THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605100170
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Long : 270 lines
I am writing this letter in reference to a matter that has become increasingly difficult for me to understand. The administration of the Portsmouth Public Schools is ignoring the welfare of its employees.
Joseph Ladisic, a teacher and coach at Wilson High School, was diagnosed in January with cancer. He has had two operations since then and must have a third operation this summer. He has not been able to work since January. Ladisic's sick leave and disability leave will expire as of May 30. He will then have no job, no salary, no benefits and no health insurance. In a gesture of unselfish kindness and generosity, numerous teachers at Wilson and other schools have come forward and asked that they be allowed to give some of their accumulated sick leave to Ladisic in order for him to receive his salary and benefits.
The Portsmouth School administration has refused to allow this. Teachers in Chesapeake can do this along with workers at the Naval Shipyard. This process of transferring leave is an easy evolution that could very quickly be activated by the school administration. I cannot believe they would not allow this humane, generous, and moral lifting event be part of their standard operating procedures.
I have heard rumors that the administration is planning to revive a long abandoned sick leave bank for the next school year. This plan may help some in the future, but does nothing for Ladisic nor anyone else who may be in the same position now.
The new school board will have to find ways to discourage our Portsmouth teachers from continuing to flee to other school systems. A change in the policy to allow the donation of earned sick leave to a colleague is a show of support for our teachers. Our teacher and coach, Mr. Ladisic, has until May 30 to receive any benefit of this decision.
Call your school administrators today and ask them for their decision.
William Mick
Commonwealth Avenue
May 2, 1996 Miffed with mayor
The 21st annual Little Miss Portsmouth Pageant was held Saturday, April 27.
After five years of inviting Portsmouth Mayor Gloria O. Webb to attend the pageant and crown the new Little Miss Portsmouth, the mayor accepted. Why? Maybe because of the election year?
The outgoing Little Miss Portsmouth 1995, Brittany Timbreza, prepared a special tribute in her speech for the mayor. The sponsors of the pageant, Iota Epsilon of Beta Sigma Phi, contacted the mayor's office two months before the pageant by phone and followed up with a letter to the mayor in April. The mayor's office called Iota on Friday, April 26, to confirm she would be attending and Iota informed her for the third time she would crown the 1996 Little Miss Portsmouth.
The mayor arrived for the opening of the pageant and at intermission turned to a member in the audience and allegedly stated she had had enough and left, leaving Iota with no one to crown the 1996 Little Miss Portsmouth.
When Iota Epsilon called the following Monday to find out what had happened, the mayor never came to the phone but had her secretary say it was a miscommunication on the office's part.
With rising rental expense of Churchland High School ($1,000 for the janitors alone) and lack of support of the mayor, The Little Miss Portsmouth Pageant, a non-profit organization assisting charitable organizations and needy families in the Hampton Roads area, will follow in the footsteps of the Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival pageant and move on to another city in 1997 after 21 years in Portsmouth.
Sorority Members
Iota Epsilon of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority
May 1, 1996 Thanks from a juror
I just recently completed a term of jury duty in the Portsmouth Circuit Court and wanted to compliment Judge Johnny Morrison, Sheriff Gary Waters and his staff on their professionalism and concern for the well-being of the jurors.
I also wanted to thank Judge Morrison and his staff for making the experience of serving on jury duty as comfortable and as accommodating as possible.
W.C. Gaskins
Aylwin Road
April 18, 1996 Greedy and self-serving
The Portsmouth city government is making a new pitch to its citizenry.
Portsmouth's emergency service providers are greedy and self-serving. Their message, however, seems particularly ill-timed and out of step with the thinking of the rest of the country. Recent local newspaper articles have cast Portsmouth fire and police in an unfavorable light, intimating that these public servants are fleecing the city with a retirement system that is funded at great public expense.
One year ago, when the rest of the nation recognized the contributions that emergency service providers were making in the Oklahoma City disaster, our City Council unplugged the fire and police retirement system for new employees. No discussion. No compromise. Indeed, the system was dissolved with such remarkable speed that it seemed difficult to believe it was the same plan that 12 months earlier V. Wayne Orton had embraced. The plan, known as 3-2-1, was seen as the answer to the prayers of a cash-strapped city.
