Cook County Public Defenders Association

Union Stewards are needed at several work sites throughout the office.  The sites with the greatest need are Maywood, Bridgeview and 1st Municipal.  If you are able to donate your time and a little effort you may find it to be a rewarding experience.  Training is provided and your participation is greatly appreciated.  If you are interested contact Monique Patterson, Chief Steward at (773)869-3217.

Todd Stroger, President of the Cook County Board, nominated Judge A. C. Cunningham of the Law Division, to replace Edwin Burnette as Public Defender of Cook County.  The Cook County Commissioners will vote on the nomination at either the March 17th or April 1st meeting of the County Board.   The Executive Board will continue to update the membership as circumstances develop.

At a meeting this morning, the Local learned that there will be no layoffs in the Office of the Cook County Public Defender.   While there will be cuts to the budget that will affect you in the upcoming year, we are glad that none of the cuts will translate into layoffs.  Stay tuned for more news shortly regarding where the cuts will be made. 

Thanks again to the strong support shown by our attorneys at the Special meeting of the County Board this last Friday.

In Solidarity,

K. S. Galhotra

Local 3315 President

There is good news and bad news to report to the membership following an afternoon at the County Board Building.   

Many members who would be affected by layoffs (and several others) attended the County Board meeting today and most spoke to some of the Commissioners and/or their staff about the impact the cuts would have on the office and their jobs.  The Board voted, however, to adopt the budget with the 4% cuts.  That’s the bad news.

But at the same meeting, questions were raised by Commissioner Suffredin about whether adopting the budget would lead to the layoff of Assistant Public Defenders.  The head of the Bureau of Administration, Mark Killgallon,  addressed the Commissioners and told them that he would be working with the Public Defenders office to prevent the layoff of front-line attorneys.  Continued questioning on this issue was not had due to a motion by Commissioner Periaca who argued that further discussion was not appropriate and out of order since the Finance Committee had already addressed these issues and voted for across-the-board cuts in previous sessions.  So the assurance from Killgallon that he would work with the office to make sure there were no layoffs is the “good news.”

On Monday, February 23rd, the union will be meeting with the Public Defender to discuss the budget and find other areas to implement budget cuts.  In addition, talks are ongoing with the Board President’s office to determine if money not utilized by other departments  may also be used to prevent the layoffs of front-line attorneys.

So while there is reason to be nervous, it’s not  yet time to panic. As soon as  I have more information, I will update the membership.

In Solidarity,

K. S. Galhotra, President

Local 3315

Sisters and Brothers:
 
Within the last few hours, the local was made aware of the amount the County Board has “targeted” for our office.  You will recall that last week the finance committee resolved to cut most Bureau of Administration Departments by 4% and Health Care Departments by 2%.  Ed Burnette had reportedly filed an impact statement with the County Board that predicted the shut down of various divisions like Civil and Traffic among others.  Apparently, none of the Commissioners read or understood the impact statement.  Evidently, they thought the cuts would only result in eliminating vacant positions.
 
There is, obviously, a possibility that front-line newly hired and recently recalled attorneys will be laid off.  The number that has been thrown around is 35.  According to the County and Management, the budget hole that needs to be filled by layoffs, furloughs, cuts in supplies, training, etc must total a little over $1.37 million. 
 
You should know that the local is continually working on reducing or eliminating the number that is being thrown around.  Notwithstanding, we believe that there is money in the County to maintain the levels that we were cut down to over the last few years.  We can’t take anymore cuts to our attorney staffing levels!
 
I URGE ALL RECENTLY HIRED ATTORNEYS (SINCE 2005) TO COME TO THE COUNTY BUILDING TOMORROW, FRIDAY (2/20/09) AND MEET WITH COMMISSIONERS.  THEY ARE SCHEDULED TO VOTE ON OUR REDUCED BUDGET AT 2PM.  TELL THEM OF THE SACRIFICES YOU MADE, THE JOBS YOU LEFT TO BECOME APDS.  TELL THEM OF YOUR STUDENT LOAN OBLIGATIONS.  TELL THEM OF YOUR ENORMOUS CASE LOAD. TELL THEM HOW YOU COULDN’T FIND A JOB THE LAST TIME YOU WERE LAID OFF.
 
See you at the County Building- 118 N. Clark Street, 5th Floor.
 
In Solidarity,
 
K. S. Galhotra, President
Local 3315

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Here he is, by popular demand, George Grzeca, the Local’s Member of the Month.  An Assistant Public Defender in Cook County since 12/16/78 and veteran of the Homicide Task Force, he retired at the end of last year.  He remains, unofficially, “of counsel” and a holdover tenant as well.

Here is how it looks currently for the 2009 budget for the Office of the Public Defender. Edwin Burnette submitted an initial budget proposal for 2009 to Todd Stroger for $60.7 million, about $9 million more than our 2008 budget appropriation. Todd Stroger cut Ed’s initial proposal to about $54 million. In the meantime, Stroger required Ed to present 3 alternative budgets, which included cuts of 4%, 5%, and 6%. Ed decided to structure each of these alternative budgets so that the entire amount of cuts to the office came from attorney salaries– for instance, for the alternative 4% budget, all 4% of Ed’s proposed cuts come from a reduction of the number of attorney positions in the Office.

Last week, the Finance Committee of the Cook County Board rejected Stroger’s bond proposal, and instead agreed on a budget with 4% cuts. To the Public Defender budget, that means a cut from Stroger’s proposed 2009 budget of about $54 million, to a budget of about $51.8 million. This triggers Ed’s alternative budget submission with cuts to attorney positions.

