by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Fraternal Order of Police President Nelson Cuba said Thursday he wasn’t afraid of public backlash for police and corrections officers rejecting the City’s call for a 2 percent pay cut and a contribution to health care costs.
Cuba hired a forensic auditor who found $100 million in City funds that he contends could be used to pay police and corrections officers, negating the need for pay cuts.
Through a statement Thursday morning, Mayor John Peyton expressed disappointment in the union’s rejection of the City’s deal, saying it was “out of touch with the realities of the times we are living in.”
Peyton cited how other unions and nonunion City employees have taken similar deals and that the police union’s rejection shows a “sense of entitlement.”
Instead of people considering the police to be out of touch with economic realities, Cuba said he believes the majority of people see evidence of waste in government.
“The only fear I have is that the public isn’t being informed,” said Cuba.
Cuba also said he was disappointed in a statement by mayoral candidate Mike Hogan, who has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, but that the union stands behind Hogan.
When news broke Wedenesday that the police union rejected the City’s offer, Hogan released a statement expressing disappointment in the union’s rejection of the deal and urged both parties to return to the negotiating table.
“We must all share the pain during these tough economic times,” said Hogan in the statement.
Cuba said Hogan made the statement “without having all the facts” and said the union was still behind the candidate “right now.”
“We’re not a one-issue organization,” said Cuba. “We can agree to disagree (on the deal’s rejection).”
Cuba said Hogan and the other City employee unions who approved pay cuts “drank the Kool-Aid” when it came to their stances, but he doesn’t fault them. He said they didn’t have the time or resources to investigate the City’s budget like the police union.
“We’re not drinking it,” he said.
Cuba said more information is still being learned from the auditor and union officials will continue to develop their case before a special magistrate in the coming months.
If the City and the union don’t agree with the recommendations of the special magistrate, the issue will go to City Council.
“We’re prepared for whatever,” said Cuba.
Cuba said findings from the forensic auditor he hired to examine City finances were a determining factor in the union’s Wednesday vote to reject a deal that called for employees to receive a 2 percent pay cut.
Cuba said the findings of South Florida-based Jessup and Associates Economic Consultants included $100 million in contingency funds that could go toward alleviating the pay cut.
“It’s tough to accept any type of pay cut when the City has money there and wastes money on some of these projects out there,” he said.
The 2 percent would equal about $3.3 million, he said, which could be covered by such funds at no cost to taxpayers. Cuba said claims that not accepting a deal would raise taxes are untrue.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s a lie,” he said, “$3.3 million in that (City) budget won’t cause a raise in taxes.”
He criticized City projects such as the Laura Street renovations and the waived $4 million City stake in the Jaguars deal with EverBank as examples of waste.
However, officials in the mayor’s office refute the claim that emergency contingency funds can be used to pay for a recurring expenses.
Such reserves also affect bond ratings, said the mayor’s office, and should be used for one-time problems.
The rejected deal also included police employees paying 5 percent of their insurance, which Cuba called “punishment” for being good stewards and saving the City money on such plans compared to other departments.
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