The Mount Vernon City Council approved the city administration's plan to create more supervisory positions in its water and wastewater departments.
Councilmember Mike Hillier opposed the plan. He cited morale issues and union objections in his opposition during the City Council meeting on Dec. 12. He said the union president told him they did not want to lose any members to supervisory positions.
Rick Dzik, safety-services director, said a few points needed to be made – nobody was removed from the union, and the union would be concerned about having lower dues collections with fewer members.
"That being said, the union has made it very clear that they don't want their union members evaluating or disciplining fellow employees, which makes it very difficult for us to create a supervisory structure within the union," Dzik said.
It's the city's right to structure its own organization, he said.
Hillier said he understands the city's position and that seven people resigned from the department. He said he never agreed with these changes and he does not think they are what is best for the department.
Councilmember John Francis said that was his concern also, as he has looked at the plan and talked to other members.
"So, we know the morale is down," he said. "And how is this propping up the morale for the rest?"
Dzik said the Public Works Department is working seamlessly with a similar structure.
"It is a little unreasonable to expect one or two people to manage 35 unionized employees," he said. "And this will give the director – whoever that person eventually is – a crew of supervisors that can report back to him to provide access to the employees."
One reason for making changes now is that the administration understands that the City Council does not want to increase the headcount for the department or drastically increase the costs for the positions. The fact that a superintendent retired and there is a vacancy in a chief operator's position created an opportunity to make the changes without displacing anyone, Dzik said.
During the legislative portion of the meeting, the City Council voted 6-1 to make the organizational changes in the water and wastewater departments, creating the wastewater superintendent and utility administration manager positions, and setting their wages at $64,480 and $56,347, respectively.
Influenza responsible for hospitalizations
Zach Green, the Knox County public health commissioner, offered a quarterly update on the department's operations and the health of the community.
COVID is not the only issue, he said. Influenza A is the primary source of hospitalization, and the department is still dealing with RSV.
Green said he can give the City Council plenty of statistics, but he asked if the numbers he was providing were what they wanted and needed to see.
"I'm sure you've seen within at least central Ohio, we are dealing with an outbreak of measles," he said. "Fortunately, thus far we do not have any cases in Knox County, I think it's safe to say at this point."
Knox County is at 86% vaccination for the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The number was higher in 2018, Green said.
"We were at 89% and we're going down, and we do that across the board," he said.
The last time Green spoke to the City Council, he talked about the search for more space. They are still looking for something in downtown Mount Vernon, he said.
