Reporter Sanibel and Captiva, Florida
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SflfJIRF! P" " ; 15903486 1 01 SUN 1 00/00/00 MAY 7, 1993 . SANIBEL LIBRARY VOLUME 22 2401 LIBRARY WAY NUMBER 19 3 SECTIONS, 40 PAGES islanc SANIBEL FL REPORTER SANIBEL AND CAPTIVA, FLORIDA Pelican posse New city pay plan <•*, adopted ByRalf Kircher StaffFo rWriter the third consecutive year, the Sanibel City Council overhauled the city's personnel compensation plan. By a 3-2 vote Tuesday, council members adopted a "qualified step-in- time" plan to replace the year-old "pay-for performance" plan. The implementation of this plan is projected to be $32,000 not includ- ing the estimated $5,000 the city will pay its latest consulting firm. A representative with David M. Griffith and Associates, a Tallahassee-based consulting firm, presented its week-long study of city employees' pay structure to the council Tues- day. Hal Scott, the firm's representative, sug- I* • please see page 2A Suspended officer denies all wrongdoing By MaiyJeanne McAward they are considering filing charges of. unfair bel Police Department internal affairs inves- Staff Writer labor practices with the National Labor Rela- tigation which Plager openedMarch 9, the day Sanibel Police Officer Brent Cada, sus- tions Board, Burandt said. after a Lee County Sheriff s lieutenant and pended with pay from the island force Friday, However, Police Chief Richard Plager said member of the Combined Law Enforcement April 16 on allegations of breaching police se- both Cada's suspension and that of another Against Narcotics (CLEAN) task force told the curity and revealing the identity of confiden- officer—James R. Wilson, who was suspended chief that after an express warning from a tial informants, will face a pre-termination without pay in March—came from outside the CLEAN agent, Cada breached the security of hearing next Wednesday, May 12. jurisdiction of Sanibel police and stemmed confidential police information. Cada's attorney Robert Burandt, of the Cape from alleged, off-duty activities of the respec- That breach led to the abandonment of two Coral firm Aloia, Dudley, Rossa, Sutton, tive officers. long-term CLEAN operations and most seri- Mclver and Burandt, said he would like to see Cada's suspension was the result of a Sani- • please see page 4A the allegations against his client resolved in- house, quickly and fairly, short of termina- tion. In his statement, submitted Wednesday, April 28, Cada denied all wrongdoing. TtarMtormy~saTd^e^eir^ officer is a leader in the drive to unionize the police department and that his suspension could be an attempt by management at "union busting." Florida Police Benevolent Association (FPBA) attorneys have put the city on notice New ad manager Barry Goldberg is the Island Reporter's new advertising manager, Goldberg assumed his new po- sition Wednesday, May 5. He replaces Colleen Yergens, who left the company. Goldberg comes to Barry Goldberg Sanibel from Fort Myers Beach were he was an advertising salesperson at the Beach Bulletin for the last 4 1/2 years. Goldberg has been in sales since 1975, Born in New York City, he moved to Florida in 1986 and currently resides in Fort Myers with his wife, Lori. "I am really happy about my new position World-renown artist and Captiva resident dio, at Edison Community College last week. on Sanibel and I'm looking forward to many Robert Rauschenberg opened a show of never- For an interview with the artist, more photos industrious years with the Island Reporter," foefore-seen works, created in his Captiva stu- and a review of his work, please see page 8A. Goldberg said. PAY PLAN •' from page 1A gested a step-in-time plan that would raise satisfactory, while an unsatisfactory rating of plan will supersede was implemented last each employee's pay by 2.5 percent a year in four would place an employee on "salary pro- year after a study and recommendations were addition to a cost of living adjustment (COLA), bation." With a four rating, an employee made by the HayGroup at a cost of $30,000. which is based on the nation's inflation rate. would receive no increase in salary until re- The HayGroup developed a pay-for-perfor- This year, for instance, the COLA is 5.5 per- ceiving a satisfactory rating in a later per- mance system that was solely merit based. cent. Added to the normal 2.5 percent step, formance appraisal. According to Assistant City Manager Bill each employee would receive an eight percent The employee who performs his job ade- Mills, the HayGroup plan "pitted employees raise. quately can anticipate his base salary in- against a pool of money" and caused un- This does not necessarily guarantee an em- creasing by 2.5 percent each