Orange County Deputy Sheriff Assoc. will not be endorsing the SHEriff

[Gladiator]

For the reason listed below.

News: Overtime at a glance | overtime, deputies, report, sheriff, county - OCRegister.com

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Sheriff overtime spending criticized

Former Sheriff Mike Carona mismanaged overtime budgets, concludes county performance auditor
The Orange County Register


Former Sheriff Mike Carona did such a poor job of managing overtime payouts that some deputies were able to take paid time off and receive overtime on the same day.

"When I heard about that, I said, you've got to be kidding me," said Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, who was appointed to replace Carona – who faces a federal corruption trial starting on October 28.

"It just looks bad," Hutchens said noting that such overtime policies were the result of negotiated benefits with the local deputies union.

That's just one of many conclusions reached by a 75-page report released Wednesday by the county's newly-formed Performance Auditor. The report details a stunning lack of management tracking for overtime spending, which more than doubled under Carona and reached a peak of $43 million in fiscal 2007-2008.

In the past eight years, the sheriff's reliance on overtime doubled, from 418,861 hours in 2001 fiscal year, to 831,935 hours in 2008. The cost of those hours jumped from $18.4 million to $47.57 million.

"Overtime management was not a priority for the former Sheriff," concluded the report prepared over the past four months in response to an Orange County Register investigationthat looked at the spike in overtime spending.

The Office of Performance Audit estimates that the Sheriff's Department could save at least $3 million immediately by reigning in its overtime use. Report authors – Steve Danley, Ian Rudge and Toni Smart – hesitated to estimate the full cost savings of all their recommendations. However, the Register's analysis noted potential savings of at least $10 million by using cheaper workers throughout the jails, such as correctional officers.

Auditors noted that sheriff department's budgeting practices did not allow for transparency and for meaningful management of expenses. In some locations, they wrote, "overtime budgets often bare no reality to anticipated expenses."

The auditors used time sheets to detail techniques some officers used to boost their overtime checks.

Some worked more than 16-hours in a 24-hour period. Some took paid time off and received overtime on the same day. Others frequently took single scheduled shifts off and then worked overtime on other days during the pay period. Some worked overtime on the 8-hour short day in the 3/12 schedule. Others frequently extended the work shifts. Some employees worked overtime in multiple locations. The 3/12 schedule allowed deputies to work three 12 hour days a week.

Yet the most damning aspect of the report was the notion that Carona traded policies that spiked overtime for political support.

"According to current and retired command staff interviewed, the 3/12 schedule was implemented in 1999 not based on the operational needs of the department, but rather as a way for the former Sheriff to gain internal support from the majority of deputies who did not support his candidacy in the 1998 election," read the report.

While Sheriff Hutchens said that Carona and county supervisors made conscious budget decisions that contributed to overtime spikes – such as keeping high vacancy rates and expanding jail facilities with overtime – she said that her ongoing jail audit is looking at substituting correctional officers for some deputies, as noted in the Register analysis.

Using non-sworn jail guards could generate significant savings in terms of overtime, Hutchens said. And as many as 30 percent of jail deputies could be replaced in the future with non-sworn personnel, she said.

"They would have to attrition out," Hutchen said.

Yet Hutchens cautions that all jail deputies cannot be replaced by non-sworn staff.

"I wouldn't want switch all the deputy sheriffs out," she said. "That's a big part of our response force if we have a major disaster in this county."

Supervisor Pat Bates reacted positively to the report and noted that it was a successful inauguration for the post of Performance Auditor. The post – created last year with a $750,000 budget and three staffers – allows county supervisors to "peel back" agencies and issues in a non-political fashion.

And on overtime, Bates said the report was an important follow to the Register investigation.

"To me, the claim that we save taxpayer dollars by using overtime is borne out. But what they weren't doing was managing it effectively. It's become a perk," Bates said.

Bates said her staff had already run estimates that if overtime budgets were managed effectively, "you could save $145 million over 30 years."

Wayne Quint – president of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs – said "overtime is a given in our profession."

Quint doesn't think that local deputies are any different than others in law enforcement.

"It's not my deputies going out and creating vacant positions. Give me a break. The rank and file, thank God, are filling those shifts," he said.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2221 or nsantana@ocregister.com and 714-796-7024 or natalya@ocregister.com

Overtime at a glance

The Orange County's Performance Auditors' report released Wednesday largely echoed the findings of Orange County Register's investigation that prompted the county to study overtime practices at the sheriff department.

•The report provides the first comprehensive insight into reasons for overtime.

Almost 40 percent of overtime went to fill in vacant positions. Another 16 percent was used to cover shifts for sick and vacationing officers. Another 10 percent went to cover for officers in training. Finishing up arrests and other assignments – a reason most often invoked by officers and union officials defending the overtime -- accounted for only 6.1 percent of overtime use. Special events and mutual aid in emergencies accounted for 5 and 3 percent each.

•The audit detailed how the county – and the sheriff – came to use artificial vacancies to manage budgets.

"Beginning in the late 1990's the CEO's Office began applying a "vacancy factor" to each County Department for budget purposes," the auditors wrote. "In response, OCSD management identified specific positions that it would permanently hold vacant in order to ensure that the total salary budget would not be exceeded."

Over time, the Sheriff's department compounded its reliance on overtime by opening new operations, such as a new wing of Theo Lacy Jail, without hiring new officers but using overtime instead. The previous Sheriff also launched new initiatives, such as immigration and customs enforcement, shifting staff from jails and creating additional vacancies that led to more overtime.

Auditors recommended putting a stop to artificially vacant positions. "Any positions that are deemed unnecessary by the staffing assessment and are vacant, need to be deleted," the report said.

