The St. Petersburg City Council unanimously approved its 2016 budget on Thursday night surrounded by members of the People's Budget Review, a group that has been vocal in the city in recent years and received a great deal of credit in the council's decision to increase the salary of city employees by three percent. While the budget was more or less settled, those present made sure to get their point across that it was still lacking in the area of wages, despite the increase.
Activists were hoping the city would keep automatic incremental increases in wage that have been awarded annually to workers. While most city workers will lose that benefit in 2016 in favor of the three percent raise, members of the fire and police department will now enjoy both.
This perceived favoritism among city employees has raised a backlash in recent weeks as the budget approached its completion.
While evening showers put a damper on an intended rally outside of the St. Pete City Hall prior to the convening of the council, distraught city workers made their voices heard inside during a lengthy public comment session.
“I'm here to ask my union brothers and sisters to remember what our experience has been here recently, that we were offered three percent but also offered to remove the steps which would add up to three percent,” said Brian “Cricket” Brehm, the St. Petersburg Chapter Chair of the Florida Public Services Union, as he addressed both the audience and the City Council.
“So actually he was offering us nothing and wanted to remove the possibility for any advancement in our pay. Please don't forget the Mayor's comments from a few weeks ago, where he let us know that there just wasn't enough money for us have a cost of living established and asked us to be patient. Then fire and police were both given cost of living a few days later in their respected and well deserved contracts. I ask workers in the city to take it deep into their hearts the disrespect shown to their profession. I want you to think about this every day before you go to work.”
Members of the council asserted that the disagreement was between respective fire, police and other city employee unions and the Mayor's office, with City Council playing a minuscule role in the entire process.
“I was wondering when people would come to the past few budget hearings over and over again saying 'we're not getting raises'. I never understood what that was because we kept voting for the budgets that would approve raises, I was up there doing it,” said Councilman Wengay Newton.
“However, I don't think it's fair to pit (police) against Fire against SEIU, because if you know how this works you know you are all represented by a collective bargaining agreement that is agreed upon by the Mayor's staff and appointees, not Council. All we do is ratify what you guys agree upon, so thinking we don't care about you can't be farther from the truth. That goes to the individual that you have negotiating with the Mayor.”
Also bringing a major crowd was the issue of funding, or the lack thereof, for the Enoch D. Davis Center in south St. Pete. The 35-year-old structure was described as understaffed and having a roof that is in such disrepair that leaks occur at the slightest of rainfall, the only remedy for the latter being a bucket to collect the constant drip. Those who had read the budget were shocked that while many community centers and parks had been earmarked for improvements in the budget, the Enoch Davis Center was not among them.
“I've been to Enoch Davis probably six or seven times over the past two months. … There I've seen people as young as three and four use that center and people as old as seventy and eighty,” said Ashley Green of the Florida Public Services Union. “It truly is a hub and I don't understand why it continues to be one of the most under-resourced and underfunded locations in the city when it probably does some of the most incredible work”
Many on the council had been unaware that such issues plagued the facility, assuming that the company contracted to repair the roof had been sufficient. While it was too late put it in the budget, suggestions such as siphoning funds from other community center improvement projects or addressing the issue with money from the BP oil spill payout arose as possible options for improving Enoch D. Davis.
As they placed their votes for the final approval of the budget, there was bit of sentimentality amongst the Council, particularly with term-limited council members Bill Dudley and Newton, who leave office at the end of this year. With the council having some new faces during next year's budget debate and the others eventually moving on as well, the presence of the People's Budget Review may become the only constant of the annual affair.
This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2015.