The plan offered an early retirement incentive to the oldest and most heavily compensated employees. As the same time it reduced the city's liability for the cost of workman's compensation claims. Even more than this, further savings were realized at the expense of employees as these new positions remained vacant for months. The immediate effect of the plan was an infusion of funds into projects such as the Virginia Children's Museum and the public schools.
Now, on the anniversary of the great disaster in Oklahoma City, the city fathers are developing a plan to unplug the rest of the system by limiting pay raises to current employees. Pay raises averaging a meager 2.5 percent (in the years raises were offered) continue the downward spiral of salaries and keep Portsmouth's sworn personnel the lowest paid of all neighboring localities. The fire and police retirement system has never been a secret. There is a good reason it offers enhanced benefits - the nature of the job. To say these are dangerous professions is cliche. Apart from the obvious dangers most often considered, are occupational diseases: emergency service providers are affected by hypertension, emphysema and cardio-vascular disease at a disproportionately higher rate than the rest of the population. These occupational diseases, as well as injuries, account for workman's compensation liabilities borne by the city.
At the heart of the 3-2-1 plan was the well-being of emergency service workers. This plan should have been a model to others across the nation. Instead it was sharply criticized and the public led to believe that money was being siphoned away from the city for perks to fire and police. In reality, the plan made money and could afford benefits for the people it was designed to assist.
As the economic woes of our troubled economy have pressured spending cuts and the downsizing of many businesses and industries, pressure, unprecedented in our time, is being placed on bureaucrats to find new financial resources to decrease the burden to government. There is little disagreement that pension systems throughout the nation are currently under scrutiny by local and state governments and are seen as great pools of untapped capital. Our plan has been no exception. An article appearing in The Virginian-Pilot, March 7, 1993, written by Alex Klein, underlines the problem that exists today and points to the true beneficiaries of what has been described as our ``lucrative plan.''
``. . . It has been the worst of times for city employees, who are among the lowest paid in the region, but it has been the best of times for city managers who have reaped tens of thousands of dollars in hidden bonuses.''
In a companion piece Mr. Klein noted:
`` . . . Of the eight locals that have created a special retirement program for police and firefighters, Portsmouth is the only one to permit its chief administrator to share in the perks denied to all other city employees.''
Let's not forget other highly compensated city administrators that have found their way into the plan, an assistant city manager and a sheriff. The city did not have to look very far to find a way to reward its most highly paid city administrators. They did it on the back of our pension system with no direct expense to the taxpayers.
There are no golden parachutes for police officers and firefighters. By contrast, with a new pay scheme in place our salaries have been effectively capped and the enhanced benefit package that once attracted new employees has been eliminated. Our new employees, placed under the Virginia State Retirement System, will be working longer for their retirement packages and will see a reduction in their benefits. One real difference they will enjoy, however, will be the portability of the system. They will now be able to take jobs in other localities when positions become available. Portsmouth will be the training ground for localities offering higher pay.
Of late, it seems apparent that our city government has treated its public safety employees in a heavy-hand fashion. It is a mistake to believe that police officers, firefighters and emergency medical professionals in Portsmouth are any less dedicated or well trained than their counterparts in Oklahoma, indeed, many members of these departments have engaged in work on various regional teams that provide expert technical assistance when crisis strikes. Emergency service providers are the backbone of local emergency disaster planning and provide an essential link with area hospitals and relief agencies such as the American Red Cross.
As we remember the bravery of those who worked in Oklahoma, we should reflect on our own back yard. In 1991, during the height of Operation Desert Storm, the threat of terrorism was not so far away in Hampton Roads. Charles Edward Gresham Jr. was sentenced to four and one-half years in prison for masterminding an attempt to blow up two tanks of chemicals at Allied Terminals. The failed bombing was the centerpiece of an insurance fraud, but sent a wave of speculation across the country as the FBI scrambled to determine who was responsible. As events evolved, the act was revealed not to be the work of a Mid-eastern extremist, but rather than of a home-grown criminal. Nonetheless, the threat of terrorism left a chill in the heart of the country's naval and intelligence communities based throughout Hampton Roads. The plain truth is, what happened in Oklahoma can happen here. When it does we will be there.
