If You Mess With One of Us, You Get Us All

CLEAT

If You Mess With One of Us, You Get Us All

Click here to see video!


By John Burpo, CLEAT Executive Director


The highlight of the CLEAT Convention in Fort Worth this past October was the 9 minute film about CLEAT developed by our talented Director of Public Affairs Charley Wilkison. Told from the viewpoint of past and present leaders and staff, the film expresses the heart of CLEAT’s philosophy: “If you mess with one of us, you get us all.”

This theme ties into the CLEAT motto: “Strength, Justice, Unity.” We are strong because we fight together. We seek justice by taking on our opponents together. And we win our battles by staying unified. When you think about CLEAT, think about 18,000 members (that’s right, we are now over 18,000!) marching together for the benefit of each individual member.

Here are 3 instances in 2010 that clearly showcase the point “If you mess with one of us, you get us all:”

Grayson County CLEAT members called CLEAT for help in taking on County Judge Drue Bynum and like-minded Commissioner’s who were forcing an ill-advised attempt to privatize the jail. The members formed the Grayson County Law Enforcement Association to represent all employees of the Sheriff’s Department and President Karen Bruton led the members in the fight against privatization. CLEAT marshaled staff resources to force the County Judge to back down and insure that Karen and the 90 other detention officers didn’t lose their jobs. By the way, Karen was the recipient this year of the prestigious Ludwig Bruno award at the convention for her great work in this campaign.


Del Rio City Manager Frances Rodriguez, along with some former city commission members, made the incredibly stupid decision to revoke the meet and confer rights between City leaders and the Del Rio POA. So the POA called in the full forces of CLEAT to assist in taking an initiative to the citizens of Del Rio that allowed for the community to decide on collective bargaining rights for Del Rio police officers. The POA won bargaining rights overwhelmingly and now rather than the optional meet and confer process, our Del Rio members and the citizens can enjoy the full benefit of collective bargaining.

Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman learned this year about CLEAT’s ferocity in defending our members. He terminated a group of officers for allegedly tampering with governmental records when working a housing authority extra job and at the same time showing work at the police department on their time sheets. To add insult to injury, the City had 10 officers arrested for a criminal offense, all of whom were ultimately no-billed by the Grand Jury. The officers all vehemently argued that they were guilty of poor record keeping but not of administrative or criminal misconduct. CLEAT represented 4 officers in arbitration and 8 officers in the criminal proceedings. In one of the arbitration proceedings under cross-examination by top CLEAT attorney Jannice Joseph, Chief Stroman began producing crocodile tears when testifying about maintaining the integrity and public trust of the police department. The arbitrator saw through this masquerade however, finding that there had been a systematic practice from the top to bottom of the police department allowing officers to reflect time worked at the department while performing outside work or engaging in personal matters; and that this practice extended far beyond the officers who had been fired and criminally charged. The final result of the 4 arbitrations: 1 officer reinstated with no discipline, another reinstated with minimal discipline, and the other 2 settled prior to hearing with minimum discipline.

CLEAT has come to the aid of so many members and locals in 2010 that space simply does not permit citing every example. But a special thank you goes out to Grayson County Commissioner Drue Bynum, former Del Rio City Manager Frances Rodriguez, and Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman for making the job of illustrating the “don’t mess with us” point so simple.

Here is the bottom line: every police chief, sheriff, city manager, council member and county commissioner should be on notice that if you mess with one us, you get us all. And the consequence is that when you mess with any of us, your professional life will become an ongoing nightmare.

NAPO’s TOP COPS Awards Nomination Deadline is Approaching

NAPO’s TOP COPS Awards Nomination Deadline is Approaching


The deadline for TOP COPS nominations is January 11, 2011.

Click here for nomination form.

This year will mark the eighteenth year NAPO has produced the TOP COPS Awards. With your help and partnership, TOP COPS will be a tremendous success.

The ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 12, 2011. Thank you in advance for your support.

Christmas Gift Donations!!

The EPCSOA membership has requested that we reach out to the community this holiday season. At your direction, the Board has made contact with the El Paso Transitional Living Center and made arrangements for the EPCSOA members to make this Christmas a Christmas to remember for the children currently staying at their facility. If you are interested in taking part and making this Christmas a memorable one for a local child in need, please contact one of your board members and request a child. We have 103 children to provide gifts for and I know with the generosity and willingness to help others by association members we"ll have no problem getting all 103 children a gift they can enjoy. Check the Board members page on your association website to email your interest to one of the board.

