SB 5 impact on public safety could vary by area

Bill would affect 300K workers in various ways.

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By Doug Page and Jeremy P. Kelley
Staff Writers 12:37 AM Thursday, September 22, 2011

DAYTON — Both sides agree that there will be no immediate effect on public safety during the next few months should Senate Bill 5 be upheld in November’s referendum, according to Dayton police and fire administrators and union officials.

What worries them is the possible long-term effects.

Issue 2 on the Nov. 8 ballot is a referendum on Senate Bill 5. The bill would impact more than 300,000 public workers in various ways, including 30,000 police officers and firefighters across Ohio.

For firefighters and police, the debate over SB 5 revolves around changes to binding arbitration, minimum staffing levels and the economic impact on longtime employees.

Dayton fire and police are in a unique position. While other departments have been laying off officers and firefighters to deal with the economic downturn, Dayton has suffered from a combination of attrition, a U.S. Justice Department consent decree that has kept the city from hiring any new police and firefighters since 2008 and the state-mandated retirement of senior officers enrolled in a deferred retirement plan.

“There is a floor (on the number of officers) and we’re getting close to that,” Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said. “We’re hitting that floor at peak demand.”

For other Miami Valley police and fire departments, the effects of Senate Bill 5 on staffing are not as dramatic.

“I don’t believe it will have any effect on us,” said Englewood Police Chief Mark Brownfield. He said most of his officers are young — the department has but one officer enrolled in the state’s Deferred Retirement Option Plan — and turnover is minimal.

Many local fire departments operate with a mix of full-time and part-time firefighters, giving them additional flexibility. Dayton fire administrators said part-timers would not fit well with the department’s high call load.

Biehl has seen his department shrink from 383 at the start of the year to around 345 last week, a loss of 38 officers — what the department had forecast for all of 2011. The department will be operating on increased overtime for 2012, and any increased attrition means the remaining officers will have to devote more and more of their time to answering emergency calls, the chief said.

Which means the time devoted to proactive policing will be limited.

“When there are cuts, pro-active is what goes first,” Biehl said. “We can’t slough off emergency response. The citizens depend on it.” As fewer and fewer officers are available, Biehl fears crime rates will cease their decline.

An exodus?

Both Biehl and Dayton Fire Chief Herbert Redden fear upholding SB 5 will trigger a further exodus of experienced cops and firefighters.

Under SB 5, accrued leave and sick pay would be paid out at much lower rates on retirement.

“If SB 5 passes, a number of individuals will consider retirement,” Redden said. “We can’t afford for too many to leave.” The result would be “extremely high overtime or browning out of (more) companies,” the chief said.

Dayton Fraternal Order of Police President Randy Beane agreed. “There will be more people leaving when staffing is critical,” he said.

Beane said even if SB 5 is upheld it would not affect the current contracts. The full effect would not be felt until they expire, unless Dayton were to declare a fiscal emergency. Under SB 5, it would allow the city to void its contracts with bargaining units, according to Beane.

Minimum staffing

SB 5 would take the issue of staffing out of collective bargaining, leaving it in the hands of city administration.

Police and firefighters believe they need to be at the table when those decisions are made, which was the central theme of a TV ad opposing SB 5. That angers Ashley Webb, a Kettering City Council member.

“That’s not a firefighter’s job to decide how many firefighters you need,” Webb said. “That’s why we employ a city manager, and a fire chief and fire department management. Those guys are experts in their field.”

The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration uses a “2-in, 2-out” rule for firefighters entering a burning structure. Two firefighters enter to battle the fire or rescue a trapped person, and two remain outside the structure to provide assistance in case the 2-in run into trouble and need rescuing. The rule applies to all federal and private firefighters and firefighters in 27 states. Ohio is not one of those states.

Gary Sheets, Butler County human resources director, said SB 5 was introduced to give the management side more authority and restrict certain bargaining issues.

Sheets said there is jealousy between certain groups; for instance, some have step increases that others don’t have.

“Well, when I begin to hear people who are not in bargaining units say they wish they were in a bargaining unit, that concerns me,” Sheets said.

Binding arbitration

Changes to binding arbitration would affect all departments, said Kettering City Manager Mark Schwieterman.

Instead of an independent, third-party arbitrator deciding the issues, SB 5 gives that task to elected representatives — city councils and city commissions.

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Last of five parts: The Dayton Daily News is digging into both sides of the debate on Issue 2 and how it would affect government workers and taxpayers. Today, we take an in-depth look at Senate Bill 5’s impact on public safety. 

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