Kevin Ochalla

December 7, 2012 will be the date for the Union Holiday Party this year.  Look for further information soon about the party through email.

If you are not signed up for Union email bursts, then please email us at board@cookcountypd.org.

The Executive Board.

If you want to get a list of the budget hearings, hit the link to budget on the home page and if you want to sign up to speak at the hearings go to http://legacy.cookcountygov.com/secretary/

Please attend the general membership meeting scheduled for the auditorium at juvenile court for 4 pm this coming Tuesday.  The budget is being submitted by our office soon and we need to discuss our strategies.   This is an important time for us to come together and mobilize our local for what appears to be another battle.  We hope to see you there.

The tee times for the golf outing should be posted shortly. we now have a full slate of golfers.  If you wish to golf, but haven’t Rsvp’d, please contact me immediately. I cannot guarantee that you will get a tee time, but I will make every effort.  If you would like to join us for the banquet, after golf, we would love to see you there.  Thank you.

We have an official date for the golf outing: JULY 21st.  Tee times start at 9:00 am.  Please contact Amy Thompson at athompsonyep@gmail.com to reserve your tee time.  Please let me know if you have a foursome or if you need to be matched. Julie and Jim fell in love at a golf outing, you know. ( Results not typical).Space is limited.  Spots will be given first come, first served. Although I will try to accomodate tee time requests, foursomes will be sent as they get to the course.  Golf will wait for no one.

Any non-local 3315 members, including retirees, who wish to golf must pay $50, make checks payable to AFSCME LOCAL 3315.  The outing will be at Eaglewood Golf Course, Itasca Illinois.  If you don’t golf but you would like to join the party, please come out to the banquet immediately following  the golf. Please RSVP to the same email address to make sure we have enough food.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Just some dates to keep in mind for the summer. On July 19th, we will have a membership meeting and the swearing in of the new executive board, time and place to be announced. The golf outing is tentatively scheduled for July 21st, we’re waiting to hear back from the course, and the summer party will be Aug. 12 at North Ave. Details to follow for each of these events.

Recently, many of our members have come to believe that they will no longer receive reimbursements from the county for travel as in the past.  We have clarified this issue with the office’s Chief Labor Counsel and have come to understand that there has been no change in the policy, but only a pledge to strictly adhere to the current policy.

The net effect this has on our members in MDD and LRD is that there is no change. Continue to submit reimbursement forms in a timely fashion and you will continue to receive reimbursements.

This New York Times article from April 6, 2009, discusses the steps New York is taking to deal with unreasonable public defender case loads

Click here: Public Defenders’ Caseloads to Be Capped in New York City – NYTimes.com

Read here about the caseload problems for Miami public defenders and their plan to stop accepting appointment on new cases: http://www.miamiherald.com/519/story/555857.html.

The Chicago Tribune reported on May 29, 2008, that private law firms are facing attorney layoffs as a result of slow business in today’s difficult economic times. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-thu_sonnenschein-law-firmmay29,0,7316409.story  However, there are some important differences between layoffs in the private sector and layoffs in the Public Defender Office: 1) in the private sector layoffs may mean less attorneys but there are correspondingly fewer clients to represent whereas layoffs in the Public Defender Office means less attorneys but no reduction in the number of clients who need our help, and 2) attorneys facing layoff in the private sector have no seniority or recall rights.

We are not the only Public Defender office in the country to have to fight for our jobs and adequate numbers of attorneys to represent the thousands of indigent clients in need.  Public Defenders in Minnesota are now facing the same budget issues we have faced the last several years: http://www.startribune.com/local/19160754.html.  We can only hope that someone there will stand up for the front-line attorneys and their clients.