Pre-paid Legal Services Available!!!

Here are some bullet points of coverage with your Life Events Legal Plan and Identity Theft Shield: (typically any size family one low rate $26.70 a MONTH or less) and this can be deducted from your pay as a County Employee.

-UNLIMITED CONSULTATION
-LETTERS/PHONE CALLS ON YOUR BEHALF
-CONTRACT/DOCUMENT REVIEW
-MOVING VIOLATION CONSULTATION/REPRESENTATION
-SERIOUS ACCIDENT REPRESENTATION (MUST BE DRIVING LEGAL)
-TRIAL DEFENSE
-IRS AUDIT PROTECTION
-UNCONTESTED DIVORCE/SEPARATION/NAME CHANGE/ADOPTION
-WILL PREPARATION
-LIVING WILL
-HEALTHCARE POWER OF ATTORNEY
-CREDIT REPORTING
-CREDIT MONITORING
-CREDIT RESTORATION
-SAFEGUARD FOR MINORS (IF YOUR MINOR CHILD FALLS VICTIM TO IDENTITY THEFT)
-25% PREFERRED MEMBER DISCOUNT

For more information please contact your Pre Paid Legal account representatives:

Melissa Wilder 915-751-8858
Christine Seelig 915-253-9217 .

Awards Banquet!!!

You are invited to the
E.P.C.S.O.A. Annual
Awards Banquet
Friday, December 3, 2010
At
“The Firefighters Hall
3112 Forney Drive
6:30pm – 1:00am
Dinner at 7:00 pm
Disco Dress
9:00pm to 1:00am Semi-Formal – no ball caps etc.
Limited Seating. To reserve your place you MUST call
ED at 202-6209 before December 01, 2010 5pm
Beer and set-ups will be provided. Bring your own hard liquor. Wine may be
purchased at hall. Do not bring your own beer or wine.
Officer and One guest only. No children under 12years permitted.

CLEAT Benefits Plan!

CLEAT Benefit Plan
Dental / Vision
El Paso County Open Enrollment 2010

The month of October will be open enrollment for members covered under the Collective Bargaining Agreement 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, CLEAT representatives will be on site at the following dates and times

October 20, 2010 - Jail Annex 7:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
October 21, 2010 - Downtown Jail – 7:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
October 22, 2010 - SO Administration – 8:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
October 22, 2010 - CLEAT office 1:30 P.M. – 4:00 P.M.

• Changes will be effective December 1st, 2010

You will be able to:
• Verify current coverage
• Add or terminate coverage for dependents
• Change name
• Change address
• Update beneficiary / $15,000 AD&D policy included with each covered member
Dentemax.com for dental PPO providers

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!!!

DEPUTY DIRECTORS ran unopposed

Marvin Ryals
Mario Marquez
Louie Silva

DETENTION OFFICER DIRECTORS

Brian Houston 192
Eulugio Munoz 166
Roger Carreon 148


Pedro Mora 106
Marco Camarrillo 67

Board of Director Voting Locations and Times!!!

Reminder the vote for Board of Directors is on Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010.

The schedule is as follows;

Jail-Annex from 0600 hrs till 1700 hrs

Downtown Jail from 0600 hrs till 1700 hrs

All candidates are welcome to witness the counting of the votes at the CLEAT office. Although the board deputies are running unopposed a few ballots will be printed to keep the integrity of the voting process.

CLEAT Attorney Miles McNeal on Anthony Jackson!!

On August 12, 2008, the District Attorney’s Office presented a case against Deputy Anthony Jackson. Holding true to the old District Attorney’s saying, “I could indict a ham sandwich.” The Grand Jury returned a True Bill against Mr. Jackson. The charge was Tampering with a Government Record, a 2nd Degree Felony (2-20 years). In a nut shell, the State said that Mr. Jackson swore he had served an individual, and that it was impossible that he served that person on that day.

My involvement in the case began in January of 2010. After reviewing the file it became VERY clear that the State could not prove the felony case against Mr. Jackson. So, I immediately set the case for trial on February 23, 2010. On the trial date the Prosecutor was forced to admit that they could not prove the felony. He then dismissed the case. But what does the DA’s office do next? They re-file it as a misdemeanor and issue another arrest warrant! I immediately set up a hearing with the Judge and the prosecutor, the Judge then recalled the warrant.

