Boy, Would I Be Pissed!

If I were an employee of the city of St. Charles, I'd be pitching a fit right about now!

First of all, if I were a part-time employee, I would be ineligible for any health insurance benefits, whatsoever. This even means I wouldn't be able to pay for them out of my own paycheck. This plum is only available to full-time permanent employees. (and let's face it -- who really wants to be permanent in St. Charles lately, except the elected ones?)

When I suggest this is a plum, I mean it. The city pays 100% for family coverage. No payroll deductions are required to insure yourself, your spouse and however many children you have.

Now, the city council has decided that it should receive the benefits of a full-time permanent employee. Add ten more to the list of those that can receive full health insurance benefits for their families, please.

In addition to the health insurance, the city will pay up to $500 a year for tuition reimbursement for those employees who wish to better themselves by continuing their education at a local college. While $500 isn't much, it's nice that the city, as an employer, chooses to participate in such an activity to encourage their employees to advance in their careers.

A little over a year ago, though, the city hired then-sheriff Tim Swope as its new police chief, a seeming compromise candidate over former police brass Bob Lowery from Florissant, whom Mayor Patti York refused to hire because of vast differences.

The requirements at the time of posting included at least a Master's degree, along with various other requirements. Swope opponents immediately protested, stating that Swope didn't even have a Bachelor's degree. On a couple of occasions, Swope began taking classes through Lindenwood University, but for one reason or another, stopped.

Now comes a bill, vetoed by the mayor and overridden by the council, that allows the Chief of Police to finally get his Bachelor's degree -- to the tune of $11,000 a year from the city taxpayers. Screw that $500 deal -- we're so embarrassed that our police chief, who earns $111,000 already, doesn't have a college degree that we're willing to pay this much.

So here we have a police chief, who already didn't meet the criteria to have been hired in the first place, with the third highest salary of all city employees, now receiving up to $11,000 a year in tuition reimbursement from the same city council that voted themselves the employee benefits that are reserved only for full-time permanent employees.

To add insult to injury, the bill allowing for the exorbitant tuition reimbursement included a one-year extention to Swope's contract, without the benefit of a performance evaluation.

For those employees of the police department that have held on this long waiting for change, all I can say is look forward to April, when the entire city council is up for re-election.

For those part-time city employees (especially those of you with illnesses in which it would have been vitally helpful for you to have had health insurance), you can envision the same thing.

I have seen very little to warrant the re-election of most of this council. The mayor leaves a lot to be desired, but who are you going to replace her with, John Gieseke? Give me a break!