Vote for Adrian Pina

Members;

You received a letter from CLEAT in its contents was a voting ballot and instructions on how to vote. CLEAT is currently holding elections for its Vice-President. I am proud to announce that a member of the EPPD is running for one of the three vice-president spots. His name is Adrian Pina and for the past 7 years he has been on the CLEAT board as Regional Director 4A. The Association is supporting Adrian because we need his type of leadership in Austin. Adrian works closely with Marvin who is our Regional Director for region 4B. Adrian has El Paso’s CLEAT member’s best interest when making decisions as a CLEAT board member.

The Association and Mr. Pina will be raffling off a handgun as an incentive for you to cast your vote. All you have to do, if you still have not voted, is give your mail in ballot along with the pre-paid envelope to any Association board member and in return you will receive a raffle ticket for the handgun.

If you have already voted via phone or electronically, just let the board member know and you will still receive a ticket. The deadline for obtaining a raffle ticket will be Dec 1st. We will hold the drawing on Dec 4th at our annual banquet. Once the winner has been selected we will verify with CLEAT if the winner did vote in the election.

So simply cast your vote and get a raffle ticket for a chance to win a handgun. GOOD LUCK!!!

JOSE G. MARRUFO

PRESIDENT-EPCSOA

Annual Awards Banquet

THE EL PASO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND MEMBERSHIP
Cordially invites you to attend the
Annual Awards Banquet
Dinner and Dance
Friday, December 4, 2009
From 6:30 p.m. to 1:00 pm
At The
Firefighters Hall
3112 Forney Drive El Paso, Texas
RSVP 269-1624
By December 1, 2009
Door prizes ranging from $25 cash to $100 cash to be given away; also Members who attended 4 or more General Meetings in a year are eligible for a drawing to win a trip to Las Vegas.
Plus Members who contribute $5 or more to PAC will be eligible to win an over and under 12 gauge shot gun!!!
So make plans to attend!!!

Membership Meeting

THE EL PASO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICERS ASSOCIATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Invites you to attend the

The November General

Membership meeting

Wednesday 25, 2009

From 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 pm

At The

Firefighters Hall

3112 Forney Drive

El Paso, Texas

Door Prizes include (5) gift certificates from the Honey Glaze Co.

There will be drawings for (2) $25 checks and (2) $50 checks so make plans to Attend!!!

CLEAT Benefit Plan Dental/Vision 2009

CLEAT Benefit Plan
Dental / Vision
El Paso County Open Enrollment 2009

The month of October will be open enrollment for El Paso County participants in the CLEAT Dental and Vision Plan. During October you will be able to visit the CLEAT office during business hours and complete a change form to update your information. In addition, a representative will be on site at both the downtown jail and at the annex at the following dates and times

Tuesday October 20th 7:00 A.M – 4:00 P.M - Annex
Wednesday October 21st 7:00 A.M – 3:00 P.M. - Downtown

· Changes will be effective December 1st, 2009

· Verify current coverage
· Add or terminate coverage for dependents
· Verify current coverage
· Change name
· Change address
· Update beneficiary / $15,000 AD&D policy included with each covered member

Dentemax.org for dental PPO

Visit CLEAT.org

· Print dental & vision claim forms
· Print or view a CLEAT Benefit Plan Summary of coverage
· Fill out and submit a will online – processed at no charge for CLEAT members
· TIPP ( temporary income protection ) Application
· Update membership
· CLEAT Legal Plan
· Latest news

Election Results

The board and I would like to thank all of you for your continued support and patience during the past few months. The department has gone thru a lot of changes since the beginning of the year. I would personally like to thank all of you for maintaining a professional and positive attitude during these months. There are many issues and concerns the Association is currently addressing with the Sheriff and the County. The Association and Sheriff have a good working relationship which continues to improve as the months go by.

On Sept. 2nd, commissioners Anna Perez, Willie Gandara, the County Auditor, County Attorney and the County HR contacted the Association and asked EPCSOA membership to make some salary concessions. The County needed help with a $13 million dollar shortfall.