The earliest trial date available was September 13, 2010. On that day, with the help of my co-counsel Brock Benjamin, we began the trial. The State presented three witnesses against Mr. Jackson, upon cross-examination; no witness was able to say whether Mr. Jackson had done what the State had alleged. The State then rested. Mr. Jackson then took the stand and testified. He testified to what he remembered. It was also brought up that during his time at the Sheriff’s Department, he was commended for saving the life of a citizen, and he had one of the Patrol Division’s largest marijuana busts, and went above and beyond the call of duty when he provided assistance to the family of a murder victim.

The Jury quickly returned a verdict of Not Guilty. Mr. Jackson went back to thank the Jury for their service. The Jury would not accept Mr. Jackson’s thank you, they instead wanted to apologize on behalf of the State. They felt that it was a miscarriage of justice by even bringing this case and that it was a waste of valuable resources in a time of County deficit and told Mr. Jackson that they were thankful for his service to the People of El Paso County.

Amendment to the Articles of Agreement

AMENDMENT NO. TWO
TO THE
ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE
COUNTY OF EL PASO
AND THE
EL PASO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION


Effective upon execution of this Amendment to the Articles of Agreement between the County of El Paso and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Officers’ Association effective October 1, 2007 (OP-07-139 executed on October 12, 2007 and KK-10-414 Amendment executed on October 1, 2009), the following provisions shall be added, deleted or amended as set forth herein:

All the provisions and benefits granted under Article Ten, Holidays, shall be eliminated for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2010 and ending September 30, 2011.

In return for the Association’s agreement to eliminate all of provisions and benefits under Article Ten, Holidays, for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2010 and ending September 30, 2011, the County agrees to reinstate the 22 detention sergeant positions eliminated during the FY2011 budget meetings and to forego its right to eliminate positions covered by the Agreement until September 30, 2011.

The Association further agrees that as a result of the reinstatement of the sergeants’ positions, the Association will dismiss the case styled El Paso County Sheriff’s Officers’ Association, Inc. v. The County of El Paso, Texas and Richard Wiles, in his official capacity as Sheriff of El Paso County, Texas, Cause No. 2010-3493.

Finally, the Association agrees to waive any right to pursue any other litigation or arbitration related to any matter which is the subject of this amendment.


EXECUTED this 15th day of September, 2010.


EL PASO COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION, INC.



By: __________________________________
Jose Maruffo, President



EL PASO COUNTY, TEXAS



By: ___________________________________
Anthony Cobos, County Judge



ATTEST:



By: ___________________________________
Delia Briones, County Clerk

PRESIDENT'S WORD

Membership;

The vote that you cast over this weekend addressed a very important issue, the issue was how secure are our jobs in the future? Although we cannot predict what the future holds for us, we do have a Contract with the County that guarantees us a 1.5% COLA increase every six months, 5% increase on our annual step and all our soft monies till 2014 with an evergreen clause till 2015. We will resume getting holiday pay next October 2011. All of you had a very difficult decision to make; there was no wrong or right way to vote. It was not an easy decision for the board to bring this proposal to you for a vote. The fact remained that you the member wanted a vote on any salary concession. The membership will always have the final say and vote on how their Association proceeds.


Those members who want the Association to keep fighting for our rights; rest assured that the vote has not altered the way the board feels. Although the fight is no longer going to happen in arbitration, the association will explore other options to address this issue. The Association will do its due diligence and prepare throughout the year for this or any other battle the county is willing to bring to our door step.


The question of will the Association fight as hard for our jobs as they did for the Sgt’s position. The Association is committed to fight for any and all job classifications and member who loses his/her job. The association has proven it in the past few months, a deputy that got terminated got his job back, another deputy got acquitted on a felony case, a detention officer had his criminal case dismissed and there are still many more cases the Association is fighting. The Association does not see rank or the color of the uniform when it comes to its membership. All members are seen as equals in the Association.


There are some questions on how this will affect the membership; does the vote mean we have to take furlough days? No furlough days. If the holiday falls on your day off you will not receive an extra 8 hours of holiday pay. If you’re scheduled Monday thru Friday and the holiday falls during the week you will have to submit vacation time to get it off or work it. If you are brought in on O.T. you will receive O.T. pay. Will the National holidays be affected? All holidays covered under the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) will be affected. The proposal will start Oct. 1, 2010 and end on September 30, 2011; this would be for fiscal year 2011.

If you have more questions, please contact me or address them on the QNA tab on the website.


