After reading Milton Hunter's post (which I encourage everyone to do), and the responses from Barbara, Rosemary, and an anonymous neighbor, I feel compelled to briefly share my experiences as an employee of various-sized organizations, as it relates to this topic.
I have worked for small firms (i.e. privately owned, the size of the village staff or smaller), mid-sized firms (100-200 people) , and large corporations, with faceless stockholders, boards of directors, etc.
In my experience, the best kind of company to work for in order to maintain a healthy work/life balance is a privately owned, mid-size firm. Small firms tend to pay less, offer less opportunity for advancement, and have less efficiencies in their processes, which can often lead to longer hours as folks are forced to wear many different hats, often without additional compensation. However, the main benefit is that you probably know the owner; you might even know him/her well, attend family gatherings, exchange Christmas cards, etc. However, that doesn't change the fact that an organization that can not grow can not therefore offer you much in the way of increased compensation, career advancement, etc.
Conversely, a large corporation might have great pay scales, a variety of advancement paths, and more long-term stability as a company, however, it is far less likely that you will "know" the owners, who in many cases turn out to be stockholders, and to be specific, majority shareholders (founder's children, investment banks, hedge funds). And to be blunt, they have one overarching goal - to make more money and grow the bottom line, even if that means taxing employees to work longer hours, sacrifice family time, personal time, skip vacations, layoffs, etc. I've been a part of that world for longer than I care to admit, and while I've done OK, I've been "downsized" twice. The most recent episode was actually quite a welcome change for me, as the corporate culture I had been experiencing was absolutely nerve-wracking. It's much easier to treat your employees like crap when you don't know them, and thus don't have to relate to what they experience on a day-to-day basis.
The "sweet spot" then, in my opinion, is in the middle - a mid-size company where you know the owner, and there is enough efficiency in the size of the organization to earn more money, advance through the ranks, and yet still maintain a healthy work-life balance. It's the best of both worlds. This is what Waste Pro sounds like to me, although I have not gone to visit their office and meet the owner, which I would encourage our staff to do.
In summary - you're less likely to get paid a fair market value for your time at a small company, and less likely to maintain good work-life balance at a corporation. There is a happy median, and while I'm not saying that Waste Pro is it, I would encourage our crew to consider that maybe this company is worth looking into. I'm surprised on one hand to hear that they are resistant to a change that could result in a 50% compensation boost, as well as a savings to the villlage, but we all fear change to some degree, so it's understandable.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
John Holland
Resident since 2003
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Do Yourself a Favor
Normally, I don't do this. I have recommended series or venues I like, but never a specific show. It's time to make an exception.
At GableStage, a playhouse at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, there is a play called The Mountaintop. It runs through April 13. I'm not sure what ticket prices are, but for me, because I subscribe, they are $46, with a charge of $36 for the Sunday night show. Say I sent you, and tell them you'd like the discount they would give me. Tell them they should have a Biscayne Park discount, and you should get it. I think the regular price is about $10 per ticket more. If you're OK to pay them the full price, I'm sure they'd appreciate it. The box office number is 305-445-1119.
The Mountaintop is a fantasy depicting the last night of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. There are two characters: MLK, and a woman named Camae. No, I had never before heard of Camae, either.
I'd rather not say more about the story told by this play, since there is a remarkable trick in the device. What I do want to say is that this is at least one of the very best plays I have ever seen, and the acting is beyond description. I watched a youtube clip of Samuel L Jackson as MLK and Angela Bassett as Camae on Broadway, and the acting by the cast at GableStage is far, far better. If you want to know what an actor has to do to be far, far better than Jackson and Bassett, go to GableStage.
Please forgive me for pressing you about this play, but my conscience would not permit me to keep it to myself. As a frame of reference, I called to get tickets for tonight, having seen it just last night, and I am told that the publicity has led to a short supply of seats. I am going with one of my friends, who also just saw it last night, as well as four other friends who have not yet seen it. Please, do yourself a favor. And you have to do it by April 13.
At GableStage, a playhouse at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, there is a play called The Mountaintop. It runs through April 13. I'm not sure what ticket prices are, but for me, because I subscribe, they are $46, with a charge of $36 for the Sunday night show. Say I sent you, and tell them you'd like the discount they would give me. Tell them they should have a Biscayne Park discount, and you should get it. I think the regular price is about $10 per ticket more. If you're OK to pay them the full price, I'm sure they'd appreciate it. The box office number is 305-445-1119.
