April 30, 2010
Dear County Commissioner:
I draft this letter out of great concern on many fronts first and foremost as a parent of school aged children in St. Lucie County, as a tax payer, and as the Union President representing the St. Lucie County Deputies Association.  It has come to my attention that the Board of County Commissioners are proposing not to fund the current School Resource Program.  I can not put into words the enormity of the mistake this would be. 

As a parent of school aged children and a tax payer I find it imperative that the safety and security of the children be the paramount priority when looking at budgets.  You would be hard pressed to find an issue that is more deserving of funding than that of security of the children in this community.  I could not fathom the degree of chaos that would ensue with the absence of a law enforcement presence in the middle and high schools of this community.

As a union President, representing over 200 law enforcement deputies, it boggles my mind how this is even an open topic of discussion.  With all that has taken place on this topic in the last two years it amazes me that we are right back in the starting gate every year.  The Board has already seen how crucial this unit is to the security of the campuses in this community.  It has been demonstrated over and over again that the work being done by these experts in their field.  I can tell you from first hand knowledge that School Resource is unlike any other form of law enforcement.  The training and experience in dealing with juveniles can not be measured in dollars.  This is a unit that strives not only to enforce the laws but to figure out what is creating the problems with the child and assist in finding solutions to the core problems.  This is a unit that puts as many youths through juvenile diversion as they arrest.  This is a unit that spends countless hours instructing the young people of this community that being a law violator is no life to pursue.  To date this unit has made over 490 presentations reaching almost 30,000 children on various topics.  This unit has made over 300 arrests in the schools and took other law enforcement actions to try not to arrest on over 1,025 occasions.  This unit has made over 9,000 student initiated contacts.  These are contacts were the students reach out to their school resource deputies with their issues.  This unit has had over 2,100 parent conferences trying to communicate with parents and assist them in their task of raising their children by providing information that is sometimes hard to stomach but is better known than going unnoticed.  This unit has given administrative assistance to the school staff on over 13,000 instances, providing professional and knowledgeable assistance to school administrators to assist them in their difficult roles.

I implore you on all fronts to fully fund this project as it is for the safety and security of the children in this community.  It is a program that insures that every child in this community gets and opportunity to learn and gain an education that is invaluable.  There should be no higher priority in spending than assuring that the children of this community are safe and secure when they are outside the control of their parents.  I and the constituents that I represent feel that to ignore this priority will be at your own peril.
Sincerely,
 

Jason Cannon
President
St. Lucie County Deputies Association
IUPA local 6010

 

 

 

April 2, 2010  

 

It has been a very busy couple of months.  The Executive Board has established the St. Lucie County Deputies Association as a business and have everything setup that we need to operate.  We had our first membership meeting and approved the Constitution of the local and added an Executive Board position to the ranks.It didn’t take us long to realize that having the Secretary and Treasurer positions being held by one person was going to be overwhelming.  Tim Taylor ran unopposed for the position of Secretary. 

I am very proud to tell you that I mailed off the 100^th member application.  This is a great start but we still have 120 to go.  I can’t stress enough that we are so much stronger with complete membership.  This will benefit us and the Sheriff.  There is no way the county tell us no when we come in representing 220 members plus friends and family.  Add our numbers to that of PSLPD and FPPD and there is not a political entity that can ignore our needs.  This is a program that all in the agency can get behind.  We are the decision makers in this program and we are working with the Sheriff to achieve common goals.  We will all benefit from complete membership!

We will begin negotiations in the very near future.  We have been in contact with Matt Mierzwa, the labor attorney for IUPA, and requested he send a letter to the administration to get negotiations open and schedule some dates to begin.  Matt is looking through the previous contract for language that is in need of shoring up and has taken the points that we sent to add to the previous contract.  We will be asking for much of the things with which people have approached us.  Some of the high points are:  Put all LE Deputies into their proper steps, 3% COLA increase, Reinstate the longevity bonuses, Reworking of the Master Deputy Program, Adjusting the accrual calendar for military time off from Jan – Dec to Oct – Sept., Straight shifts with shift bids once or twice a year, $1/hour increase for “Specialty Pay”,  Physicians Immediate Care program that the admin currently has (No cost medical treatment at PIC), No increases in cost for current benefits, Increase in dental and vision coverage’s, Ability to cash in Comp and VAC time in lieu of taking time off.  Please keep in mind that these are starting points and nothing has been given and/or promised at this point.  All of these things will have to make it across the table and back before we get anything to bring back to you for approval.

The Executive Board has been in the ear of the local State Reps and Senators and let them know that we strongly oppose the collective bargaining bill and any bill that modifies the current FRS system.  There has been a serious attack on FRS and it is still up in the air as to how that will play out.  We are following the progress closely as is the International in Sarasota! 

We issued a press release back when County Commissioner Doug Coward started in on the Sheriff in reference to the budget that was not published by any of the local papers.  It was a statement of total support for the Sheriff in the budget process and outlined how we have taken the lead on responsible spending and have already been belt tightening while other county workers were not.

The Executive Board will begin meeting with the County Commissioners and County Administrator in preparation of the budget process that will begin soon.  We expect to take an active role in the budgeting process and will hold the County accountable for each dollar not spent on a need.  Pet projects beware, we are watching! 

