A response from David Kauffman for Cumberland City Council: I have been asked to respond to the recent comments being advanced by the leaders of the UFCW Local 1994. To be clear - my comments are directed to the outside leadership of the UFCW and not to the men and women of the Cumberland Police Department. The ad in question states that Cumberland City Police Officers are sick of broken promises - then cites no examples of any broken promises. Why? Because I have been nothing BUT supportive of our police officers since taking office. There have been NO broken promises from this administration, and the UFCW knows it. The ad in question also states that Weve gone more than 5 years without a raise. Patently false. With the exception of the Chief of Police - every officer on the force has continued to receive longevity raises (step increases) during the past four years of my term in office. There has been a temporary suspension of COLAs during the past several years of financial reorganization, but a current proposal from the city that proposes a modest pay raise has been deemed unacceptable to labor leadership. Among other deficiencies, the ad cites a shortage of cars for the department - on the heels of 15 cruisers being purchased during my four years on the council - to the cost of more than a half million dollars to the taxpayers of Cumberland. These tactics are nothing new for the MCGEO. See the Washington Post editorial that blasts the very same union leadership for making demands outside of the realistic financial means of the county with which they were then negotiating. When I took office four years ago - our administration faced a bleak financial outlook. The city is now operating in the black for the first time in more than a decade. We are operating within our means. I know that my family and I live with the impact of my decisions as an elected member of the Cumberland City Council. Do you really want the rhetoric led by two Montgomery County residents to shape the story of my commitment to public safety and the people of Cumberland?
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 13:44:47 +0000
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