The Mountaintop is a fantasy depicting the last night of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. There are two characters: MLK, and a woman named Camae. No, I had never before heard of Camae, either.
I'd rather not say more about the story told by this play, since there is a remarkable trick in the device. What I do want to say is that this is at least one of the very best plays I have ever seen, and the acting is beyond description. I watched a youtube clip of Samuel L Jackson as MLK and Angela Bassett as Camae on Broadway, and the acting by the cast at GableStage is far, far better. If you want to know what an actor has to do to be far, far better than Jackson and Bassett, go to GableStage.
Please forgive me for pressing you about this play, but my conscience would not permit me to keep it to myself. As a frame of reference, I called to get tickets for tonight, having seen it just last night, and I am told that the publicity has led to a short supply of seats. I am going with one of my friends, who also just saw it last night, as well as four other friends who have not yet seen it. Please, do yourself a favor. And you have to do it by April 13.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Same Service- Same Employees
I attended the workshop on Monday
night hosted by the Village and Waste Pro. I have found myself thinking about
this issue ever since and thought it may be a good idea to relay some of the
information either for those who were not able to attend the meeting or as a
refresher for those who were there.
A couple of months ago, prior to
our Elections when we were vetting our Commissioner candidates, we all knew
that we were approaching a difficult period and that difficult decisions needed
to be made. And in some incidences, it was past
the proper time in making these decisions.
I believe this very thinking is
what contributed to the turnover of our Commission and in exploring the options
for both annexation and potentially outsourcing our sanitization services. And
here is the reason for both; we are running out of money. It’s really no more
complicated than that.
Here is an excerpt from an article addressing this very issue:
In recent years,
municipal solid waste departments have faced slack operating budgets,
increasing operating costs, rising cost-of-replacement capital expenses and
skyrocketing exposure to environmental liability. All of which makes
privatization an attractive option. Those that take the plunge find many of the
aforementioned headaches disappear.
But first, the
powers that be must be convinced. Let’s examine the City of Williston, Fla.,
which took a calculated risk and was rewarded. Williston had underlying budget
issues that put the city $50,000 in the red. The city also required new and
updated route trucks and container replacements (sound familiar?) The city
manager, decided to put the hauling operations out for bid. The end result of
this decision was a $200,000 upswing in the city’s annual budget. The
majority of the $200,000 savings was a result of eliminating operating and
administration costs. Free to sell its antiquated collection equipment, the
city netted an additional $75,000 and eliminated all looming environmental
liabilities.
So, with the understanding behind
this, let’s look at the benefit package and other comparisons of Waste Pros
proposal.
Same Service with Same
Employees- Salary Comparison
Waste Pro Biscayne Park
Driver’s
salary= $45,000 *
$31,000 +$14,000 annual
or +45%
Helper’s
salary= $38,000 *
$23,000 +$15,000 annual
or +65%
*Based on a 50 hour work week. However, the true hours will be determined based on how long each employee takes
to complete their daily route. In other words, it’s the same system as we now
use in the Village. So, our guys could potentially receive an immediate raise
of between 45-65%.
Other Benefits
Dental, vision, life insurance
(company paid) short and long-term disability, supplemental, flexible spending
accounts, 401K with 100% company match up to 4%, paid time off, flexible
vacation time (based on existing BP service) with any unused vacation pay at
year end.
Bonuses
I for one was impressed with the
many different bonus and incentives packages Waste Pro has in place for their
people. This is part of the difference of what a Company with $420 Million in
annual revenues and 70 locations can offer verses our Village stand alone. Now to the bonuses:
Safety Bonus- (drivers)
Annual $250 bonus- no claims or accidents, good attendance required
$10,000 bonus- same criteria as above for a 3 year period
$50 weekly bonus- no complaints on route. This could result in adding another $200.00 monthly to the already increased salary.
All employees:
·
$250 (increasing $250 each year) up to a cap of
$2,500 annually based on length of service.
Benefits to the Village
- By outsourcing our service the Village would be able to collect a Franchise Fee. Based on Waste Pro’s proposal, the Village would generate NEW REVENUE of $39,000-$77,800.00 annually.
- The Trac-EZ Live Online Program. Real time communication and reports available. Live local customer service- no automation or call center. SAME DAY SERVICE response time.
