Cridersville will review all employee OT

CRIDERSVILLE — What began with questions about the overtime pay of village Police Chief John Drake has led to a full review of the village's pay structure and employee compensation, Village Council decided Wednesday during a work session.Council's Finance Committee will review the village's pay package ordinance, including why employees are hourly or salaried and the number of overtime hours earned by hourly employees.The council met for two hours Wednesday in front of more than 50 residents who packed into and spilled out of the small council chambers. While some residents questioned the more than $78,000 Drake earned in 2011, including 777 hours of overtime, they went to lengths to say they weren't attacking him personally. Still others signaled their full support, including one resident who held up a sign saying “I support my chief.”The Lima News reported April 15 about Drake earning $78,382 in 2011. That compensation was second among police chiefs in the four-county region of Allen, Auglaize, Putnam and Van Wert counties. Only Lima Police Chief Kevin Martin, with a salary of $88,514 in 2011, made more than Drake. Unlike Martin, Drake is not a salaried employee. He earns an hourly rate of $23.84. In 2011, Drake was paid time and a half for his overtime. Drake's $78,000 in earnings included about $30,000 in overtime. Of the 18 chiefs included in the newspaper's 2011 salary project, three, including Drake, earned an hourly rate.Some council members moved from Drake's salary to questions about the hundreds of overtime hours other village employees earn and raises they have received in recent years. Two other full-time police officers have earned 339 and 225 hours, respectively. Others in maintenance have also earned hundreds of hours in overtime.“As I've investigated salaries, they're not equal to other communities our size. I've found a lot of disturbing things. I didn't know I was such a good employer,” said Councilor Stacy Myers Cook, who was appointed to the seat in January. “I wish I had worked here through the recession.”Councilor Rick Walls said the size of the crowd and the phone calls he has received tells him the council needs to look not just at Drake's compensation, but pay for all village employees.“Are we going to look at the pay package?” Walls asked.“Yes,” said council President and Finance Committee Chairman Eric West, adding that he takes seriously his role as a watchdog for taxpayer dollars and that the village has a general fund this year that's reduced $330,000 from three years ago.This was the first time the council met since the newspaper report, and Mayor Lorali Myers used the opportunity to provide reasons for the overtime worked in 2011. Three part-time officers left the force, Myers said. Two were given the chance to resign and one was fired, contributing to increased patrol hours. Drake's overtime included extra shift and patrol coverage, work with the canine unit, work providing backup assistance to other departments and work on a regional drug task force. Myers also said Drake has made money for the village through revenue generated with citations he has written.Myers did not address overtime Drake worked in previous years. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, he recorded more than 600 hours of overtime each year. In 2009, he recorded 557 hours of overtime. In 2010, he recorded 441 hours.West said Myers addressed the overtime issue with Drake at the beginning of the year, laying out a series of steps to reduce it. While Drake had worked 220 hours of overtime by this point in 2011, he has worked 67 hours so far this year. West also criticized Councilor Tony Zuppardo for his criticism of Drake's pay, saying he had made a “stir” for something that's already been corrected. That comment brought a shower of “No!” from the crowd.At the end of the meeting, Drake spoke only to say he has never refused to be placed on salary and no one had ever asked him to be a salaried employee.Residents praised Drake, saying he cared enough about the community to handle things himself and respond to issues at odd hours. One resident said he wanted a smaller department of officers he knew, not a larger group of part-time officers that turned over, even if that costs more.“I'm supporting the guy. You work out the salary. It will be a sad day when we lose him because of all this bull crap going on in this town,” the man said.Other residents questioned why a police chief would be turning in overtime hours for events such as village festivals and trick-or-treating night.“Isn't that part of his job?” one woman asked.Myers said she was “saddened” by the earlier newspaper story and said the story, especially a photo used, painted an unfair picture of Drake. Drake declined comment for that story. The picture of him, in a T-shirt and ball cap, was taken at the council's monthly meeting.Myers also said she wanted the council to conduct business with each other and not in the media and questioned why that hadn't been done. Zuppardo said he has repeatedly attempted to discuss moving Drake from an hourly to salaried employee, but that Myers has also repeatedly shut down the conversation.