POUGHKEEPSIE – Civil Service Employees Association members working for the City of Poughkeepsie finally have a contract. The seven-year deal, retroactive to when the last contract expired five years ago, was ratified by the Common Council on a 5-2 vote Monday night.
Before the vote, CSEA President Terry Clayton defended what he sees as a modest proposal.
“I think it’s a very responsible contract; I don’t think we’re asking for a lot,” Clayton said. “We’re not holding the city hostage for any type of retro. We just want to move forward because it’s not just DPW, it’s the hardworking people here at City Hall, the crossing guards and everybody else.”
Clayton said the salary impact averages only about 1.25 percent in each of the seven years.
One of the ‘no’ votes came from Democrat Robert Mallory, who criticized Republican Mayor John Tkazyik for not giving any hint as to what he would be proposing in his budget.
“Does the mayor’s 2016 proposed budget take into account the contracts, and if so, what are they?” Mallory asked, rhetorically, to a mayor who was not present. “Or is it again up to this council to maintain services, save jobs, and contractual agreements by doing the hard work that the administration should have done.”
Mallory said without that input from the administration, he had to vote against to contract for fear it would push the city over the tax cap.
The other ‘no’ vote came without comment from Democrat Randall Johnson.
Defending the contract was council Chairman Christopher Petsas.
“This council will have to be very creative and will have to do a lot of double-checking of numbers in next year’s budget to make this all a go, but I’m confident this council will do so,” Petsas said.
Majority Leader Tracy Hermann was even more optimistic, saying there
is a chance the contract could work out to be “budget neutral.”
