Police/Fire

Police Log: Driver Breaks Breaks Sign, Gets Car Stuck on Post and More

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests

Jan. 14, 4:51 p.m.: An officer on Arsenal Street near Spruce Street saw a vehicle run a red light. The officer stopped the car and found the driver had only a Brazilian driver’s license and he had an active warrant. The 28-year-old Waltham man was arrested for unlicensed driving and a warrant from West Roxbury District Court for unlicensed driving.

Police/Fire

Car Stolen in Watertown Used in Jewelry Store Robbery

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A car stolen from the streets of Watertown ended up being used in a robbery of a Newton jewelry store. A car was left running on the Union Street on Jan. 12 at about 12:40 p.m., said Watertown Police Lt. Michael Lawn. “The motor vehicle was moved from the driveway to in front of the home to make way for a delivery truck,” Lawn said. “The vehicle was left running and when the owner went back 10 minutes later it was gone.”

Police/Fire

Pair Charged With Breaking into Watertown Homes

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Police arrested two men after catching them allegedly breaking into homes in a neighborhood near the Charles River. A resident called police after she became suspicious when two men asked her if she knew someone living in the area because they were serving an arrest warrant, said Watertown Police Lt. Michael Lawn. Watertown Police and a Massachusetts State Trooper responded to the call and the state trooper spotted a man fitting the description get into a vehicle in a driveway on Priest Road and pull out. Then he picked up a second man. One man, identified as Mark Pasquarello, 41, of Concord, N.H., had an outstanding warrant from Middlesex Superior Court for multiple counts of possession of burglarious tools and receiving stolen property.

Police/Fire

Police Log: Shoplifter with Baby Caught at Target, Xmas Lights Taken

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests

Jan. 5, 5:42 p.m.: A shoplifter was detained at Target along with her 2-year-old child. Security saw the woman putting items in the baby carriage and try to leave the store without paying. Police found $133.58 in items from Target and $127.99 in merchandise from Carter’s.

Government

Town Council’s Vote on the Fire Contract May Be Felt at Election Time

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The Town Council’s decision to reject the fire union’s contract may be felt come November’s Town Election. The vote on Dec. 9 rejected the arbitration award decided by a neutral panel. It also raised the ire of many in the Fire Department along with friends, family and others who thought that the Watertown Firefighters deserved a new contract and after 5 1/2 years. Tuesday’s meeting again drew scores of firefighters and other unions, who rallied before the meeting asking the Town Council to reconsider its vote.

Government

Unions Rally for Firefighters, Council Stands Behind Rejecting Contract

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Labor unions had a strong showing in front of Watertown Town Hall Tuesday night before the Town Council meeting, but councilors did not reverse their decision to reject an award for the town’s firefighters approved by a state arbitrator. The rally came about after 8 of 9 Town Councilors voted to reject the arbitration agreement on Dec. 9, saying that the proposal that included 2.5 percent raises in Fiscal 2012 and 2013 and an increase for EMT training and would cost the town $2.74 million in back pay. Firefighters have been without a contract for more than 5 1/2 years. The deadline to file to reconsider the vote on the contract passed before Tuesday’s meeting, said Town Council President Mark Sideris.

Government

OP-ED: Town Manager’s Statement on the Fire Contract Negotiations

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At Tuesday’s Town Council meeting Town Manager Michael Driscoll addressed the situation with the Local 1347 firefighters union contract and the Council’s vote in December. Here is his statement:

In recent weeks there have been media articles and Letters to the Editor written about the Town Council’s decision on December 9, 2014 to reject a request to fund the arbitration award that was issued in connection with the Town’s efforts to reach a successor collective bargaining agreement with the Fire Union. Some of that discussion has included comments that the Union and the Town Manager followed a process – the arbitration process – and suggested that the Town Council’s vote somehow violated that process. Contrary to what some would have the public believe, however, the Town Council, by state statute, was also given a role in the overall process and that was to decide whether to fund or not fund an arbitration award like the one that was issued in this case. As set forth in Chapter 1078 of the Acts of 1973, once the Arbitrator issued his award the Executive Branch – in this case the Town Manager – was required to submit to the Legislative Branch – the Town Council – a request for an appropriation necessary to fund the award.

Government

LETTER: Resident Thinks Town Bargained Unfairly with Fire Union

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We have heard several Town Councilors tell the public that funding the arbitration award for the Local 1347 would not have been fair to other public employees. They have cited the fact that all other unions agreed to accept their predetermined parameters of no raises for two years and that the arbitration award did not meet that same criteria because of an increase in EMT / Defibrillator stipend pay. Comparing the outcome of previously negotiated contracts to the outcome of an independent, third-party review such as arbitration is both deceptive and disrespectful. Town officials made a decision in 2009 to treat all public employee unions as one during the negotiation process. The town failed to realize that each separate labor union has a right to not accept those bargaining terms. The town took a risk in using this negotiation tactic as their sole collective bargaining strategy, and the result of this gamble is a lack of a negotiated contract for local firefighters. In my opinion, the town setting these parameters and expecting that all unions comply does not meet the definition of negotiation.