- Waste Pro-Tection- Community Awareness Program. “See Something, Say Something” type initiative partners with local law enforcement.
- Waste Pro can provide the same service in less time and for less money. Those savings could either be passed on to our residents, or forwarded to the Village for other capital improvements.
When considering privatization,
most communities discover not only that they are capable of reducing operating
costs, but also that, after making the switch, they are able to expand services
for less. Our in-house sanitation fees have increased by 121% over the past 11 years. Clearly, this is not
sustainable for those residents on fixed incomes and is an indicator that the
current structure is not working.
The question we face
is, “Do you prefer to manage a
multi-faceted operation and expose yourself to uncontrollably rising costs and
liability exposure, or instead manage a single contract that enables the
elimination of that exposure thereby reducing those costs?” I would think that those in favor of helping “our guys” would encourage them to consider moving up to a professional privately owned company that has more resources and options for them than we will ever have.
This is NOT about losing any alleged Village “charm” any more than was the logic of combining our elections to save much needed resources. Times are changing and we all need to keep up.
This IS all about finding ways to survive and improve the Village for all residents. Once again, we have already been warned that at the current rate of expenses vs. income we have approx. 5 years left before we exhaust our reserve fund.
I think we should all think of the big future picture and the reasons behind this proposal in the first place.
Milton Hunter
Biscayne Park Resident
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
SANITATION!!
As you know, we are on the verge of deciding whether to continue to operate our own sanitation department (Public Works' major function) or to outsource it to a popular contractor called WastePro. The decision will be made at the Commission meeting on Tuesday, April 1. Next week. No fooling.
In anticipation of this decision, our Manager, Heidi Shafran, put together a major and comprehensive fact-finding effort. She found four potential contractors through a Request For Proposal (RFP) process, turned them over to an ad hoc committee made up of one BP resident, one BP employee, and two other people in the know, and ended up with the choice of WastePro among the applicants. That is, if the Village decides to outsource sanitation, we would outsource this function to WastePro. If we decide not to outsource, we learned a lot about the industry, and we gave close scrutiny to our own functioning in this area.
Heidi then created two workshops, or "listening sessions," on Saturday, March 22, and Monday, March 24, so all of us could listen to Heidi, Candido Sosa-Cruz, and WastePro, and learn, and Heidi, our administration, and WastePro could listen to us and learn. The first workshop was very well attended, and the second slightly less so. I would say we all learned a lot. One way or the other, sanitation will not be the same in the Village. Either we will outsource it, or we will keep it and hold it in higher regard and provide more support than we ever did before.
Please come to the Commission meeting on Tuesday, April 1. If you usually come to these meetings, this one will be worth your time and effort more than most. If you almost never come to them, this one is the one you shouldn't miss this year. Develop your thinking, talk to your neighbors, talk to Heidi and Candido, and expect to say whatever is on your mind about this topic. It's very important. There are considerations you never thought of. Really, no fooling.
In anticipation of this decision, our Manager, Heidi Shafran, put together a major and comprehensive fact-finding effort. She found four potential contractors through a Request For Proposal (RFP) process, turned them over to an ad hoc committee made up of one BP resident, one BP employee, and two other people in the know, and ended up with the choice of WastePro among the applicants. That is, if the Village decides to outsource sanitation, we would outsource this function to WastePro. If we decide not to outsource, we learned a lot about the industry, and we gave close scrutiny to our own functioning in this area.
Heidi then created two workshops, or "listening sessions," on Saturday, March 22, and Monday, March 24, so all of us could listen to Heidi, Candido Sosa-Cruz, and WastePro, and learn, and Heidi, our administration, and WastePro could listen to us and learn. The first workshop was very well attended, and the second slightly less so. I would say we all learned a lot. One way or the other, sanitation will not be the same in the Village. Either we will outsource it, or we will keep it and hold it in higher regard and provide more support than we ever did before.
Please come to the Commission meeting on Tuesday, April 1. If you usually come to these meetings, this one will be worth your time and effort more than most. If you almost never come to them, this one is the one you shouldn't miss this year. Develop your thinking, talk to your neighbors, talk to Heidi and Candido, and expect to say whatever is on your mind about this topic. It's very important. There are considerations you never thought of. Really, no fooling.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Grumble, Grumble. Maybe I'm Just a Complainer. Commission Meeting, 3/4/14
I'm just going to state at the outset that once again, we failed to end at a respectable hour. This time, it was about 10:30. I wish I had kept notes of where the time went.
