Deputy Mike Beal installed as new
president of Public Safety Local 1521
Animal control, sheriff's deputies and 911 dispatchers all hot-button issues
By The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
CUMBERLAND, Jan. 19 -- Allegany County Sheriff's Deputy Mike Beal said his role as new president of Public Safety Local Employees 1521 will be, among other things, to help both the emergency dispatch center and animal shelter obtain adequate manpower to perform the tasks assigned.
Beal was installed as the newly elected president Tuesday night during the monthly union meeting at the Allegany County Detention Center. With the animal shelter - which is operating without a manager - Beal said he hopes the union has a role in selecting the new manager.
As for the emergency dispatch center located at Constitution Park in Cumberland, Beal said the perennially undermanned shop will soon have shop stewards appointed for all four shifts. Those stewards can relay concerns and suggestions for improvement to Beal, who will take over Deputy Andrew Mackert's role of being liaison to county government and about 100 employees spread among four collective bargaining units for everyday issues as well as during contract negotiations.
Joining Beal as incoming officers are Phil Johnson, of the detention center, vice president; Mackert, secretary; Jonathan Sterrett, secretary; and Steve College, of the 911 center, as three-year trustee.
Beal said it's too early to say if the lack of communication between staff and management at the 911 center, now under the leadership of Roger Bennett, acting 911 center director, is still a problem. He plans to meet with Bennett and Gary Moore, director of the county's Department of Public Safety, next week.
Also among the issues on Beal's plate is ensuring deputies' concerns over the eventual reunification of the Sheriff's Office and the Bureau of Police, which were divided in August 2008. Beal said deputies, including some hired after the split, are concerned that Bureau of Police officers could come into the agency and be assigned on the chain of command in spots higher than they are.
"It's only fair that we look at all the avenues of this," Beal said of rank and seniority concerns among deputies. "Right now, my role does work mainly to protect the officers under 1521."
P.O. Box 651
Mount Savage, MD 21545
P.O. Box 651
Mount Savage, MD 21545
Outgoing president highlights past two years
Mackert moves 1521 into '21st century'
By The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
CUMBERLAND, Jan. 19 -- The dust is still settling, but there was a sense of satisfaction Tuesday night at the installation of new officers for Public Safety Local 1521 of AFSCME.
"We fought a battle, and we won it," said outgoing president Deputy Andrew Mackert of the voters' ousting of former county commissioners Jim Stakem, Bob Hutcheson and Dale Lewis.
The union spent some $10,000 in 2010, most of it on political ads in local media outlets but also on a prominently displayed billboard near the entrance to the Allegany County Fairgrounds.
Mackert called the development of a Members Emergency Relief Fun "one of the nicest achievements" during his term.
Now, "if your house burns down, your child's in a car wreck and you need money today, we can do that," Mackert said. "That's something a lot of unions don't have."
Another key obstacle overcome was the passage during the 2010 legislative session of Senate Bill 482 and House Bill 618. The legislation restored enhanced workers' compension benefits for the deputies and a presumption of cause of hypertension for sheriff's deputies. Both benefits were automatically lost upon the transfer of road patrol duties to the Bureau of Police in August 2008.
The union, which operates under the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, also has a Political Action Committee fund so "that we can help out candidates," Mackert said.
Mackert said the union now has a space in the annual Cash Bash at the fairgrounds. Funds raised from that event help the union workers assist with Toys for Happiness and Shop with a Cop.
The union and its members are now "in the 21st century," Mackert said, as the shop as a website and a Facebook account to maintain communication with each other and the public.
Mackert said the union also "saved several jobs in the past two years" while at the table for some 15 personnel hearings and helped secure a small raise for emergency dispatchers working the 4 p.m. to midnight shift.
This billboard, which was displayed in the weeks leading up to the Sept. 14 primary election in Allegany County, was paid for by Public Safety Local Union 1521.