During our membership meeting we had several members step forward to be reps.  The reps are primarily for the passing of information back and forth, but are the first line in the chain.  Feel free to get with any of them with any of your questions and if they can’t answer the question they will get it answered for you.  The current reps are as follows: Alan Reffsin and John Rouleau in Court Security, Mike Muller C Squad, Clay Mangrum D Squad, Tad LeRoy E Squad, Shirley Lindstadt SRD, and Troy Glover SRD.  It was awesome to see this many people step up and take a role this early in the process.  We would still like to see someone from each unit that is not listed.  That way the information flows throughout the agency and everyone is equally represented across the board.  At this point if you will merely act as an information conduit then we welcome you to the rep list.  I am sure as this thing progresses there will be more duties for the reps but information passing is the biggest hurdle that we are trying to overcome.  I know there are people in the agency that have not been touched by the union at this point.  If you are in one of those areas please help us help you by coming forward as a rep and assisting with the passing of the information to your people.  You can be as involved or uninvolved as you would like.  We are willing to work with anyone.  If you think this is speaking to you then get with a member of the Executive Board and get the information flowing.

Jason Canon, President

Saint Lucie County Deputies Association

 

 

A new Era at St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office

I think that the future of the SLCSO’s Law Enforcement Division is with IUPA as our representing body. I know there are a lot of you out there that have a bad taste in your mouth for unions. Let me start by telling you that I am one of them. I was disappointed in the way the PBA came in and how they handled the SLCSO. We all saw and lived through it and I don’t want to waste a lot of time rehashing the bad old days. Let me talk to you a little about the difference in how IUPA is set up.

The biggest difference that I see is that the local members run the shop and make the decisions. We collectively form our own local union and thus our own decision makers. It is not making a call and waiting six months for the communications to break down and the opportunity passes. We would be responsible for our own direction and decisions can be made by our people on how things will be handled.

The old union seemed that they were the tail wagging the dog. We would decide that we wanted “X” and when they got around to taking it into consideration they would blow it off if it didn’t fit their agenda. With IUPA we are the dog and the tail and we can wag it how ever we please. If we collectively decide that we want “X” then “X” it will be. If we decide that we need a little assistance in deciding what “X” is and would it really be in our best interest then we call up IUPA and seek their assistance on the issue.

If something happens IUPA has general council on standby and a list of specializing attorneys on retainer to help with the situation. No more of taking a labor issue to the union only to speak to a personal injury lawyer who knows less about the issue than the people bringing the issue. Not to mention, having no say as to how your union dollars are spent. Like paying to put that personal injury attorney through school to get a clue as to what they are doing. IUPA has trained attorneys ready to go. IUPA will maintain the same amount of dues coming out of each check but $5 per person per month will be returned to our local’s treasury to be used as we see fit. An example of this would be the PSLPD’s hosting of a Policeman’s Ball, their annual Beach Party/BBQ, and the infamous bill board that shined over US1. FPPD’s acquiring the FOP lodge at 25th St and Orange Ave. to be used for a meeting place and a place for officer’s to go and relax and enjoy themselves off duty. Or whatever we as group decide to do with our funds. The key there is “WE DECIDE” what to do with “OUR FUNDS!”

Communication was extremely poor in the past from the union to the members. That day is long over. The union is the members with IUPA. This website will outline all union activity as well as maintaining an email list and facebook updates. If you don’t get the word with IUPA then you have to try not to be informed. Starting with the very first meeting that I attended and being updated on everything that transpires.

Before, we had two representatives that spoke for us to a larger body of people that made our decisions. A body of people that does not even know where St. Lucie County is located, much less what our issue were. With IUPA we are the people that we are talking to. We go to IUPA when we need them for support not the other way around. This puts the responsibility right in our laps where it belongs. We know our positions better than anyone ever could from Port Orange. If we have an issue we know what it is and who to talk to in order to resolve that issue.

I don’t foresee the future of the SLCSO being that of an adversarial more of a partnership in achieving what we are all trying to accomplish. We will get way further trying to work together than we ever could by standing around and cracking our heads together.

The Fort Pierce Police Department and the Port St. Lucie Police Department have already made the change and they are much happier with their situations than they ever were with the PBA. Not to mention how much could get done when the Executive Committees of all three agencies get together and form a coalition to plot how the political landscape of St. Lucie County will progress. If we all three get on the same page and help each other in gaining support through the elected officials in this county we will be unstoppable.

IUPA has the international backing being an affiliate of AFL-CIO and when you look at the number of votes that the three departments plus the local civilian unions can put together through being collectively in AFL-CIO there is not an elected official that would be able to ignore our issues.

I don’t want to sugar coat anything and make it appear that it will be easy. We will be responsible for our own destinies and at the end of the day the buck will stop here. There won’t be a scapegoat up north to blame anything on. So call upon every one of you to take pride in what you do and who you are to step up to the plate and not only join but get involved in the union. This will be a union of deputies, by deputies, and for deputies. Remember if you aren’t part of the solution then you are part of the problem.

I have decided to take personal responsibility for my own destiny and that of my agency and am stepping forward to help run the local union and all that entails. I ask each of you to at least join in the happy majority and become part of the solution. If you think that you bring something of substance to the table then I call on you to step forward to assist in the leadership of the local and help take the SLCSO into the future.

Jason Cannon, President