JMarrufo
President-EPCSOA

VOTING RESULTS

********************VOTING RESULTS*********************

The vote to accept or decline the Amendment proposed by the

County Commissioners has been passed to ACCEPT. This results in

all employees who fall under the Collective Bargaining Agreement

with the County to forfeit their 7 Holidays and 3 Personal days for

fiscal year 2011 in exchange the County will reinstate the

22 Detention Sergeants and 22 Courporals to their

postions for fiscal year 2011.

Concessions Briefing's and Voting Times!

The Board will be conducting briefing to members at the following times and locations.


Downtown Detention Facility
Friday, September 17th
-Day Shift
-Swing Shift
-Graveyard Shift
-8 to 5 officers will be briefed at 0900 hrs.

Jail Annex
Friday September 17th
-8 to 5 officers will be briefed at 1130 hrs.

Saturday September 18th
-Day Shift
-Swing Shift
-Graveyard Shift

Lower Valley and Upper Valley Patrol
Saturday September 18th
-Briefings will be held during regular shift briefings.



********VOTING POLL LOCATIONS********

Academy (or Jail Annex, TBD)
-Sunday Sept. 19th - 0600 hrs to 1700 hrs
-Monday Sept. 20th - 0600 hrs to 1200 hrs

Downtown Detention Facility
-Sunday Sept. 19th - 0600 hrs to 1700 hrs
-Monday Sept. 20th - 0600 hrs to 1200 hrs

***All jail shift briefing will begin 30 minutes prior to the start of shift.***

Upper Valley Patrol Station
-Sunday Sept. 19th - Swing shift and Graveyard Briefing's
-Monday Sept. 20th - 0600 hrs to 0900 hrs

Sheriff's Office Headquarters
-Monday Sept. 20th - 0700 hrs to 1200 hrs

Wednesday’s general membership meeting

Membership,

I am glad to report that at Wednesday’s general membership meeting, we finally had a quorum. Commissioner Willie Gandara was in attendance to speak about the County’s financial situation. While the Commissioner took the blame for the County’s deficit and apologized to the membership for having to come and ask for help again, the members gave the Commissioner an ear full. The meeting was civil and the healthy discussion between the membership and the Commissioner was very productive.

The meeting continued after the Commissioner left. The board briefed the members on the chain of events that lead to the Commissioner addressing them. There were several ideas about how the board should handle any situation that might arise in the near future concerning the County’s budget woes.

Nominations for Class II board of the Directors for both Detention Officers and Deputies were held. Nominations are as follows;

Detention Officers Nominated;

Brian Houston

Eulogio Munoz

Pedro Mora

Roger Carreon

Marco Camarillo (As of Thursday morning, officer has not accepted the nomination)

Deputy Nominations;

Marvin Ryals

Mario Marquez

Louie Silva

*********Deputies will be running unopposed**********

Elections are tentative scheduled for Tuesday September 28, 2010 pending board approval.

Finally I would like to take the opportunity to thank Lt. Pedro Frias, who will not be running for re-election, for all the hard work and time he has dedicated for the membership well being. He has served on the board in one capacity or another thru out his career with the Sheriff’s Office. Again thanks Pete!!!

The board will continue to monitor the County’s meeting and keep the membership informed on any new developments.

Respectfully,

JOSE G. MARRUFO JR.

PRESIDENT-EPCSOA

General Membership Meeting

The General Membership Meeting will be held on
Wednesday August 25, 2010 at the Firefighters Hall @ 7:00 p.m.
Located at 3112 Forney, El Paso Tx 79935

Items on the Agenda include;

Nominations for the Board of Directors:
Three (3) Deputy Directors
Three (3) Detention officer Directors

Nomination requirement as approved by the Board of Directors:

"Should the nominee not be present, it shall be the duty of the nomination member to notify the nominee, of the nominee’s duty to notify the Association Secretary of his/her acceptance within 72 hours of the nomination"

Also a representative of SAM’s club will be in attendance with a special promotion for the membership.

The El Paso Diablos

The El Paso County Sheriff’s officers Association
Proudly invites you and your family
To The Association Member Appreciation night at

The El Paso Diablos on
Friday August 13th @ 6:00 p.m

Association Member plus 1 guest get in free. Additional tickets can be purchase for $5.00.

Seating will be at the Hard Ball Cafe
Free Hot Dogs, Free Hamburgers, Free Chips, Free Sodas
Gates open at 6:00pm game starts at 7pm
Food starts at 6:30 pm and goes till 8:30pm
Drinks stop at top of 7th inning
$1.00 beer till top of 7th inning

Get your tickets at the CLEAT building @ 747 E. San Antonio Monday thru Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. ONLY!!!!!!!

