By: Diane Benjamin
Only the Hales supporters on the City Council don’t understand that low employee morale at the City of Bloomington if David Hales’ fault.
Employees have been stripped in essential areas while Hales’ staff has ballooned. Employees are forced to document everything they do so Hales can measure results. Much time is wasted documenting instead of actually doing the job.
Tonight representatives from the Police and Fire Unions are going to be at the Council meeting speaking during public comment. When the Chicago Tribune article broke about the fines assessed against the City for spiking the salaries of top management, Hales proclaimed that only police and fire now can. They can’t, and they are mad at being Hales’ scapegoat. David Hales deflected his own ineptness in controlling pension expenses and fines to the police and fire personnel. Hales knew that non-union employees were spiking their pensions and he is looking forward to spiking his own.
Hales continually screws up in many areas, but he refuses to take any responsibility. When employees are unjustly attacked by the guy who is responsible for waste of taxpayer funds, morale sinks.
If the Council was smart they would dump Hales immediately! They would not only instantly improve employee morale, they would save a lot of money!
But they’re not, so they wont.
The tone of any organization is set at the top and filters down. Will anyone on the council ask what Hales is doing to fix morale?
No, they won’t except for Kevin Lower. All of the council members are “yes” people except for Kevin. If people would pay attention to how the council votes on almost anything, they would see everyone votes “yes” to whatever the Mayor or Hales wants. Kevin Lower is usually the only “no” vote.
The local ham radio station WJBC this morning had on a representative from the fireman’s union. Whoa talk about nailing Hales this guy sure did a good job at it. Maybe the ham radio station will put it up for later listening.
I sort of liked the comment someone posted on the firewood starting paper website, Hales should have been fired on the spot. Quite the embarrassment to the city after that Tribune article came out.
Now I really wonder what happened when Hales was asked to leave one position.
This is not the first embarrassing story about Bloomington reported by the Tribune–remember the “mayoral censure,” and the restraining order. There is no face-lift or cultural amenity that can compensate for shameful behavior by the city administration. Corporations take note of such things. Using the excuse that it is “not illegal” is a weak defense and only used by someone who has lost their moral compass. There is no evidence in today’s Council meeting packet that shows Hales brought a recommendation for change in policy to the City Council back in 2012 or since. Where is the copy of the agenda for that recommendation, Mr. Hales??
Hales is going to be like ANY other bureaucrat, and that is to make others look inept while his own ineptness is overlooked by folks who are having to do excessive “pencil pushing” to fulfill his stupid demands, which don’t amount to savings of time or money. This will continue till he’s fired! And the council is too weak to say NAY to him or “bow tie boy” for fear of having the “pencil pushing” forced on them, or worse, loosing the free lunch. Sad but true. Still wonder WHY we pay $200 K a year for an idiot whose records are sealed from his last job-that just REEKS of corruption or ineptness!
The Background:
“To effectuate the ordinance, the City Manager will provide notice to all classified and collectively bargained employees impacted by the change, describing the transition period preceding the effective date of January 1, 2018. Effective January 1, 2018, all SLBB would be paid out with the eligible employee’s last payroll check preceding retirement.”
The Ordinance:
“SECTION 3. All personnel policies and manuals shall be updated to reflect that for those grandfathered employees entitled to SLBB, any newly accumulated, unused sick leave hours must be paid in a lump sum amount after the employee leaves or retires from the City in a manner to avoid any IMRF impact. This shall be effective September 1, 2015. All departmental or other employment policies or practices in conflict with the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this Ordinance are hereby repealed. The City reserves the right to make further changes to the policy regarding SLBB in the future.”
Which date is the effective date? How does the date affect Hales’ retirement benefits”
Somebody should FOIA how much he has accrued!
My question really is, what year is Hales eligible for retirement benefits? Does 2018 make him exempt from the new ruling?
The ordinance says NEWLY EARNED. If Hales has already earned his, then he is exempt.