Coalition Of Public Employees (COPE), NAGE Local 200

VOTE May 4th!

These are desperate times... a letter from Jane Bethel to City of Norfolk employees and retirees.  TIME SENSITIVE READ TODAY!

Other important, time sensitive reads:          Pilot article on the hiring of Michael  Mohammad as a "political consultant."  This is the guy who has been intimidating the other candidates at the forums and threatened me,  that I would lose my job during an encounter with him at the City Council meeting on April 21st.  Here is a recent message Mr. Mohammad sent me on Facebook.  If you read the Pilot article above, you will see what political consultants do.  I guess More dots are connecting. .. . . Also see  www.may4thcounts.com . . . . Read how your rights were stomped on by the City with misinformaton that was sent to ALLNORFOLK, but not dealt with in a timely manner nor ever set straight.

NOTE: Any text in green with an underline is a link to a supporting document, and you will see many such links through the website!

COPE members and other Norfolk employees are stepping up to support our COPE-endorsed City Council candidates (below) for the May 4th election by volunteering to drop literature, plant signs, make phone calls and knock on doors!  Won't you join us?  If you can spare two hours or more to volunteer on May 2nd and 3rd or on May 4th (Election Day), please call Jane Bethel at 470-6276.  We need people to drop literature for all of our candidates or work the polls on election day! 

COPE Survey Candidate Responses: Ward 1 -- Barbara Saunders                           Ward 2 -- Theresa Whibley (unopposed)   Ward 3 -- Mamie Johnson                             Ward 4 -- Billy Cook                                    Ward 5 -- Tommy Smigiel                               Mayor   -- Daun Hester

What factors helped COPE make the decision to endorse these candidates?

COPE invited as many candidates as possible to speak to the membership at our monthly meetings from December through April.  Each candidate was sent a six-question survey with very specific questions relating to employee wage increases and retiree benefits, etc. COPE officers reviewed the questionnaires, and invited candidates who responded to interview with union officers.  After all of this and other investigations, we voted unanimously to endorse Saunders, Johnson, Cook, Smigiel, and Hester for City Council and Mayor. 

Click on the candidate name (above) to read their questionnaire responses.  Other factors that influenced our endorsement decision included: how they answered our questions during their interview, how confident they were that they would win, how likely we felt they were going to win, but mostly it was how sincere we felt these candidates were about fixing what is broken on City Council, about bringing our employee and retiree benefits to be comparable with our surrounding cities, leveling the playing field so that if any employee group gets a general wage increase, it will only be if all employee groups get the same general wage increase, and lastly, we looked at their track record in their  community. 

Ward 1 Endorsement Notes -- COPE endorses Barbara Saunders for Ward 1.  Barbara went out of her way to mention the employees and retirees in her campaign literature.  She was genuinely appalled at the charts we provided all the candidates (the ones our current City Council members have turned a blind eye to) which show how far behind Norfolk is in their benefits for retirees (see the Links tab).  Barbara ran for City Council in Ward 1 in 2006, and almost won four years ago, so we feel she has a very good chance of winning.  Chuck Brewer, a retired Norfolk Police officer, is also a very good candidate from Ward 1, but we felt Barbara would offer stronger support for the employees and retirees.  It is important for all employees and retirees to solidify around a single candidate, and in Ward 1, that is Barbara Saunders!

Ward 3 Endorsement Notes --  COPE endorses Mamie Johnson for Ward 3. Ward 3 is a priority Ward for COPE.  We were looking for candidates with a track record of community involvement, and Mamie was the best candidate in this respect.  She has a wonderful record of service to the community in Ward 3, establishing summer day camps for 8 to 12 year olds from noon to 6 pm, funding this herself for several years, until she partnered with others, like NRHA to provide bussing.  She is now taking this model to other civic leagues in the City.  We feel Mamie will address employee and retiree issues fairly and equitably, and is the most qualified to be  the next Councilwoman from Ward 3!    We did not choose Billy Mann who just moved to Norfolk in January 2010.  How could he possibly be in touch with the community.  Donna Smith, also a Ward 3 candidate seems like a very nice, community-minded lady and a former Norfolk employee, but Donna did not complete our survey, was a no-show for the April 8th meeting, and we felt she did not bring enough experience to City Council.   Lastly, we hope everyone in Ward 3 checks out the insightful website regarding Anthony Burfoot at www.may4thcounts.com.  COPE hopes it is obvious to Ward 3 voters that it is time for new leadership on City Council!

Ward 4 Endorsement Notes -- COPE endorses Billy Cook for Ward 4.  He is the only candidate for Ward 4 that responded to the questionnaire and also spoke to employees at our April meeting.  Billy is ready to take the torch from Riddick and lead Ward 4 to better days.  COPE feels Billy Cook will make an excellent City Council member from Ward 4, and he has earned our endorsement.  

For those of you who want to JOIN NAGE Local 04-200, here are the forms you need!  The union gets just your NAGE Membership Application, and the credit union gets the rest (complete highlighted areas of the following forms and photocopy your drivers license and City id and send all of the following to the  Norfolk Municipal Employees Federal Credit Union):

• Credit Union Membership Application (Opens a credit union account for you; cost to open the account is $6, but NAGE pays for that, so your cost is $0.  If you already have a credit union account, skip this form.)
• Credit Union Payroll Deduction Form (Puts $10 into your credit union account each payday; recommended, but not mandatory.)
• Account Transfer Form (Transfers the $10 per pay day dues from your credit union account to the NAGE account.)
• Sample of how to provide two forms of Identification. Needed if you want to open your account by mail.