•Sworn officers: sheriff deputies, sergeants, investigators, special officers and special officer technicians – clocked in almost all of the department's overtime, 91 percent. Two biggest users of overtime: jails, with almost 50 percent of all overtime hours and dollars, and contract cities.

•Some officers managed to receive overtime even though they did not work more than 40 hours a week – a practice that cost the county an additional $2.5 million in overtime last fiscal year.

The officers are eligible for "overtime" pay even if they work 30 hours and took another 10 hours' worth of paid leave during a week. The practice stemmed from the union's contract saying that overtime should be calculated based on "paid" hours, not the hours an officer actually worked.

•The auditors also looked at the sheriff department's standing claim that it was cheaper to ask existing officers to work overtime rather than hire new deputies.

The conclusion was similar to the arguments outlined in the Register investigation: While it was marginally cheaper to ask existing staff to work extra hours, it was more economical to hire additional, less expensive officers for the jails, the key overtime-generating area. The audit also recommended phasing out Deputy Sheriff II positions from jails.

•The audit zeroed in on several union-negotiated changes that the county agreed to without proper analysis of their future costs and impact on overtime.

"According to current and retired Command Staff interviewed, the 3/12 schedule was implemented in 1999 not based on the operational needs of the department, but rather as a way for the former Sheriff to gain internal support from the majority of deputies who did not support his candidacy in the 1998 election," the auditors wrote.

In 1998, the sheriff's department combined sick and vacation time. As a result, officers started taking more time off. The department switched to retirement system that allows officers to retire after they turn 50 with 3 percent salary per each year they worked. The policy led to mass exodus and additional vacancies.

The report recommended that sheriff command staff and the county's human resources managers prepare a join strategy for their next negotiations with the unions and analyzed fiscal impacts of changes to the contract.

The report will be discussed at next Tuesday's board of supervisors meeting.

DEPUTY PAY: How much do they make

News: DEPUTY PAY: How much do they make? - OCRegister.com

[Spicy McHaggis]

...she said that her ongoing jail audit is looking at substituting correctional officers for some deputies...

This sounds very familiar. Oh wait... It was Sheriff Jack Anderson that came up with this idea. And he didn't need four months to figure that one out.

[K-dog.v3]

Wait.. back up...you mean the SHEriff has other issues to deal with other than the CCW program???

Huh, who knew........

[Spicy McHaggis]

This was dated back in February when Sheriff Jack Anderson came up with the idea of using COs in the jails. Emphasis is mine.

The following correspondence was sent from AOCDS General manager Mark Nichols to Orange County CEO Thomas Mauk and Acting Orange County Sheriff Jack Anderson.

February 19, 2008

County Executive Officer Thomas Mauk

Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson

Dear C.E.O. Mauk and Acting Sheriff Anderson:

It has come to the attention of AOCDS that the Acting Sheriff is taking the position that the use of non-sworn employees to replace our members in the jail system is not subject to the meet and confer requirement of Government Code Section 3500, et seq. As has been previously explained to him, he is wrong about the requirements of the law.

In 1986, the California Supreme Court decided the issue in the case of Building Material and Construction Teamsters Union, Local 216 v. Farrell, as Controller (1986) 41 Cal.3d 651. The Court held that employers must bargain on action to transfer duties performed by members of a bargaining unit to a job title in another unit. The Court cited, with approval, numerous state and federal cases discussing variations on the concept and left no doubt about the County’s obligation to meet and confer on the Acting Sheriff’s proposal. It is necessary to negotiate about the change.

However, the issue of whether negotiations take place is governed by the Memorandum of Understanding between the County and AOCDS. Article XXIII of the MOU provides that, during the term of the agreement, the parties may negotiate with respect to any matter within the scope of representation “only upon mutual agreement” (emphasis added). Therefore, absent the agreement of the Association, this is not a matter that can be addressed. The Association has not indicated a willingness to agree to negotiate at this time.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Mark Nichols
General Manager - AOCDS

[sholling]

Efforts to replace sworn deputies in the jail with COs go back to the 80s. It's really too bad because almost nobody that joins the department wants jail duty and the frustration of being stuck doing a job that you hate while waiting for release to patrol duty is what leads to a lot of the abuses.

Past efforts have died a quiet death each and every time. I think you have two forces keeping it from happening. First the union will fight every effort to place lower paid COs in the jail simply because they pay fewer gross dollars in dues because of their lower pay scale. Second you have the Sheriff's ego. When going to a Sheriffs' convention it's important bragging rights to be able to say that you have armored forces, an air force, a navy, special forces (SWAT) and a bazillion deputies, under your command.

[THE Gimper]

Originally Posted by K-dog.v3

Wait.. back up...you mean the SHEriff has other issues to deal with other than the CCW program???

Huh, who knew........

Shocking. Isn't it?

[SierraNevadaCCW]

"When I heard about that, I said, you've got to be kidding me," said Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, who was appointed to replace Carona – who faces a federal corruption trial starting on October 28.

Wow... 4 commas and a dash.

Seriously - Overtime isn't a priority for Sandra. But revoking CCW's is? What a joke.

[THE Gimper]

Originally Posted by SierraNevadaCCW

"When I heard about that, I said, you've got to be kidding me," said Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, who was appointed to replace Carona – who faces a federal corruption trial starting on October 28.

Wow... 4 commas and a dash.

Seriously - Overtime isn't a priority for Sandra. But revoking CCW's is? What a joke.

And it's missing a set of single quotation marks.

[Gladiator]

Read the full report:

http://bos.ocgov.com/legacy5/newsletters/pdf/audit.pdf

The SHEriff response:

http://bos.ocgov.com/legacy5/newslet...f/response.pdf

[Ken_In_Colo]

I wonder how much overtime went to personnel working on revoking CCWs???