year," Scott said. healthy competition. ployee a raise, however. Under the "qualified" The Griffith plan also has provisions for It also fueled the move to unionize the plan, employees advance a step only if they longevity pay, a one percent additional raise Sanibel Police Department which is currently achieve a satisfactory performance rating on after five years of service, 1.5 percent after 10 under way. a scale of one to four. years and two percent after 15 years. Moreover, the HayGroup plan was geared Ratings one, two and three are considered The option to award flat rate Christmas more toward a large private sector company bonuses and performance awards will be at where performance is easier quantified, he the city council's discretion. said. Correction Scott used predetermined salary ranges to Mills commented on how tough it is to ac- coincide with each step within the different curately measure performance In government In the article "Seniors hope to fatten budget work, especially within a government that with flea markets"(April 30, page 7B) the grades. To convert employees' present salaries amount of rent the City of Sanibel pays the to these steps without reducing anyone's pay, only has 100 employees. Sanibel Community Association was incor- Scott "rounded up" and placed employees at "You simply can't measure production In rectly stated. The city pays the association the level closest to their current salary. public work the way you can in a private busi- $15,000 annually. The Island Reporter regrets As a result of this, affected employees gar- ness," Mills said. the error. nered annual raises anywhere from 39-cents The three members of council who voted for to $1,100, Scott said. the plan believe that with revisions, the step- Weather Dissenting Council member Kain saw the in-time structure will benefit both the em- High Low Rain plan as "layer after layer after layer of enti- ployees and taxpayers. Apr 28 86 62 tlement." "1 want to get a plan that will work for the Apr 29 86 63 —- "This plan encourages loyalty [but) it exces- employees, but we also have a responsibility Apr 30 84 61 — sively ties people to a pay plan and discour- to the taxpayers. If we accept this plan with May 01 86 63 ages them from upward mobility. We should revisions (that will be worked out come budget May 02 84 66 encourage them to move onward and upward," time), then the employees have something to May 03 82 68 he said. work with," Mayor Mark Westall said. May 04 86 68 Kain went on to say that Sanibel should The council has been struggling with differ- Rainfall for April was 3 inches compared seek to hire good people, pay them well and ent pay plans since 1990. That year, the coun- with 2.6 inches for the entire month last year. then encourage them to move on to "bigger cil hired Joe Flint Personnel Services to re- Rainfall for May last year was .43 inches. and better things" to leave room for the evaluate the Long System, which had been Note: rainfall levels are recorded from the "young blood." place since 1981. After only a year, the short- morning of the day given to the following However Janes, whose vote matched Kain's, comings of the Flint plan forced the council to morning. did not agree with his fellow council member. seek another alternative and the HayGroup Sources: Rain—Island Water Association; Janes addressed the other members of council was hired. Temperatures—Sanibel/Cap tiva Islands from the perspective of a former small busi- Chamber of Commerce. nessman. Council members hope that the David M. "I would do everything within my power to Griffith plan will last longer. The plan makes retain (my employees]," he said, noting also five-year projections and indicates that the Editorial office: 472-1587 Display advertising: 472-1587 that it costs a great deal to train new recruits. cost of implementation will be nearly Classified advertising: 472-1587 "I think we would be remiss in our duty to the $32,000. The company itself charged the city Subscriptions: 472-1587 taxpayers if we didn't do the same." on a per diem basis, billing $65 an hour, Ac- Business office: 574-1551 Janes did have reservations on how heavily cording to Mills, total cost to the city is ap- The Island Reporter (USPS 813-580) Is published weekly each the plan weights longevity and seems to de- proximately $5,000. Friday by Gull Coast Weeklies, Inc., P.O. Drawer 809. Sanibel Ra. 33957. emphasize job performance. In a discussion later in Tuesday's meeting, Subscriptions: Sanibel Captlva and Lee County, $19.75 Inc. state The only island resident to speak at the the council made two decisions regarding the sales tax, per year; continental United States, or split subscrlp- police pension fund.