Council Endorsements (continued)

Ward 5 Endorsement Notes -- COPE endorses Tommy Smigiel for Ward 5.  COPE considers Ward 5 also a "priority Ward." Randy Wright did not return our survey, nor has he ever responded to any of our requests for him to speak to us or meet with us.  We support Tommy Smigiel because of his track record of community involvement, his commitment to Ward 5 residents, schools, public safety AND the employees and retirees!  We did not consider Matthew Hales for the following reasons:  He came on the scene right before the deadline to get paperwork in to be a candidate.  [A little history... four years ago Michael Osburn ran against Randy Wright, and took nearly half the votes.  Mr. Osburn did not run much of a campaign, but got almost 50% of the votes.  There are, by some accounts, a great number of voters who will vote for anybody but Randy.]  Bob McCabe is Randy's friend and campaign manager.  Matt Hales' wife works for Bob McCabe, and they are also friends, and all golf together.  The first signatures on Matt Hales petition was on February 27th, only three days before the March 2nd deadline, which seems kind of like a last minute decision.  Both Randy Wright and Bob McCabe signed Matt's petition, which admittedly doesn't mean much since they are friends.  Matt Hales has some good ideas from a business man's perspective, but we do not feel he is in touch with all of Ward 5.  I had a conversation with him after the budget was presented to the City Council two weeks ago and suggested that he drop out for the good of Norfolk, since those who will vote for anybody but Randy now have two choices, and there is the possibility that with the diluted vote, it might allow Randy Wright to slide in for yet another four years. COPE does not feel he has a real shot at this election, giving the support Tommy Smigiel has.  COPE is asking that your don't waste your vote -- a vote for Hales is like a vote for Randy Wright.  COPE is asking everyone  to vote for Tommy Smigiel instead.

Mayor Endorsement Notes -- COPE questioned our own judgment in endorsing Daun Hester, since other groups stayed away from making any endorsement for the Mayor race or endorsed the Mayor.  However, after reviewing the candidate surveys, and hearing Daun Hester when she spoke to employees at our March meeting, an action the Mayor did not take, COPE unanimously decided to take a bold step and endorse Daun Hester for Mayor.  After Saturday's news article which links Mayor Fraim and the other Ward bosses -- Wright, Riddick and Burfoot -- in their financial payments to Michael Mohammad, Daun may just have a shot at this.  It will take every employee and retiree and all the Norfolk residents that don't want Norfolk to become "Little Chicago," to get out and vote for change!  Dan Montague also spoke to our group and he would of been, by far, the strongest union supporter, but we felt he did not have a real chance to actually win the election, and at least Daun has an outside chance.  Ryan Cooper, a young ODU student, is a breath of fresh air and in 12 or so years, he will probably be our pick for Mayor!

Who is the Coalition Of Public Employees?

The City of Norfolk Employee Union, a.k.a. Coalition Of Public Employees (COPE) is a local chapter of the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE).  We are  Local 200 and had our one-year anniversary in October.  Click here to see the Vision, Mission, Motto and Goals of this union.  NAGE Local 200 grew out of the City supported Employee Relations Committee (ERC) which, although chartered by the City, has been pretty much  ineffective in achieving competitive wages and benefits for the employees, though not for lack of trying!  Click here to read about the roots of this organization.

COPE Success Stories

I've been asked what is the difference between the City-chartered Employee Relations Committee (ERC) and COPE.  That can probably be answered in one word -- lawyers!  When the ERC expressed concern that charging employees $10 a month for not taking the "voluntary" Health Risk Assessment survey was possibly illegal and presented them with an EEOC legal opinion that backed up that presumption, the City changed the presentation, and began calling it an "incentive."  It had a sweet sound, but they were still going to charge employees the $10.  The intention was to raise health care rates by $10 and then give the $10 back if you took the survey (no change in your costs if you took the survey).  If you didn't take the survey, you just had an increase of $10 ( aka charging you $10 for not taking the survey).  So that is what the ERC was able to achieve -- nothing.  The union, on the other hand, took this concern to Mike Imprevento, NAGE's general council, who wrote a letter to the City Attorney, using the terminology "injunctive relief" (legal speak for law suit).  Only after the involvement of the union lawyer, did the City see the light and request that the payroll team change the program to actually give the "incentive" they had promised.  Employees who participate in the City's health care and who took the survey have an extra $5 in their paycheck, thanks to union intervention! Those who are in the health care system who did not take the survey also have $5 more per pay period, because the City had intended to raise your premium by that amount.  

Click on the News tab above to read more on this issue and other issues addressed by Local 200. 

Local 200 Meetings / Activities

• VOTE MAY 4TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Public Budget Hearing, Granby High School at 6:00 pm on May 5th
• May 11th COPE Meeting at the Workforce Development Center at Wards Corner at 201 E. Little Creek Rd., Room 202, from 6 to 7 pm.  Our featured speaker will be Mike McKenna,  presenting a workshop on the Grievance Procedure. 
• June 8th COPE Meeting at the Workforce Development Center at Wards Corner at 201 E. Little Creek Rd., Room 202, from 6 to 7 pm.  Our featured speaker will be James "Cricket" Mikell, presenting a workshop on the Workmens Comp. 

“We have the greatest opportunity the world has ever seen, as long as we remain honest -- which will be as long as we can keep the attention of our people alive. If they once become inattentive to public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and governors would all become wolves.”           Thomas Jefferson

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

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