THE "FACTS" ABOUT COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ABSENT FIREFIGHTER

The Havre Daily Corrector ran a story back on February 3 about Jack Tretheway filing for the HD 33 seat in which we stated that we hoped he would not burden the City of Havre with costs associated with not showing up for work if elected to the House. Three days later a comment was posted by a person with the handle of “Bob” that took offense to the Corrector’s “suggestion” that Representative Bob Bergren cost the City taxpayer’s any money because of his simultaneous position as both our representative and a city fireman. Portions of the article are below;
http://havredailycorrector.blogspot.com/2010/02/jack-tretheway-files-for-hd33.html
We at the Corrector wonder is Tretheway retiring? Or does he plan on giving the City “one on the chin” like our former representative did his first term. I would hope that Tretheway would do the honorable thing and resign his position with the City to save the taxpayer from paying for an employee that is not showing up for work as did his predecessor. Currently Havre Firefighters are on a three day work schedule. Kris Hansen, his opponent, has stated that she would be taking a leave of absence without pay during the legislative session.
Response from a guy that called himself Bob on February 6, 2010
Bob  said...
Bergren was never paid a dime from the city for any time he spent in Helena. Not one Penny...Please check your facts!!!!

The Corrector has taken your advice Bob and checked the facts with our sources connected with the City and this is our synopsis;
Fact # 1 – For every hour that Bob Bergren was allowed to remain on the City pay ledger as a firefighter for the City, we paid his health insurance, his retirement, and he accumulated vacation pay, sick leave and etc. While he was off “serving” his district in the House these costs continue to march on even if the City halted his actual pay check. For him to claim that he never cost the City of Havre a penny is a fallacy. The sad part is that he apparently truly believes this and he was the House of Representative leader in charge of spending yours and mine tax dollars while not truly understanding how an actual business operates.

Fact # 2 – It has been reported to the Corrector by several sources that Bob Bergren repeatedly called in sick when he had campaign conflicts with not only his campaign but also when he was campaigning for Jon Tester in his Senate quest. Eventually Bob was “caught in the act” calling in sick while actually he was out campaigning and was called on the carpet by Fire Chief Dave Sheppard and Mayor Bob Rice. Bergren’s response to them was “I guess you have me on this one” and he was protected by his union. Being paid for sick days when he was actually out campaigning for office cost the City more than the “nothing” Bob claims in his comment.
When someone calls in sick, the City of Havre Fire Department is required to call in off duty personnel to replace him at over-time rates. Here’s how the system works; there is always a fireman on standby call and is paid for this stand-by time. When this stand-by person is activated because a regularly scheduled fireman did not arrive for his scheduled shift that stand-by person is called in at the over-time pay rate and an additional fireman is called to replace that person now working and is likewise paid the stand-by rate. If the firemen that are working are called out to a fire or an ambulance call additional personnel are called in at over-time pay to keep the station legally staffed. So upon our research Bob is correct that he didn’t receive one penny of legitimate payroll for his time away, but his actions cost the City Taxpayers huge amounts in unnecessary over-time pay. His refusal to relinquish his position as a fire fighter his first term also left the Fire Department unable to hire a replacement to fill in for his time away resulting in yet more over-time being paid to cover his shifts with an inadequate number of fire fighters in the City’s employ in addition to the costs associated with his vacation and retirement benefits accruing with no services rendered to the City. Is Bob really this clueless as to the workings of a business? Or is he smart as a fox and realized that by prolonging his departure he could net some financial gain for himself at the expense of the tax-payers? Either way, he “worked” the system! Eventually in his second term as a legislature Bergren was pressured into “retiring” by Chief Sheppard and Mayor Rice so they could hire a replacement that would show up for work at the regularly scheduled shifts. Bergren now receives a pension that we the taxpayers paid for and is now off spending our tax dollars as our District 33 Representative.

Fact # 3 – The Corrector made the claim that Bergren also paid people to take his shifts. The fact of the matter is that the union does not have this practice spelled out in the Firefighters contract however it does take place as part of an in-house buddy system. It works something like this; a fireman calls in a buddy to work his shift, he can pay him or trade shifts, after all, the department is all for one and one for all. Both Havre firemen and police are considered hourly employees but paid on a salaried basis. They work between 33 and 36 hours, are paid for a 40 hour week, and are paid extra for holidays, vacations, and sick leave. These contracts were negotiated between the clueless inexperienced Havre City Council members and the firemen. You may recall all the hubbub when former Mayor Rice called in a professional negotiator that knew the labor laws to try and turn this wasteful ship run amuck around to be held accountable to the taxpayers they serve instead of some of the certain select firemen’s personal selfish desires. Be sure to watch and see if the City, under the leadership of Mayor Tim, will again go back to the inept City Council member negotiation teams dealing with these unions instead of a professional.

Fact # 4 – Fireman Jack Tretheway was so angered by the “professional” negotiator that he convinced his wife to run for the city council seat she now holds. How can this not be a conflict of interest? Jack has spent years telling everyone who will lend him their ear that he was being screwed over by the City in his role as a Havre fireman and now he wants to take this agenda to Helena as a representative to continue the work of his mentor, Bob Bergren.
The Corrector stands by our call for Jack Tretheway to resign as a City firefighter if he wants to be a state representative instead of again putting the City in the position of continued costs with no service as did his predecessor Bergren. Since Bergren has not yet filed for any elective office this session we will leave off any comments about the thingy with Monica L, the union fire hall lobbyist connection or any of the other questionable judgment calls while in Helena unless Bob would like us to check our "facts" on these topics also. We will just say that if Jack is the best choice we have on the Democrat ticket for HD33 the Corrector will support his opponent, Republican Kris Hansen.

The Corrector wants to go on record as saying that we think our current Havre City Firefighters do an outstanding job of serving the community and are getting an unwarranted “black eye” by a select few in their group with a personal “ax to grind”

What say you fellow bloggers?
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