A limited amount of tickets will be available. Tickets available on a first come, first serve basis.
Tickets go on sale on Monday August 2nd at the CLEAT office.

Association’s Annual Picnic at WET-N-WILD.

Membership:
I would like to thank all of the Association members and their families that made it out to the Association’s Annual Picnic at WET-N-WILD. This year’s picnic was enjoyed by more than 800 members and families. There was food, drinks and enough beer for all the adults. Special thanks to the board members who help organize this event, Pete Frias, Rudy Liggins, Fred Castillo, Brian Houston and Eulogio Munoz. Also thanks to Jose Mascorro and family for volunteering to help set up and help with serving the food. Officer Drouin was also out there taking pictures on behalf of the Association.
The event provides us with the perfect opportunity to see old friends and make new friends. The Association has over 850 members which come from both the law enforcement bureau and the detention bureau, some of which would have never met. The picnic gives us the outlet to relax and enjoy a day with our families and friends. A huge thanks to the officers who could not make out because they had to work, we missed them this time around but hope to see them at the next Association event.

County Commissioners meeting with the Association board

Membership;
As you are already aware, the County Commissioners request a meeting with the Association board to discuss salary concessions for FY 2011 back in May. The County is claiming that they are going to have another short fall in the budget. The Association notified the County that it would meet with them but only after the board did its due diligence and researched the county’s finances.
The Association was finally ready and met with the County on July 14, 2010. The County’s committee was made up Comm. Anna Perez, County Auditor Ed Dion, County HR Betsy Keller and County Attorney Holley Lyghtl. The Association Board and Ron Delord from CLEAT represented the Association. Comm. Perez formally requested that the members of the Association give up our COLA’s and step increase for FY 2011 and the money the County still owes the membership in October 2010.
The Association reminded the County that we had met our obligations by giving up our COLA’s for FY 2010 and now we want them to meet their obligation. The County had no counter proposal on why we should again give up our COLA’s, but insisted we do so because we are public servants. The County’s position is that they are in a deficit crunch and they need help with their budget. The Association disagrees with the County’s position and had an independent source research and analyze the County’s financial status and report back to us.
The Association’s report shows that the County’s problems are not significant enough to warrant its membership giving up another set of COLA’s for FY 2011. The County wants the Association membership to give up about $4.5 million in October, in return for non-monetary items in the contract. The Association told the County that their request was unreasonable and should fulfill their previous agreement before any other request by them is to be considered by the Association.
The Association Board has not agreed to any request the County has made and can not do so with prior approval from the MEMBERSHIP!!!
If any member has a question or concerns please feel free to contact me or any board member for additional information.

EPMPOA Ron Martin, Gov. Rick Perry and Marvin Ryals.

Our Annual Picnic Sunday July 18th, 2010

Our Annual Picnic
Wet And Wild Public Safety Day
Sunday July 18th, 2010

Picnic starts at 11:00 am thru 8:00 pm
Free Hamburgers, Hotdogs and Beverages
Music Starts at 11 AM
Tickets will be sold at cleat office and gates.
Members-Free
Family and non-members employees - $10.95 each
Toddlers : $3.25 each
For more info call 544-4251

Two Day Street Survival Seminar

Two Day Street Survival Seminar
Sponsored by CLEAT

Event Dates: Monday September 20, 2010 to Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Location: Renaissance Casa De Palmas Hotel, 101 N. Main, McAllen, Texas 78501
Price: Normal cost is $215 per officer, $75 for spouse.

Current and new CLEAT members, $165 per officer, $50 for spouse if registration is received by
9/13/2010

Register for class by: 09/15/2010 by logging onto www.CLEAT.org
For inquiries contact:
Contact Name: Rick Self, CLEAT Director of Special Projects
Contact Email: Rick.Self@cleat.org
Contact Phone: 1-800-752-5328 or 210-393-6866

Description:
On September 20-21, 2010, CLEAT will be sponsoring a 2-day seminar presented by Calibre Press. Calibre Press will present a dynamic, two day Street Survival Seminar in the McAllen, TX. Don't miss this opportunity to attend the most riveting and eye opening experience available in Law Enforcement training today.

