Category: Government workers and pensions
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A Letter to an Old Friend
by James C. Sherlock This article is rendered as a letter responding to an old friend and mentor, the University of Virginia, my alma mater. I can imagine the University’s response to my last article on its culture: The changes we have experienced in the culture of the University, its pervasive progressivism, which some may…
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Hey, Virginia State Workers, Take Off Your PJs
by Kerry Dougherty Hey, Virginia state employees, it’s time. Time to close those laptops, take off your pajamas and head back to work. I know, I know, it’s been fun sitting home with your cats since early 2020, when Gov. Ralph Northam shut down the commonwealth to slow the spread of COVID-19. And we all…
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Deja Vu, All Over Again
by Dick Hall-Sizemore As reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Governor Youngkin “wants state employees back in their offices under a new telework policy that will take effect July 5 to guide executive branch agencies out of workplace restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.” To that effect, he has announced a policy that will let state…
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Statewide Teacher Shortage: 2,500 Vacancies and Counting
by James A. Bacon Virginia’s public schools had 2,500 teacher vacancies in October 2021, according to Virginia Department of Education data, reports Capital News Service. That number is likely higher today, as burned-out teachers quit their jobs in the middle of the school year in unprecedented numbers. Despite hiring 700 to 900 teachers per year…
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FOIA Council Response on Open Meeting Requirements in Discussions of Local Government Contracts with Public Unions
by James C. Sherlock I submitted questions to the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council concerning FOIA open meetings requirements applicable to local government sessions discussing contracts with unions. I received a very prompt and thorough reply. The following is the response of Alan Gernhart, Esq., Executive Director.
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Negotiating with Public Sector Unions in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock Some Virginia local governments will be negotiating this year for the first time with public sector unions. There is a lot of experience and recommendations documented in other states upon which those governments can draw. Recommendation #1 is that cities, counties and towns hire: law firms with proven experience representing municipal…
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Richmond, Its Unions and Taxes
by James C. Sherlock Richmond residents should note that: The number of employees at City of Richmond in year 2020 was 4,140. Average annual salary was $56,410 and median salary was $50,001. City of Richmond average salary is 20 percent higher than USA average and median salary is 15 percent higher than USA median. Median…
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Richmond Parents and Taxpayers, Welcome to Chicago Public Schools
by James C. Sherlock The gulf between what the City of Richmond School Board (RSB) and the Richmond City Council (RCC) on what will be negotiated with their public unions is actually an ocean. The RSB has authorized the negotiation of virtually everything about how the schools are run. It leaves nothing off the table…
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Know the Terms of Surrender in Negotiating With Teachers Unions
by James C. Sherlock Franklin Roosevelt thought collective bargaining agreements incompatible with public sector work. Today’s left, unburdened by the public interest, finds FDR’s principles at best quaint. Since May of last year collective bargaining is legal in Virginia for local government employees by local option, but for not state employees. The issues most people think…
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Causes of the School Funding “Crisis”
by James C. Sherlock Read the story, “House and Senate lay out dueling visions for education funding in Virginia,” in the Virginia Mercury this morning by the reliably thorough Kate Masters. If you follow it, you, like everyone else in Virginia, can pick a side or pick provisions from both houses that you prefer. What you…
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“Frozen” Property Taxes
by James C. Sherlock I admit my fascination with how newspapers present various issues. It is an important window into the information their readers are getting. City manager and county executive proclamations that property tax rates are “frozen” are meant to sound like fiscal constraint. Consider this headline from The Washington Post: “Fairfax County executive…
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Lawmaker Introduces Bills Protecting Workplace Freedom
by F. Vincent Vernuccio As a handful of localities push to give government unions a monopoly over public employee contracts, lawmakers in Richmond are looking to protect public employees around the state. Delegate Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, has introduced a suite of bills to help protect the rights of public employees, promote union democracy and protect…
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Bacon Bits: Public Servants in Action
Robert Bobb to the rescue. Robert C. Bobb, a former Richmond city manager turned public-sector turnaround artist, pulled the City of Petersburg back from the brink of bankruptcy. Now he will endeavor to manage the City of Charlottesville, which has been hobbled by racial tensions and interpersonal conflicts. After debilitating turnover in the administration — seven…
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What’s the Matter with Charlottesville?
by James A. Bacon In his bestselling book of 2007, Thomas Franks asked the question, What’s the Matter with Kansas? Why do blue-collar inhabitants of the Sunflower State, he wondered, so consistently vote for Republican politicians who pursue policies supposedly antithetical to their material self-interest? Perhaps the answer is that level-headed Kansans could see where…
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BBB Demise Is Also Labor-Rules Reprieve
by F. Vincent Vernuccio Yesterday, Senator Joe Manchin, D-WV, gave an early Christmas present to Senators Mark Warner, D-VA, and Tim Kaine, D-VA, by declaring he would not support the $2.2 trillion Build Back Better Act (BBB). Virginia small businesses, job creators, and workers were wary of what the U.S. House passed in BBB, specifically…