The Union has urged Ed to alter his plan for how to cut $2.1 million (4%) from the budget of the Office and prevent the loss of attorney positions. The following cuts in the Public Defender budget for 2009 should occur before any Assistant Public Defenders lose their jobs: $150,000 for vehicle purchases, and $750,000 for office equipment. Further, all vacant positions can be kept open and not eliminated by funding them at the $1 level. We believe that when you combine these savings, with savings in other areas the Union has suggested to Ed, our Office can limp through this budget season without layoffs.

A report is due out this month from the National Academy of Sciences which is expected to have huge policy implications on the use of expert testimony in criminal cases throughout the country. Click here for a link to an article from the New York Times by Solomon Moore regarding the report.

Sisters and Brothers,

These are truly remarkable times that we are living in:  an African American man from the South Side gets inaugurated as the 44th president of these United States; a North Side son of Serbian immigrants who climbed the political ladder gets impeached after being arrested by the Government for trying to sell a Senate seat that he fills with a former attorney general; a young hispanic woman who grew up in the shadows of the 26th St. courthouse becomes the State’s Attorney of Cook County; a global economy sinks into a recession not seen since the Great Depression; hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs due to the economy; and just as many have lose their homes to foreclosure.  So with all this going on, what are we supposed to do?

As our nation’s leader so eloquently said during his inaugural speech:

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.

And as president of this local, I can tell you that it is our duty and responsibility to take responsibility.  It’s our turn to take a turn.  It’s time to ask ourselves not, “What are they doing?”  but  “What are we doing?”  In the months ahead, our local is going to face difficult budget related economic issues that are plaguing many other governmental units throughout the nation.  In addition, the President of the County Board gets to reappoint the Public Defender this April to another six year term – or appoint another individual whom we do not know.   Rumor, innuendo and speculation plague our worksites with respect to this issue.

In order to allay some of these rumors, the Executive Board met on January 26, 2009 with Edwin Burnette and were assured by him that he is very intrested in being reappointed as the Public Defender of Cook County and he hopes that is what the President of the County Board chooses to do.   Mr. Burnette also maintains that he will not withdraw his lawsuit against them  which is currently on an expedited briefing schedule before the First District Appellate Court.  At issue, as you will recall, is the interpretation of the Public Defender statute and whether final authority over the budget appropriated and passed by the County Board rests with the Public Defender or rather with the President of the County Board.  A decision is anticipated this spring.  As always, the Board is closely watching both issues: leadership of the office and the interpretation of the statute.

In contract negotiations this week, the county trotted out Mercer Consulting and had them hit the enter button 40 times paging through  their  PowerPoint presentation to the AFSCME bargaining committee on the county’s health care plans.  Basically, they showed us how we have pretty good healthcare benefits and pay less than many others.  They didn’t need to tell us that we have good insurance.   But that all led to them giving us a proposal which essentially amounts to a cut in pay. You see, they just came in and asked us to pay more for our insurance without  even bothering to present us with a wage proposal.  You will remember that the county budget bill must be passed by the end of February and to be sure, there is still plenty of disagreement about how much money the county has and how much it still needs to borrow.  What is actually in the budget, of course, is anybody’s guess since it’s full of errors.  So what can we do about this?  We know that to get the county to move on anything, we have to get out there and take part in job actions.  That is the tried and true way that we get heard during contract bargaining.  Our responsibility and duty is to participate in the job actions because as we demonstrated on election day, “we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.”

So two things are coming up that we need to take part in since it is our responsibility and duty as good union members.  First, the Chicago Federation of Labor , AFSCME and AFL-CIO of Illinois are sponsoring a Rally on February 17, Tuesday at 5:30 pm at Plumbers’ Hall.  The rally is in support of EFCA – the Employee Free Choice Act.  Because while we have card check on the State level in Illinois in the public sector, no such mechanism exists in private sector.  Passing the EFCA ensures the rebuilding of the middle-class.  Without EFCA, people are being fired merely for trying to organize workers at their worksites.  All I can tell you that it is well documented that the standard of living and pay for assistant public defenders in Cook County has steadily increased since the union came in over 20 years ago.  Our responsibility and duty to other Americans is to show up for this rally and help others get the right to bargain as we have – for a better life.

The second thing we need to do is participate in Solidarity day, Wednesday, February 18, 2009.  The union will have a button for all of its members to wear to show the County that we are standing together to get a fair contract.  More information will be forthcoming but please get 2/18/09 on your calender for Solidarity day.

I want to mention that although she was not present at our annual holiday party, Arlene Floren, from the Civil Division was named AFSCME LOCAL 3315’s Steward of the Year.  And the shy and humble Kim Mines (26th) didn’t want to interrupt the party to be recognized for her efforts as Chair of the Annual Holiday Party.  In many ways, the party is like putting on a wedding for 350 guests.  It’s a big production and requires a lot of time, organization and patience- all qualities that Kim has in abundance.  Thanks again to Kim for an excellent job and congratulations again to Arlene.

Lastly,  I want to thank Emily Eisner, who recently retired from our office, for reviewing and discussing the Vermont v. Brillon case with the Executive Board.   The Board considered very seriously whether we, as a union local, should file an amicus brief before the Supreme court.  In the end, we decided not to.

In Solidarity,

K.S. Galhotra
Local 3315 President.