The Association’s bargaining committee formulated a proposal that would benefit its membership and in the process help out the county. The Association’s committee offered to assist the county in saving 1.2 million dollars in return for a 2 year extension of the Articles of Agreement between the County and the EPCSOA. The Association would do this by asking its members to delay/postpone their COLA’s in FY 2010 which is (1.5%) in October 2009 and (1.5%) in April 2010. In Oct of 2010 we will resume getting our regular schedule COLAs at the step we should be at. Officers will still continue to receive their step increase and all other monies that they currently get now under the contract.

The County accepted the Association’s offer on Sept14, 2009 during a regular county meeting. The membership would have the final word on this issue and only you could decide if this is a fair offer. The vote to ratify the amendment to the Articles of Agreement was held today.
I would like to thank all of you that voted in today’s ratification and election. There are over 800 members in the Association and more than 500 members went to the polls to cast their votes.

The following are the official results:
The vote to accept the amendment to the Article of Agreement between the County and the Association- PASSED BY 84%
The vote to increase Association membership dues- Did not PASS
The vote to amend the Association’s constitution- PASSED
The vote for Association President/Vice President- The slate of Jose G. Marrufo –President and Dan Watling-Vice-President WON!!!

Again thank you all for your great support. I will continue to serve you and do what is best for all the members of the Association.

Respectfully,
Jose G. Marrufo Jr.
President-El Paso County
Sheriff’s Officers Association

Association’s bargaining committee proposal

Membership;
The board would like to thank all of you for your continued support and patience during the past few months. The department has gone thru a lot of changes since the beginning of the year. I would personally like to thank all of you for maintaining a professional and positive attitude during these months. There are many issues and concerns the Association is currently addressing with the Sheriff. The Association and Sheriff have a good working relationship which continues to improve as the months go by.

On Sept. 3rd, commissioners Anna Perez, Willie Gandara, the County Auditor, County Attorney and the County HR contacted the Association and asked EPCSOA membership to make some salary concessions. The County requested that the membership give up 2.9 million dollars in salary concessions for fiscal year 2010.

The Association’s bargaining committee, made up Kevin Quinn, Robert Vasquez, Gabriel Bustamante, Federico Castillo, Brian Houston and Ron DeLord from CLEAT, came up with a proposal that it presented to the County. The Association offered to assist the county in saving 1.2 million dollars in return for a 2 year extension of the Articles of Agreement between the County and the EPCSOA. The Association would do this by asking its members to forego the COLA’s in FY 2010 which is (1.5%) in October 2009 and (1.5%) in April 2010. Officers will still continue to receive their step increase and all other monies that they get now under the contract.

The County accepted the Association’s offer on Sept14, 2009 during a regular county meeting. The board members and I have been going around informing the membership how this will have an impact on their future. The membership has the final word on this issue and only you can decide if this is a fair offer. The vote to ratify the amendment to the Articles of Agreement will be on Sept 29 during our Executive board elections.
Remember this only to amendment to the contract. The board has not opened our contract and cannot do so without membership approval. If you have any questions about the offer please feel free to contact me at the office or e-mail me.




Jose G. Marrufo Jr.
President-El Paso CountySheriff’s Officers Association

Members here are the candidates that will be running for the Executive Board. The candidates must run on a slate of one deputy and one detention officer.

The slate for President and Vice-President will be:

Robert Vasquez and Kevin Quinn-President/Vice- President
Jose G. Marrufo and Dan Watling-President/Vice-President

The slate for Treasurer and Secretary will be:
Running unopposed
Rudy Liggins for Treasurer and Federico Castillo for Secretary

Voting will take place on Tuesday September 29, 2009 at these locations:

Vinton: 0600 hrs to 1500 hrs
Sub-station/ Academy- 0600 hrs to 1700 hrs
Administration cafeteria 0600 hrs to 1700 hrs
D.T. Facility- 0600 hrs to 1700 hrs

ALL VOTES WILL BE COUNTED AT THE CLEAT BUILDING.

