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Two laid-off officers to be recalled at jail
(by Sue Reid - July 26, 2012)
Two laid-off officers to be recalled at jail
By SUE REID
With approval by Solon City Council's finance committee last week to amend appropriations, two eligible laid-off corrections officers at the Solon Jail will be offered recalls.
The officers, who were laid off in 2010 due to declining workload, have recall rights as part of their collective-bargaining contract. They are represented by the Ohio Police Benevolent Association.
The need for increased personnel at the jail was cited by Police Chief Christopher P. Viland, who presented his research to the committee. He said the volume of work has increased as have bookings at the jail. He said he noticed some "red flags" while studying the staffing situation, including mandatory forced overtime, a slight increase in sick time and a higher rate of turnover. "That was an indicator that people were finding more hours or better job conditions elsewhere," he said.
"In order to more effectively fulfill new and projected workload requirements and keep liability as low as possible, we plan to move forward and add two full-time positions to the corrections staff as soon as August," Mr. Viland said. "The preferable method will be by recall of two eligible laid-off employees or, in the alternative, changing the status of current part-time employees to full time, if recall is declined."
Mr. Viland said the cost of the positions would be offset by the jail's increased revenue. "Our current monthly revenue numbers have increased over the last year by approximately $7,500 per month," he said. "At this rate, we project a total revenue increase for 2012 at $90,000, which more than offsets the additional expenditure-appropriation required," he said.
"This offset should continue into upcoming fiscal years so that future personnel appropriations are offset in large part by continuing revenue," Mr. Viland said.
The additional employees would take the full-time number at the jail to nine, with part timers remaining at six. Even with the addition, it's below the staffing of 2008, when there were 11 full-time and eight part-time jail employees.
"With the economy of scales, we will be OK with that," Mr. Viland said the staffing level.
Councilman William I. Russo said Mr. Viland "has done a much better job of increasing the efficiency of the jail." He also thanked the chief for the work he did to increase contracts to house prisoners from other municipalities. "You are making sure we are making good use of the facilities we have," he said.
Since his appointment as chief in January, 2011,, Mr. Viland has secured jail contracts with Orange village, Chagrin Falls, Pepper Pike and Twinsburg.
"We are currently in negotiations with at least two other municipalities," Mr. Viland said, "and the situation at the Cuyahoga County Jail is likely to remain stable where they no longer will house sentenced prisoners for less than 30 days, forcing municipal jails to house more prisoners."
The Solon Jail is a "two-part equation -- revenue and expenditures," Mr. Viland said. "In the past, it was looked at as expenditures only."
Mr. Russo said he's comfortable with approving the appropriations based on Mr. Viland's request. "A good case has been made," he said.
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