My fellow Officers;
It is my pleasure to inform you of the latest developments in Legislative Hall on House Bill 81. Many of you remembered this Bill's introduction last year and were aware of the DCOA effort to kill the Bill in Committee. You were rightfully concerned and contacted me regarding this bill. After consultation with our E-Board, we decided to take a different approach. We decided to deal with this now, rather than have to face it again later. The reason is that the rest of this Bill IS in our favor. It further defines the binding arbitration process for negotiations and grievances. As I informed you at the last general meeting, I contacted Representative Bill Oberle, the sponsor of the Bill, and informed him of our concerns.
At that time, Representative Oberle readily agreed to to either ammend or re-write the bill so as not to include Sergeants in the same bargaining unit as Lieutenants, Staff Lieutenants, Captains, and Majors. He assured me that this was a mistake when the Bill was written, and that it would be taken care of.
I spoke briefly with Representative Oberle in Legislative Hall on Tuesday as he was on his way to a meeting about the Smoking Bill. He informed me that he had just signed off on the Substitute Bill and that it would be introduced to the Labor Committee, which it was on the following day. He said at that time that he wanted me to tell all of you that he is "a man of his word, and when I give my word I stand by it." I thanked him for that, and we agreed to meet sometime in the near future to further get aquainted and discuss issues that pertain to Correctional Officers.
I am very happy to see that he is indeed a man of his word.
At this time, I would also like to thank all of you for your support. It means a lot to have that support when you are putting yourself "out there" on behalf of 1500+ people. The one thing I believe we must remember is that charting new ground takes time. This is not, and never should be, personal. This is business, and it affects the lives of those 1500+ people and their families. Please continue to support your elected and appointed officials. They are working hard to support you.
I believe that we have made great strides in Legislative Hall, and I speak for the rest of my Committee when I say that we look forward to representing you further. If you have any questions or concerns, please call the office at (302) 734-8061 and leave a message for me with our office assistant, Brandy. I check in with her daily, and I will contact you to address your concern.
Kevin Rolph
Legislative Committee Chairman