**IMPORTANT**

E.P.C.S.O.A. General Membership will be on 8/26/09 @ 7:00 PM
ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED:
THE COUNTY’S REQUEST FOR SALARY CONCESSIONS
NOMINATIONS FOR EPCSOA EXECUTIVE BOARD WILL BE HELD
VOTING IS SET FOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2009
LOCATIONS ARE- THE S.O. ACADEMY, ADMINISTRATION, THE EPCDF AND VINTON STATION.
VOTING TIME: FROM 0600 HRS TO 1700 HRS
MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND AND BE PART OF THE ANY DECISION MAKING

Wet N Wild

Sunday July 19th, 2009
Free Hamburgers, Hotdogs and Beverages
Picnic starts at 11:00 am through 8:00 pm
Music starts at 12 noon DJ
Promise Coalition Rock Band @ 4pm
Members Free
Family and non-member employees - $10.50 each
Toddlers - $2.50 each

Civil Service Rule 5/4/9

6. ITEM
Discuss and take appropriate action concerning changes to the list of requirements in Section 11.3.02 of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Civil Service Commission Rules and Regulations.
Submitted by: Sheriff Richard D. Wiles, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office

11.3.02 Requirements, include:
1. Be employed as a permanent detention officer, having completed at least 12 months of continuous service in that capacity, or be a peace officer licensed by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education and employed for at least five consecutive years with a law enforcement agency of at least 50 peace officers, the number of individuals so appointed not to exceed 25% of first time deputy appointments per calendar year.

Section 11.3.02 would allow the Sheriff to accept lateral transfers from peace officers from other Agencies directly into any deputy position without going thru the Academy or serving 12 months in the Detention Bureau. The Association strongly opposed this change to Civil Service. After the Commission heard from the Sheriff and the Association, they decided postponed their decision till next month. The Sheriff agreed to contact Marrufo and come up a solution to this issue.

The Association suggest and request that any and all members affected by this change attend Civil Service on June 1st. The Sheriff’s position is that D/O’s do not want to go out to patrol. Last year the department had about 80 D/O’s test for 25 deputy positions at academy. After all was said and done, 40 D/O’s were eligible for the Academy. So D/O’s do want to become Deputies. The Association is not willing to give 1 out every 4 deputy positions to an outside agency.

9. ITEM
To review and consider, pursuant to Rule 2.1.01B., the Sheriff’s change to the job description of Detention Officer, wherein the Sheriff has lowered the minimum age for eligibility from: twenty (20) years or eighteen (18) years upon successful completion of military reserve basic training; to eighteen (18) years.
Submitted by: Jim Jopling, CLEAT

12. ITEM
Discuss and take appropriate action regarding the age requirement to become a Detention Officer for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
Submitted by: Sheriff Richard D. Wiles, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office

Items 9 was placed by the Association and Item 12 was posted by the Sheriff and are the same. This allowed the Sheriff to lower the age requirement to become a detention officer from 20 years to 18 years old. The Association again was opposed this change. The commission ruled in favor of the Sheriff with the stipulation the item would be revisited in a year. The Association does not have to wait a year to oppose the change again. The Association will attempt to change it back to 20 years, later this year.

Members please be advice, next to your CBA with the County and the Sheriff, Civil Service Rule is a very important benefit we enjoy. The Association will continue to monitor any proposed changes to CSR to make sure that your rights are protected.

Retirement Planning

Retirement Planning available
for all El Paso County Sheriff’s Officers Association members

Joe Alexander of ALEXANDER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
will be available at the EPMPOA Hallor at the Firefighter’s Hall
for one-on-one consultations regarding your retirement planning.

Retire safely and don’t run out of money.

Appointments will be available from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on April 14th through April 17th, 2009

For appointments call or email :
Joe’s cell: 972-896-5600
Joe’s e-mail: joe@alexfm.com

Alexander Financial Management is a CLEAT Preferred Provider

Investment Advisory Services offered through Brookstone CapitalManagement LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor.