So as you, dear reader, are asked to swallow the current information passing for fact, look to see how our system has been underfunded and observe the abuse our system has endured as a result of the leadership void that has plagued Portsmouth for 10 years.
Richard K. Gaddis
Director, State Retired Police
and Firefighters Association
May 7, 1996 Move the obstacles first
Columnist Ida Kay Jordan's feature of April 26 reported proceedings at the Galaxy project meeting held April 22 at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Columnist Jordan sensed that I was reluctant to move then, there and with enthusiasm to embrace a suggestion made at the meeting that a corporation be immediately formed to sell stock and seek grants with the expectation that such a move now would get the project out of the stalled posture it's been in for the past several years of frustrating effort. Significantly, the mayor and council persons present seemed receptive to the idea as did others in the audience, numbers of which persons have been continuing supporters of the Galaxy initiative.
Please let it be known that my reluctance at the Monday meeting to move then to endorsement of the corporation-forming idea and the raising of needed funds were due solely to a perceived need first to remove obstacles which are now in the way of possible success of a stock-raising and foundation grant effort. Most assuredly, organizations, banking, investment groups, foundations and individuals contacted for participation in the Galaxy venture would first desire and expect to know the extent of enthusiasm, faith and ``good offices'' support of the local governing body; such appearing to be lacking at this time.
In short, the proponents of Galaxy are ready to move forward toward the achievement of an economic initiative which could possible be a model for the nation. What's needed first is the moving of obstacles in the way.
The City Council with full involvement of appropriate city administrative and technical personnel and the Redevelopment and Housing Authority together can create the climate of positiveness which the project must have for its success.
Harvey N. Johnson Jr.
President
National Institute For Minority Economic Advancement Inc.
May 6, 1996 A spiritual problem
What makes Portsmouth such a great city? Perhaps, it's the high rate of births to unwed mothers. In the April 26 edition of the Currents, there was a list of 27 births at Portsmouth General Hospital of which 20 listed only a mother.
That's 74 percent! Many times in the past I have noticed that it's over 50 percent.
Wake up, Portsmouth! Wake up, America!
By the way, if and when we do wake up, we will see that it's not a sexual problem. It's not a racial problem. It's not an economic problem. It's a spiritual problem that requires a spiritual solution.
Holly S. Roberts
Suffolk
May 1, 1996
Olive Branch appreciated
I wanted to take the time to send a positive note regarding our school system here in Portsmouth. My son attends Olive Branch Elementary. I am really impressed with the cleanliness of the school and cafeteria. When I go in the school, it is bright and cheery.
I know that Mrs. Tieg has a lot to do with this atmosphere. I also know some of the folks behind the scene have a lot to do with it.
I would like to thank Mr. Lastinger, Mr. Hill and Mrs. Williams, the custodial staff and the cafeteria staff for making our children's school days a little bit brighter. I have been to a lot of schools and believe me, it does make a difference in your child's school day if they have clean facilities and friendly cafeteria workers. I have seen cafeteria workers be very rude to some children and adults, but you don't find that at Olive Branch. Negative experiences can set the whole day off to a bad start.
Now, I am not saying that our educators are not important. It is just that some of our unsung heroes are not recognized often enough. So, my hat is off to Mrs. Tieg and her staff.
Cathy Ward
Robin Road
May 6, 1996
Dog's family says thanks
We would like to thank the person who called the authorities, to report a black Labrador stuck in the Hodges Ferry River mud off Saunders Road on April 27.
Due to their fast thinking and quick action, we have our family pet of 13 years back home again.
This was the first time breaking loose from our yard.
Thanks so much from our family (and ``Midnight'').
Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Morgan
and family
Tatem Avenue
May 6, 1996 by CNB