Sorry for the lack of posts here during
the middle part of the year. I just counted seven major theatrical
productions I've been a big part of since April; that, and taking on
another part time position (temporary, if all goes well) left little
time for anything. In addition, I really don't have a lot of
evidence that this blog is read by anyone; Blogspot sends me pageview
numbers, but doesn't screen for bots, and I've had no comments or
e-mail since... forever, it seems.
Anyway, a summary of the important
pieces of work going on in the County. First, of course, is the sale
of the Manor; earlier this week, we traded the keys for a little more
than $18 million, and everyone was happy. Well, perhaps with the
exception of some of the employees who chose to stay, whose pay and
benefits (actually not finalized at this point) have been
substantially reduced.
It's important to note that up until
this week – when the Manor was owned by the County – pay scales
were much higher than those at other nursing homes in the region.
This was a double problem: not only did the County have a
significantly larger payroll, but Medicare bases its reimbursements
on the 'regional average' cost of running a nursing home – which
was, of course, much lower than our cost. So our costs were high,
and our reimbursements were low, and that is much of the story of the
subsidy that the taxpayers had to provide to keep the doors open each
year (about $5 million this year).
Add to that the fact that we probably
had 40 more staff at the Manor than was needed; staffing patterns
were perpetuated from the days of the Meadows “because that's the
way we always did it.” The new owner will adjust things to come
into balance, and will make a profit, and wages will no doubt rise as
time goes on. This whole process was clear two years ago, when we
began preparing for the sale, and should not be a surprise to anyone.
The Manor will continue to be a good
place to live and a good place to work.
There are rustlings and rumors
throughout the Board regarding the issue of raises for management and
confidential (M&C) employees (everyone not in a union). They
haven't gotten a raise in seven years, a situation which is an
abomination and cannot be treated as anything else. The great fear
is that those who have resisted the raises – there was always a
justification to say “not enough money right now” - who have been
in the majority all along, will approve token raises and then be able
to shelve the subject for years to come. “They got a raise; we
can't just spend whenever we want to; where's the money going to come
from?”
I'll tell you where it'll come from –
right off the top. There is no higher priority. Let them ask those
questions about anything else the County pays for, but this
abomination must be ended. Our fiscal conservatism has, on the backs
of our employees (and ex-employees who have been laid off), put us in
a relatively healthy position. St. Lawrence County, up on the
Canadian Border, is borrowing a million dollars a year just to keep
the lights on. We have a healthy fund balance, no more Manor
subsidy, no more MOSA GAT (in fact, we're making money on solid
waste), and sales tax may be up. There are challenges in the budget,
of course, but when the cuts come, M&C raises must be off the
table.
And finally, there is a little movement
regarding the huge solar array in the 'boneyard' north of Laurens.
Solar City came to present to the whole Board last month, and
although there is a certain amount of foot-dragging from the usual
suspects, there is also a good deal of interest. Stay tuned.