For 30 years the Calibre Press "Street Survival" seminar has been the ultimate police training experience. A dynamic team of police trainers will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire two days. The Street Survival seminar will motivate, inspire, and teach officers not only to survive but to WIN! TCLEOSE credit will be available.
The Street Survival Seminar will help you:
• Develop the values, inner strength & winning mind-set you need to keep yourself motivated, effective and safe on the street.
• Gain valuable insight into new less-lethal options available to you.
• Learn to use crisis rehearsal and mental preparation strategies to prepare yourself for virtually any situation you may face on the job...or off.
• Prepare yourself and your family to take immediate, potentially life-saving action during an unexpected off-duty encounter.
• Overcome the "routine" nature of the job and avoid one of the deadliest enemies in law enforcement: Complacency.
• Navigate the frustrations of working within a bureaucracy & the stress of working your beat.
• Develop the perceptive skills needed to effectively hunt terrorists in your own back yard.
• Gain the mental edge you need to survive and WIN.


Host Hotel: Marriott Renaissance Casa De Palmas Hotel, 101 North Main, McAllen Texas 78501

CLEAT has a standing discount rate at the host hotel. King Room $89, Queen/Queen Room $89.

FOR THE DISCOUNTED RATE, BOOK DIRECTLY WITH THE HOTEL BY SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2010 AND REQUEST THE CLEAT RATE.

Call directly to the hotel and request the CLEAT rate: 956-631-1101.

Seminar Sponsor: Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas

El Paso Diablos

The El Paso County Sheriff’s officers Association

Proudly invites you and your family

To Association Member Appreciation night at the

El Paso Diablos this

Friday June 18th @ 6:00 p.m

Association Member

1 guest get in free. Additional tickets can be purchase for $5.00. Seating will be at the

Hard Ball Cafe

Free Hot Dogs, Free Hamburgers, Free Chips, Free Sodas

Gates open at 6:00pm game starts at 7pm

Food starts at 6:30 pm and goes till 8:30pm

Drinks stop at top of 7th inning

$1.00 beer till top of 7th inning

Get your tickets at the CLEAT building @ 747 E. San Antonio Monday thru Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

ONLY!!!!!!!

Tickets available on a first come, first serve basis.

Response To Mr Ellis

Membership,

I am never disappointed; leave it to Bill to educate us feeble minded officers on how the county might come at the Association. The Association is more than capable of figuring out what the county might be up to. Ellis is premature on his view that this issue will go to the voters. Ellis is entitled to his opinions but the fact is that the Association does not like to be strong-armed or threaten. Historically the Association has been able to come to terms with the county on contract issues. The Association has no reason to believe otherwise.

As I mentioned before the Association’s E-Board is working together with CLEAT in anticipation of the county’s request. The E-Board will take its time to analyze and weigh all our options before making any decisions that affect our membership. We will formulate and execute a well thought out strategy in order to come up with a solution for any request the county makes. The Association would be irresponsible if we made a move without membership approval and input.

The Board and I appreciate all the calls we have received over the past few days. I hope we have managed to answer the questions you have. Some answers we do not have because the county has not made any request on exactly what they want from us.

The Board will hold an emergency meeting as early as Monday, March 15th. The hope is that the county will have made contact by then so we can present their request to the membership and get input.

The Association will not be threatened or coerced into making hasty decisions, as for Bill "It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things"

Jose G Marrufo

President-EPCSOA

County commissioner’s court agenda

Membership;

The Association Executive board found out last week that there was an item placed on the county commissioner’s court agenda to re-open our collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the county. After consulting with CLEAT, I called an emergency meeting of the E-Board late Friday afternoon to discuss our options. The E-Board and CLEAT are on the same page at this point. No matter what action the commissioners have taken we will not re-open the contract for any type of negotiation.

The Members of the EPCSOA have a CBA till 2014 with an evergreen clause to 2015. There is no good reason why the Association would come to the table with the county to discuss the re-opening of the CBA.

As you are already aware the only way the E-Board can re-open the contract is by a majority of the voting membership. The E-Board has not intentions on talking with the county without membership approval. As of Wednesday the 3rd the board has yet to be notified of the county’s intent.

The county commissioners will not nickel and dime us like they have done to the county employees. The solution to county’s problems will not be solved by making the county employees, to include us, pay for the county’s budget deficit.

The Association will continue to monitor the county’s budget talks and will report any other request they make to the membership. If you have any questions about this issue please do not hesitate to contact me or any of your Association reps.

Jose G. Marrufo

President-EPCSOA