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| Commissioner candidates target overtime |
| By thetimes-tribune.com |
| Published: 05/16/2011 |
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There is at least one area where all of the candidates for Lackawanna County commissioner agree: Overtime at the county prison is out of control. Among the litany of serious issues at the jail over the past decade - from prisoner beatings and the illegal use of inmate labor in 2003 to a prison-cell birth in 2007 to the near-fatal beating of one inmate by another last summer - none have been more vexing over successive county and prison administrations than budget-busting overtime costs. Just in the past five years, prison overtime has cost more than $5.7 million, including $1.2 million in 2010. Many of the 10 candidates running for commissioner in the primary Tuesday have similar views on reining in the expense, mostly focused on sharper oversight and giving jail administrators more options in scheduling. Five candidates - Democrats Jim Wansacz, Tom Fox and Tom McHugh and Republicans Patrick O'Malley and Bruce Smallacombe - said they would seek to work with the union representing correction officers to curb overtime, either by reopening the current contract or inserting provisions in the next one. "I would go to the union and try to work on a fair labor agreement to try to get rid of mandatory overtime," Mr. Wansacz said. "That is something I think could be worked out." Mr. Wansacz also suggested limiting the number of corrections officers sent for training at any one time. If five or six officers go for training at the same time, there are five or six shifts that potentially have to be covered with overtime. If only one or two officers go, it is less likely overtime will be needed, he said. Based on practices of which he is aware at other prisons, Mr. Fox suggested finding ways to reward officers who do not take their full complement of sick days, possibly by allowing them to earn additional vacation time. He said such changes would be feasible only to the extent the union is willing to negotiate them. "They would have to work with us," he said. "It's a two-way street." Mr. McHugh raised the possibility of hiring part-time corrections officers, which he acknowledged is not permitted under the current contract, to fill shifts when extra officers are needed. "I would certainly meet with the union officials, sit down and hear their side of the story, to get to bottom of it," he said of the overtime issue. "Would the union allow part-time workers? Would one or two more full-time positions eliminate overtime? Those are things you have to find out." Mr. O'Malley, who said the 15 years he was employed full-time at the prison gave him a unique insight on "what it is like to work on the inside," also suggested hiring part-time workers, with the understanding they would have to properly trained and certified. "That is a big thing - you can't just bring in anybody off the street," he said. "You would have to work with the union in good faith to see if it is something you could do, but that would be a way to save money if you are going to save money anywhere." Mr. Smallacombe said renegotiating the contract to allow part-timers could be part of the solution, but there also needs to be oversight by the prison administration to prevent abuses of the system. If corrections officers are regularly calling off sick the day before or after their regularly scheduled days off, they need to be called on it, he said. "Those are the kinds of things where you have to be in there and be hands-on, and you have to start disciplining - verbal warnings or whatever you need - to keep it in order," he said. Democrats Corey O'Brien, Jeanette Mariani and Elizabeth Randol also cited strong leadership as a necessary ingredient in curbing overtime. Mr. O'Brien, the incumbent commissioner who is the chairman of the prison board, said it starts with hiring the best people to run the facility. The board is in the process of searching for a new warden to replace Janine Donate, who resigned in November. Vincent Mooney, who is on loan from the state Department of Corrections, is the acting, interim warden. Mr. O'Brien noted the previous warden asked the prison board to hire more officers, promising overtime would be dramatically reduced; the board did the hiring, he said, "and we can see where our overtime is." "Politicians want to have an answer to every question, and I don't know that there is an answer to the overtime question as of yet," Mr. O'Brien said. Mrs. Mariani, who is Mr. O'Brien's running mate, said overtime oversight has to be responsibility of the jail administration - not the prison board or the commissioners. "You have to have the warden be the watchdog. He has to control that," she said. "If he can't control it, then he shouldn't have the job." Ms. Randol said she does not necessarily believe prison employees are abusing their sick time or leave. But if that is part of the overtime problem, hiring part-timers or any number of other "quick fixes" will not solve it, she said. "A lot of it can be handled by very close supervision and management that starts at the warden and goes down the list to the lieutenants and sergeants," she said. "It has worked in the past with trying to be much more aggressive and almost micromanaging the OT problem. It just requires kind of a heavy hand, a lot of staying on top of people and making sure the system is not being gamed." Read More. |
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