.) is going to effect them. Most companies have had to adjust and change benefit packages, salaries,etc. If it affects me, (it has/does) it's going to affect how my tax dollars are spent.

jobag,
None of the patrolmen are blind to the economic woes. Here is the problem, as the author of the main article fails to realize.

A contract with numerous concessions was proposed by the patrolmen and it wasn't considered good enough. From what I understand, they were countered with a contract offer that virtually raped them. They are all sensitive to the tax payers and understand that you are the ones paying them.

Maybe in the CURRENT economy the pay is a bit high, but 14.90 an hour is ridiculous for what they have to deal with. I think more effort should be made to bring other departments in line with them, not the other way around. Police are disrespected and crapped on far too much to deserve such low pay.

A bit high says Rokscout. I have numbers that show just the salaries of most Boardman PD ranks to be 15,000 more per officer than the same ranks of other local departments. Why is that? BECAUSE THEY USED THE INHERITANCE MONEY AS A BASIS FOR CONTRACTS. One time revenues to fund long term financial commitments. Who asked for those contracts based on the inheritance monies? The townships unions. Who wound up giving it to them? Past trustees and arbitrators. So now the inheritance (Mrs DeBartolo mainly) monies have shrunk to normal levels and we're stuck with contracts that are simply overpaying everyone. 20% pay cuts are the answer. It puts them IN LINE with other departments. Since they won't take 20% pay cuts, a two tier structure makes sense. The bottom line is the township is broke and one of two things MUST happen.

1. Current employees take concessions big enough to keep current staffing levels and perhaps add some officers/firemen.

or

2. Layoffs.

Of course they could always do what public sector workers usually do. Hold the township hostage for another levy.

Remember too, Mr Wolfe above doesn't have the best interest of the township at heart since he is after all, the main union guy for the firemen.

Hey, Ap!

Maybe the township should rewrite their mission statement!

"It is the mission of Boardman Township government to provide for and promote the general health, safety, and welfare of the Boardman Township residents and businesses by seeking to accomplish the following: delivering quality public services, including police, fire, road and zoning services, in a professional, impartial and timely manner; maintaining the financial health and stability of operations, services and programs; planning for the short and long term controlled growth and development of the community; being responsive to both residential and business needs with a reasonable tax burden; acting as a model entity in providing efficient and effective public services; having a unified philosophy, policies and procedures combined with competitive wages that will result in high employee morale and low turnover by maintaining a positive work environment; and, continuing to build upon and advance the existing reputation of Boardman Township in providing both cooperation and leadership in the Mahoning Valley and across Ohio."

Rokscout, the salaries are too high! ! 14.90 may be a bit low to start, maybe 15.00-16.00 would be a little more acceptable, I don't know. I'm not about compensating for what an officer has to put up with, it's part of the job and it isn't a daily nightmare like some would have us believe. I believe we have fine officers in Boardman and they should be paid fairly. I know many officers in other departments also, they all deserve a fair wage. But, I'm way too familiar with a police officers job to think high pay equals high standard. If you recall, and I know this isn't the norm, but you had an officer that was terminated after 5 years of service that was making close to $80,000! I'm sorry, that's insane, not to mention what a jerk he turned out to be.

I applaud the firefighters for recognizing the possible financial hardship in the township by taking concessions and helping to get that fire station open again. It's my understanding that they have had to work much overtime since the trustees refuse to bring back all the firefighters who left or were laid off. The firemen see the big picture. I'm not so sure about the trustees.
People like Apollo seem to think Mr. Wolfe is not capable of balancing the needs of his membership with the needs of the rest of the township's citizens. Actually, he seems to be looking out for his men AND the citizens. Look around. What community around us has a better fire department that Boardman? We get top-notch fire, medical, prevention and education for a relatively small amount of money.
I would gladly support a levy to secure or enhance the great services we have here.

ubotherme wrote: "I would gladly support a levy to secure or enhance the great services we have here."

Uh, we just passed one last November and it turned out to be a squib load.........

So, there are eleven firemen on duty at any one time in Boardman and only six police officers.... and we are picking on the policemen and their pay? Sounds like they might be short staffed... OR are the fire stations over staffed? If I recall correctly, all Boardman fire is responsible for is fighting fires. There are ambulance services that cover medical issues. So how many fires have they fought in the last year?

johndoe - pretty sure you are recalling incorrectly. Boardman fire fighters respond to all medical emergency calls in the township, and are typically the first to arrive on the scene. Not sure about you, but I'm pretty positive that if I had a family medical emergency I would prefer to keep around the guys that arrive first on the scene.

And as a side note the National Fire Protection Association NFPA Code 1710-Standard for Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments- involves staffing of career fire departments. In this code, the NFPA has used scientific evidence, past history and first hand experience to establish the minimum number of personnel required to safely and effectively operate on a fire scene. NFPA 1710 guidelines say that a first arriving company must consist of 4 fire fighters and arrive within 4 minutes of the initial 911 call. For an initial full alarm assignment (any structure fire) minimum personnel on scene should consist of 15-17 fire fighters arriving on scene within 8 minutes of the initial 911 call.

Two of three Boardman stations are staffed with 3 fire fighters on duty at all times.

Stansmom, while I agree with your side and point of view surrounding this whole argument I must volunteer some knowledge that shows the opposite. Take your standard and apply it to Campbell's fire dept. They have usually one or two firemen working a shift at a time. If there is a fire, they respond and call out the remaining firemen. This is in a city where there are actually fires. When was Boardmans last fire??

A Pig will eat anything !

What's the matter Timmy? Fail the civil service exam?

Never took a civil service exam johndoe67 ! I was too busy working. You civil service people should try it !

I don't see an issue with the money they are making. I am not a fan of unions, but I am a fan of police and firemen. They are the laziest bunch of people I know (just joking), until you need them. Then............god bless them!!!!!! I've never been a policeman or fireman, but can only imagine the BS they have to put up with day to day.
Everyone of you that wants to complain needs to have your house catch on fire or broken into. Then we'll see how much you LOVE them. Between the police, firefighter, and teachers, none of them are paid enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would call of Boardmans problems are "poor management"

I have a way the police can make some revenue. Why don't they get out and write some tickets to all of the crazy and drunken drivers that fly up and down 680 and 224.

Unions? You either love them or hate them. The bottom line is when a community is in bad financial shape, for whatever reason, all the people of that community will suffer. Everyone is taking paycuts nowdays. The Boardman police department should be no different. Would you rather see paycuts or layoffs? And no new levys please. One was just passed last election and it doesn't appear to have helped. The next election should be one that votes out all current decision makers and replaces them with new blood and new ideas. Could it hurt? As for the Vindicator, has anyone ever seen an editorial that was written in support of any unions? I haven't. There are two sides of a story. I would like to see the Vindy print an article that gives the salaries of all their employees, just like the one they did on the Boardman PD. Granted police officers are public employees and that info is accessible, but was it really necessary.