“Donation of Vacation Day”

Dear Member,
The Association negotiated a new contract in 2007. The Association was aware about a concern the members had which was donating 8 hours of their vacation to the Association leave pool. The Association’s solution for resolving this issue was to increase the number of personal leave days from (1) day a year to (3) days a year and reduce the hours that are donated.
The Association first negotiated to have (2) personal days a year for its members after Oct. 31, 2008. Effective Oct 1, 2010 members will receive (3) personal days. The association also reduced the number hours which a member can donate from 8 hours to 4 hours.
The Association also negotiated in its contract to have the association’s President on detached duties. This meant that the El Paso County Sheriff’s Officers Association would have the first full time President in its 30 year history. El Paso County was also the first County to have a full time President in Texas. Having a full time President has proven to be a valuable asset to members of the Association.
In Sept. of 2008, 95% of Associations members failed to comply with Article 26 Section 2 of the Articles of Agreement between the County and the Association. Specifically the part “except that should any member so notify the Association after September 1 and no later than September 15th of any applicable year that no deduction shall be made from his credited vacation time”.

The Association understands that there might have been some confusion on what the procedure was since last year’s form stated a “Donation of Vacation Day”. So to avoid future problems, the Association will require that any member that does not wish to donate 4 hours of their vacation must fill out the correct form which was approved by the Association’s Executive Board. The official form can be downloaded from the Association’s website or can be picked up at the Assoc’s office. No other form will be accepted. Members must have the President of the Association sign off on the form in order for the County Auditor to accept it. The Association provided the County Commissioners and the County Auditor with a copy of the approved form. Any form turned into the County Auditor without the Association’s knowledge will not be accepted. Failure to follow the correct procedure and use the correct form will result in the donation of 4 hours of leave time.


Jose G. Marrufo
President- EPCSOA

Association Grievance Form

Dear Member,
The Association would like to thank all of you for taking an active role in your union. If it wasn’t for you, the Association could not perform its job properly. Issues that concern our CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) both with the County and the Sheriff have been presented to the Assoc by you. This helps us keep within time limits which are contained in both CBA’s when filing a Grievance.
The Association has created a grievance form for you to complete when you have a grievance. This will ensure that your grievance is heard by the Grievance committee and there is documentation we can show just in case Management tries to say otherwise. This form can be printed off the Assoc’s website from the benefits tab. Once you fill it out you can mail it or leave it at the Association’s office. Thank you again for your support and I encourage every member to continue to fight for their rights under collective bargaining.

Jose G. Marrufo
President- EPCSOA

Word from the President

Dear Members;
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your new CBA with the Sheriff. The vote to ratify the CBA was held on Jan. 26th and you passed it by an overwhelming 91.2% of the vote. I commend the members of the Association for having faith in your board representative’s ability to negotiate a good CBA that benefits all its members.
The Association is now better equipped to serve and protect its members if any disputes arise in their work environment. I would like to thank CLEAT for their part in negotiating this contract. Ron DeLord and Jim Jopling were there from day one. With Ron’s skills and experience this contract was agreed to in no time at all. Jim’s legal knowledge about many of the issues put the final touches in what the Board believes to be the best contract we have had in over twenty years. I would also like to thank Ron Schweitz and Robert Vasquez for being part of the bargaining team that helped the Association obtain this four year contract.
A special thanks to Sheriff Wiles for giving the Association members a four year contract that is fair and practical. Again CONGRATULATIONS to all the Association members on their new CBA!

Jose Marrufo
President-EPCSOA

CONGRATULATIONS to all the new Deputy Sheriff’s

Dear Member;
On Dec12, 2008, 22 detention officers successfully complete the Deputies academy. The Association Board would like to congratulate each and every officer for their outstanding performance and the sacrifice they went through to accomplish their goal of becoming a Deputy Sheriff. The Association would also like to thank the families of the officers for the patience and support they gave their love ones during the long six month training.
The Association is confident that all the new Deputy Cadets will succeed in their new appointment. The Association wishes all the Deputies good luck in their training phases.

Again CONGRATULATIONS to all the new Deputy Sheriff’s;

Jose Aguilera Juan Mendez Omar Montoya
Roman Diaz Christian Pierce Robert Prospero
Martin Fernandez Felipe Ramos Joe Rodriguez
Sergio Juarez Jerome Washington Martha Esparza
Patricia Majercyk Mario Flores Fernando Medina
Pedro Marrero Fernando Munoz Juan Ordonez
Eric Martinez Alfonso Orona Edward Ortega
Joel Padilla

JOSE G. MARRUFO JR.
EPCSOA-President