It's back to the drawing board in Montgomery County as contract negotiations continue for county employees. But the latest round of amendments from the county executive are stirring up some criticism from local leaders. Two proposed changes involving comp days and drug testing have Council President Nancy Floreen asking, what were they thinking? But a spokesman for Ike Leggett says their decision was well thought out and cost-effective.
"Actually, council members are making this more complicated than it is, and this is all a result of them rejecting the first contract," stated County Spokesman Patrick Lacefield.
County leaders didn't see eye-to-eye when union contracts for employees were up for review back in May. A month later, there are still more hurdles to overcome.
Floreen said, "I'm not sure there's going to be a lot of enthusiasm for revisiting our fiscal exposure in terms of these contracts."
The county executive came back to the table with some changes, factoring in the sacrifices employees were already forced to make such as furlough days and forgoing cost of living increases.
"What we were looking for was something that given that employees were giving up all of these things, that we could give them,and we were going to give them that wasn't going to cost any money," said Lacefield.
That's how the County Executive's Office came up with three comp days. It's time off that council president Nancy Floreen says will come with a price if workers decide to use those days before annual leave and carry over the remaining hours.
Floreen said, "Our staff tells us it could amount as high as 7 million dollars."
Lacefield says this is not the case.
"There's actually no cost in this. We don't have to ask the council for any increased appropriations," stated Lacefield.
Another issue on the radar is eliminating drug and alcohol testing for fire and rescue employees.
"Firefighters had agreed to begin random drug testing this year, but since the council rejected the contract when they came back to negotiating the firefighters said we're not going to agree to it this time," said Lacefield.
Floreen told us, "I hope we'll be able to reinstate that."
The county does have the ability to administer drug tests to employees when there is a need to do so. This contract specifically addresses fire and rescue employees. It's now up to council members to approve or reject the amendments. SOURCE: News 8
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