CAO is OUT in Sonoma County
It's been a long time since any good news out of Sonoma
County. Since last summer, our members there have been locked in
contract bargaining not unlike the trench warfare of World War
One, when neither side gave ground for years.
But this week came a flash of sunshine: the resignation of CAO Bob Deis, whose stinginess
toward county workers was matched only by the extravagance of
the $234,362.70 annual salary that made him one of the
highest-paid government officials on the North Coast. He
proposed replacing all workers' and retirees' health care
coverage with a $500 monthly stipend — while enjoying
a sweet hundred thou in health care and other benefits of his
own.
Since the November 2008 elections, the Board of Supervisors
had became increasingly unhappy with Deis' performanceincreasingly unhappy with Deis' performance
and intransigence in bargaining. Exasperated by the Board's
long-time backing of Deis, SEIU 1021 members got involved in
their county elections last year and joined campaigns to elect
new supervisors and make some change. We won two out of three.
The candidates we helped elect are the ones who started
questioning Deis' performance, leading to growing
dissatisfaction throughout the Board and public that forced him
to step down.
It's too soon to know what comes next. Still, political
involvement by SEIU 1021 members paid off, breaking a bargaining
logjam and offering new hope for reaching a fair agreement that
protects both jobs and services in Sonoma County.
The details of Deis' $331,000 severance deal with
$70,000 pension
www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090618/ARTICLES/906179856/1068
Posted By: Nadir Vissanjy on 6/22/2009 3:57:00 PM
3/4 Press Democrat Article
In the Press Democrat,
Sonoma County Supervisors cut $10 millionHere's the quote:
"Zane and Supervisor Efren Carrillo called on administrators to give
more credence to ideas that don’t rely so heavily on program
reductions. Both asked for more detail on savings that could be
accomplished by some of the wide-ranging proposals on a list of 49
“cost-savings ideas” assembled from suggestions from employees,
supervisors and union members."
Posted By: Nadir Vissanjy on 3/4/2009 1:22:00 PM
Coalition Health Bargaining
The Sonoma County Coalition of Labor Organizations sent the
following letter to the Employee Relations Manager, Dan Faulks. In it, the coalition asks Sonoma County to use an Interest Based approach to resolve the issue active health and retiree health issues.
Posted By: Nadir Vissanjy on 2/9/2009 6:17:00 PM
"Health Care: Crisis or Opportunity"
Hosted & Moderated by Supervisors Shirlee Zane and Efren Carrillo, we are proud to announce the first health care forum. The theme is: "Health Care: Crisis or Opportunity". This will be a participatory forum where community leaders and health care front line providers will be discussing health care in Sonoma County.
Please join us on February 11th at 6pm at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building.
RSVP FylerRSVP Email
Posted By: Nadir Vissanjy on 1/26/2009 4:34:00 PM
Blow the Whistle!
Help identify cost saving to maintain public services!
Download these 2 documents (
flyer and
form) and submit it the following ways:
Your ideas are central to our weathering this storm.
Posted By: Nadir Vissanjy on 1/16/2009 5:24:00 PM
Boad of Supervisors 1/13/08
Today over 30 Members went to the afternoon session to the Board of Supervisors to relay the message that "with change, we can turn the page". Several member leaders addressed the Board of Supervisors about working together and finding solutions during this economic crisis.
Pictures Here
Posted By: Nadir Vissanjy on 1/13/2009 9:55:00 PM
Press Democrat Articles
This week new Board of Supervisors were sworn in. In the 3rd District, Shirlee Zane and in the 5th District Efren Carrillo.
SEIU 1021 Members were part of the large delegation that expressed words of encouragement to the new Board of Supervisors. Our message is that we believe that there's a win-win situation and we hope to get there with the new Board of Supervisors.
Under New Supervision
Posted By: Nadir Vissanjy on 1/8/2009 1:14:00 PM
Sonoma Courts retain benefits!
Attached is a
link of the latest news for the Sonoma Courts. The Courts signed a one year extension to their contract, in which they retained their health care and started to pre-fund the retiree health care. They did it successfully because the Courts management worked with SEIU.
Posted By: Nadir Vissanjy on 1/5/2009 1:25:00 PM
Toy Drive: A HUGE SUCCESS!
Toy Drive Update: IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!
Sonoma County workers had an amazing turn out. We had donations ranging from toys, games, clothing, crafts, jewelry as well as check and cash donations! See the picture below.
We delivered the donations to Valley of the Moon Children Center on Friday. Meg (the volunteer coordinator) was ecstatic with the amount of donations!
The items for children under 5 years of age were donated to the Catholic Charities, because the Valley of the Moon does not work with children under 5 years.
Posted By: Nadir Vissanjy on 12/23/2008 6:33:00 PM