Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

In this email exchange below, Councilmember Jeff Berding asks David Rager for permission before sending an email to Tom West concerning issues surrounding the secretive plans to move towards a “Water Disctrict,” that some feel could be the first step towards privatizing water in Cincinnati.  It’s noteworthy how Berding needs Rager’s permission to send an email.  Also, it’s noteworthy that Berding has apparently edited Rager’s response.  Why wasn’t Rager’s unedited response included in my records request?

==
From: Berding, Jeffrey [mailto:Jeffrey.Berding@bengals.nfl.net]
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 1:54 PM
To: Rager, David
Subject: RE: AFSCME - help?

Thank you David, this extensive update is very helpful information. I will ask Tom West if he would like to meet with you.

I have drafted the proposed email to Tom below, attaching your comments (see below). I have shortened your response. Let me know if you are OK, or suggest further modifiications.

Thanks again,

Jeff

Jeff Berding

(513)455-8352

(513)621-3570 (fax)

PROPOSED
Tom, as indicated, I have followed up with David Rager with some of your concerns regarding the study and conversion process involving AFSCME, as well as the union’s involvement in this process. He has responded with the information and update you see below. He is willing to meet with you to discuss your concerns. Please let me know if you are willing. Thanks much,

Jeff

==
From: Rager, David [mailto:David.Rager@gcww.cincinnati-oh.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 10:43 AM
To: Berding, Jeffrey
Subject: RE: AFSCME - help?

Jeff:

No one to my knowledge in management has said that AFSCME supports transitioning the Water Works to a water district.  In fact the City Manager and I have been very careful to say that all we are talking about here is conducting a study to determine if it is a good idea or not.  We don’t know if we support it until we get all the facts on the table through the study.  When Milton announced to Council that he was going to conduct the study, I called or met with the various union leadership in early October.  I stressed that this was just a study.  None of the union leadership stated that they didn’t support the study.  They did express reservations about the district and wanted more information.  When I have been asked if the union supports the district, I responded that they understandably have questions and concerns, but have not expressed to me objections to conducting the study.

After Milton announced his intent to conduct the study, I organized employee briefing sessions in October and early November.  About 450 of the 600 employees at GCWW voluntarily attended one of the sessions.  All of the union officials attend on or more of the sessions.  I explained to the employees that the City Manager had announced plans to do a study and I explained to them what a Water District is under Ohio law.  I also gave them examples of water districts around the U.S.  In each session we had the employees work as groups to develop questions and concerns that they had.  From all the sessions the employees developed around 580 questions.  Many of them require legal research; some can’t be answered until the study process develops some conclusions; but as we get answers we have been communicating those back to all employees.  I should also note that about 95% of the 600 Water Works employees are union employees.  So a meeting of 450 employees is going to be nearly all union employees.

HOW THE STUDY HAS BEEN ORGANIZED

The study groups have been organized into two committees.  The first is the Water District Study Group (WDSG) which is made up of only citizens.  I am staffing the committee with Lynn Marmer, from Kroger as chair.  I have several other GCWW employees and outside legal council assisting with preparing information for the committee.  Milton and I felt that this committee needed to be just citizens so the community at large would not feel that the deck was stacked or manipulated by city employees or management to drive the committee to a specific recommendation.  It is perfectly feasible that this citizen committee will come back and say; moving to a district is not a good idea for the community.  The other members of the citizen committee are:

Andrew Kolsar, Partner Thompson Hine, LLP

James Sumner, GE Group Environmental Programs, also Blue Ash councilmember

Mary Asbury, Executive Director, Legal Aid Society

Dr. Robert Clark, retired former head of research for U.S. EPA Water Division

Dan Radford, Union Labor Life Company, former official AFL-CIO

Wendell Young, former president NAACP

David Crowley, Cincinnati Council member

The charge of the citizen committee is to study the feasibility of transitioning the Water Works to a district, and if so recommending how it would be organized. (i.e. what would its boundaries be, how big would its board be, how would board members be selected, how would the board conduct business, etc.) Ultimately the committee will make its recommendations to the City Manager, who would then forward his recommendation to the City Council.  City Council would decide if they want to transition the water works to a district and if so must hold public hearings on a petition.  The petition is then submitted to the Court of Common pleas for approval.  The court must conduct public hearings as well before ruling on the petition.

At the WDSG’s meeting last week, they discussed the union leadership’s feelings of not being included in the process.  The issue was raised by Dan Radford but was a good discussion by all the members.  They didn’t come to a conclusion as to how specifically to include the union in their process, but agreed to consult with the City Manager.  Since the committee was appointed by the City Manager, they felt they needed to get his input.

The second committee I mentioned is an internal committee to the Water Works made up of Water Works employees.  The internal committee’s job is to figure out how the Water Works would function, if the citizen’s committee recommends transitioning the Water Works to a district.  The internal committee is focusing on the nuts and bolts of running a water utility.  They have a long list of areas to study.  For example, they have to figure out how we would get paychecks produced as a district, how we would buy supplies and materials, how would we have handle all the deeds and easements we have on parcels we own or have right of ways, and how much would it cost to do all of this.

The internal committee is structured with a small team of senior managers who are organizing the study process and have then broken it into sub committees focusing on various pieces. The sub committees have union and non union employees on them.  Next week the internal team is having a two day session with 100 Water Works employees, broken into groups, to get more input from employees on areas that need to be addressed.  Union and non union employees, including union leadership, will be in the two day sessions from all levels of the organization.  From the two day session more groups will be formed to study specific areas of operations.

Our communication plan with the employees has been to communicate what we know when we know it, but not to mislead employees with half information.  A special web site for GCWW employees has been created that they can access when they want to look at information that has been developed to that point.  All documents given to the citizen committee are posted for the employees to review.  As we develop answers to employee question they are also posted on this web site.  We also send out a weekly newsletter about the Water District study to all GCWW employees updating them on what has been happening and where they can get more information.  They are encouraged to email questions in so that answers to be distributed.

Last month we also initiated monthly meetings with all of the union leaders.  We have committed to continue to meet with the union and include them in the study process.  We will continue to reach out to them, but in case they don’t participate we have been incorporating AFSCME rank and file (as well as CODE, Teamsters, and Trades) into the process so that we are getting feedback from all levels of the organization.

If you have questions, please call or email me.  If you think it would help, I would also be more than willing to meet with Tom West.

Thanks

David

Thank you for reading (and printing from) The Cincinnati Beacon.