Separation agreement OK'd by board with ex-deputy chief. |
Executive Editor - Call Newspapers
May 11, 2011 - The Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors last week voted to hire an attorney who specializes in labor and employment issues to assist with a possible restructuring of the district.
The Board of Directors voted unanimously May 2 to hire Burton Garland Jr. of Ogletree Deakins. Ogletree Deakins is one of the country's leading labor and employment law firms.
Chief Tim White and Mathew Hoffman, the district's legal counsel, researched attorneys and firms that specialize in labor and employment matters and recommended hiring Garland, Hilmer said.
"... I know Tim and Matt did a little research. We're looking at some possible restructuring to be done at the fire district and they wanted the board to hire a gentleman by the name of Burt Garland as a labor consultant at the price of $330 an hour,'' he said. "I think we should do that and see what he brings back.''
Hilmer told the Call that hiring an attorney who specializes in labor and employment issues is similar to what the board did in late 2005 when it was contemplating changing the district's employee pension plan. At that time, the board hired Thompson Coburn, a law firm with attorneys who specialized in pension matters.
"I know Tim is looking at some possible restructuring, some changes in some things in the district — nothing I really want to go in a lot of detail on right now,'' he said. "But it's something that we felt was at the stage where he wanted to bring in someone who is an expert in this field — no different than when we changed the pension plan. We had to bring in someone who was an expert in what they did and obviously that bore a lot of fruit.
"So that's really what this is — more of an exploratory thing right now. It's not a large commitment on the district's part, but kind of a fact-finding mission.''
In other business May 2, the board voted unanimously in closed session to:
• Approve a separation agreement with former Deputy Chief Joe Schmidt, who had been employed by the district since 1981.
Regarding the agreement, Hilmer told the Call, "It was mutually agreed on by both parties and the terms basically as part of his separation were six months' additional pay and benefits from the time that he resigned and a $10,000 education stipend along with any other benefits he'd accrued during his tenure at the fire district.''
• Approve the promotions of Kevin Reis and Tim Dempsey to the rank of deputy chief. Reis has been employed by the district since 1996 while Dempsey has been employed by Mehlville since 1992.
If you read between the lines, it looks like a few malcontented union thugs will be reorganized out the door. I hope that Nick Fahs is at the top of the list. I also hope that Local 1889 has enough money left after the April election disaster to sue Hilmer for firing him. Maybe Fahs will get big bucks like former union president Bob Strinni did. LOL :) It's time to get rid of these bums.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Big Al, these union crooks and liars almost hoodwinked the voters into electing Klund. I think all of the union bosses should be fired so we don't have to listen to their crap in two years when they run another mystery candidate against Ed Ryan. Fire them and get some new blood in.
ReplyDeleteJoe Schmidt loved to leak insider stuff to the local hate blog. I hope he enjoyed himself.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Schmidt sign a confidentiality agreement with the MFPD?
ReplyDeleteMehlville's Joe Schmidt and Affton's Mark Emert are loyal to the union bosses NOT THE TAXPAYERS! They have disgraced themselves to glorify their militant union views, even though they are supposed to be management.
ReplyDeleteAt least in Mehlville the union is a bunch of powerless rubes who the citizens despise. Local 1889 ran a "conservative" campaign under the radar and almost got lucky. The bad news is the voters now know how badly the 1889 fanatics lied to them. It won't work again.
Mehlville used to pay their Democrat lawyers over $500 an hour just to attend every board meeting. They did nothing but sit there. At least Hilmer is paying an expert to guide them through Chief White's reorganization plan. I hope this lawyer tells them how to fire the union bosses.
ReplyDelete