In 2008, an ordinance passed, authorizing the Delmar Police Department to have Collective Bargaining and Binding Arbitration Rights in Delmar, Maryland. At the time, the Maryland Elected Officials believed that Delmar, DE was facing State legislation that would mandate the same course of action. As it turned out, Delmar, Delaware was not mandated by State legislation to enact Collective Bargaining and Binding Arbitration, therefore, they opted not to do so. The Towns of Delmar, Maryland and Delaware operate under a unified agreement with one Town Manager, one police department, one public works department, one administration and one municipal building; therefore, we believe it is in the Town’s best interest to amend the previous ordinance to correct the imbalance of the unified operational structure of our Towns. Further, we strongly believe that being forced to act independently from Delmar, Delaware would be a difficult task, as well as affect the Town’s unification.
On January 13, 2020, The Mayor and Commissioners introduced an amendment to the 2008 ordinance. The Mayor and Commissioners believe this ordinance amendment is essential to protect our Delmar, Maryland constituents from bearing 100% of the costs that could be imposed if we do not make this change. It is our desire to ensure that we continue to maintain the unification agreement that keeps this unique “Town Too Big for one State”. Please be advised this amendment does not prohibit collective bargaining, it simply allows the Commissioners to protect the future of the unified Towns ability to work together in the best interests of the taxpayers, as well as to ensure that the daily operational expenditures is shared, based upon the agreed proportions.
If you have any questions or concerns, please call the Town Manager, Sara Bynum-King at 410-896-2777 x 105.
Please see the attached amendment.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mayor and Commissioners, Delmar, Maryland
10 comments:
Was this written by a 3rd grader or what?
Delmar should pay their Officers a bit more than the less than average salary they are currently paid. By the looks of that very expensive and worthless library the town recently built....Seems like Delmar has the cash to make their Officers have appropriate salaries for the dangerous job they perform on a daily basis.
That's why they all need collective bargaining
WTF is this trying to say?
Town didn't build library private enterprise
Still owe 2.5 million
So wait, one side of Delmar has collective bargaining and the other does not? I’m assuming the salaries and benefits are paid for by both sides so how will collective bargaining even work if both sides don’t have it?
Anonymous said...
So wait, one side of Delmar has collective bargaining and the other does not? I’m assuming the salaries and benefits are paid for by both sides so how will collective bargaining even work if both sides don’t have it?
January 16, 2020 at 11:19 AM
I'll tell you how they will do it if the police want to demand it. Delmar, MD gets to foot the whole darn bill! Which is a crock because the only time I see them is at a football game or in the Wawa parking lot. I looked up the starting salary just to see how poor they were. Their website says they make 37,000 a year. Salisbury doesn't make much more than that. And they must get cars to take. I see them more out of town then I do in. I'm sure my tax dollars pay for that too. They want something for nothing.
That's because the bulk of crime is on the Maryland side.
With 260 apartments and hundreds of new homes being built and a depleted staff it’s a matter of time before the few officers they have left leave for better employment . Laurel starts at $48, let that sink in
There's been a long standing dispute over whether any public employees should have the ability to collectively bargain and form unions. The basis against such a move is that a large collective could literally extort whatever they want through job actions, walk-outs, etc. This was brought to the national fore during Reagan's crushing of the air traffic controllers, for example.
Then there's the whole issue of fairness of pay relative to the community standards of living. At the beginning of Obama's 1st term, at the height of our last great modern depression/recession, when people were losing their jobs and homes all over the country in record numbers, Federal employees in the Balto/Wash metro area were found to have an average pay and benefits package of almost $140,000 a year. That's just per person, not household, and it did bring to light the question of since when did taking the security of a gov't job mean that you were also entitled to a standard of living beyond that of the citizenry saddled with paying you? All very valid points to consider while drilling down to the realities of attempting to manage a small town budget during these Trump Virus times.
With a per capita income of about $23,000, and a median household income of about $53,000, a starting pay of $37,000 sounds pretty damn reasonable, but let's not forget to factor things like overtime, which in most police departments is where the officers really start to make their money. Then, and I honestly do not know how often this goes on in Delmar, there's the issue of command and or line officers taking their extremely expensive police gear rigged vehicles home as some sort of bonus pay? I realize that there are rationales for the existence of such programs, and those involved SHOULD be paying income tax on that very real and valuable benefit, but I also doubt that any of that is accounted for in the plaints regarding their pay. So maybe gather and analyze ALL of the relevant data before suggesting that these people are suffering some sort of economic hardship. They are not patrolling the streets of Bradley Manor in Bethesda, Md. (median household income of $600,000) nor are they working the dangerous streets of Baltimore (starting pay $53,500 but that can double w/ OT), they are writing tickets and responding to complaints in Delmar, where the cost of living is low, you can live in Delaware and still be supported by Maryland taxes, and basically become a law enforcement employee when other departments wouldn't have you.
Beyond that, the point is that residents elect people to run their city or town who they believe to be responsible, and people like the Town Manager, the Mayor, and the Council, deal with the uncomfortable realities of incompetent management and limited budgets every day. So, to cut to the chase here; if you want to micro-manage the running of the town, engage and educate yourself to the whole picture, 'cuz you can't give more money to one group or project without taking it from another, and the only way to do both is to raise taxes, so pick your poison, or run for office yourself if you think you can do a better job. Why not? Delmar has certainly proved that it can elect an idiot in the past and somehow manage to survive it.
Or just do what most folks do and shout when it's convenient and then go back to the blissful ignorant sleep of the uninformed and apathetic. Ultimately, we get the gov't we deserve - which is why we are now ruled by the king of all idiots and have people protesting for the "right" to make everyone around them sick.
Just food for thought, not red meat.
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