Things started well enough. During public comment, one resident criticized the Commission for entertaining a Resolution scolding the government of Venezuela for mistreating its people. This Resolution had been listed on the Consent Agenda, and the Resolution's sponsor, David Coviello, pulled it from Consent. I naively, as it turns out, thought he was pulling it, because he took the criticism to heart. No, he wanted to let us all know that the reason for this Resolution was that someone in the City of Doral asked us, and other municipalities, to be co-sponsors of the complaint. My feeling was that this Resolution, like others our Commissions have passed, had nothing to do with Biscayne Park, or anything of relevance to us, and we should not take the time for it or place it on our public record. It appears I was the only Commissioner who looked at it this way. So I suggested we add language scolding the governments of Syria, Russia, North Korea, and others, since we're letting the world know how dissatisfied we are about mistreatment of citizens of places other than BP. Oddly, that suggestion didn't get any traction, either. So we have joined Doral and some number of other local municipalities in giving the government of Venezuela something to think about.
A piece of good news that took some time separate from the Consent Agenda was that we have reached what we all hope will be a mutually satisfying agreement with Joe ("Coach Joe") De Madet. Joe has been a central part of the Village's recreation programs for several years, and it seems we may have staved off his fantasies about retiring. We'll let you know if and when we can go on without you, Joe.
Leslie Reilly, one of our neighbors and a fitness trainer, introduced herself and hopes to provide fitness-related services to as many Village residents as want them.
Our storm water overrun problem will now be dealt with by the Craig A Smith company, who will use a subcontractor named R. P. Utility and Excavation, at Smith's discretion. We hired Smith, and they hired R. P. Barbara Watts pulled this item from Consent, because she wasn't sure R. P. had good enough credentials for her. She was not distracted by the fact that they had good enough credentials for Smith. As an aside here, I have a red car with clearly visible white letters that say "100% ELECTRIC." It is remarkable how many people stop me or roll down their windows, and I roll down mine, so they can ask me if the car is really "100% ELECTRIC." I don't tell them what a dumb question that is. (Why would it say "100% ELECTRIC" unless it was "100% ELECTRIC?") I just say yes, it is. And so it was with Craig A Smith's defense of its selection of R. P. Utility and Excavation. The Smith President was asked in a variety of ways, consuming way too much time, if R. P. was really an OK and acceptable contractor. The Smith President did not tell us what a dumb repeated question that was. He just reassured us that R. P. is really OK (otherwise, he wouldn't have hired them, kind of thing).
The discussion about how Board members are chosen was not, in itself, a problem. It took time, but it was worth it. There were some controversial issues, and they deserved attention. What took plenty of time, and was not at all worth it, was the review of each Board, and the reconfirmation or addition of members. Central to this exercise was the trotting out of each Board member who was present to give us the surprising news that he or she wanted to remain on the Board. Gobble, gobble, gobble went the time. Bottom line: Boards now full, and I'm very happy, delighted, actually, to say that several newer and/or not-previously-involved residents expressed interest, sometimes avid interest, in serving on Boards. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!
Our discussion of "traffic calming" measures for the Village, and especially around the park: As you might imagine, the featured speaker for this item was our police chief. As in, who would know better about traffic calming measures than a police chief? And that turned out to be the operative question. Oh, the inspired and perspicacious ideas offered by our Commission, who couldn't have been more helpful to our police chief when it came to thinking of ways to calm traffic. I suspect he was grateful for all the assistance.
I'm sorry to say that I myself contributed to the "where on earth did all the time go?" show. I thought Parks and Parkways should devise a Village-wide plan for median design and development. In my defense, I thought this would take somewhere around two minutes. It seemed kind of like an obvious and uncomplicated concept that would give P&P a very substantial and far-reaching mission. Something they might be very proud of. Nope. It turns out this is practically impossible, as P&P Chair Dan Keys brought painfully to my attention, what with the time it would take and the fiscal scope of the work. But I didn't ask for work, as in actual median development. All I wanted was a plan, on paper: the 101 course. Implementation was the 201 course, or maybe even the 301 course. Well, we're not getting a unified or Village-wide plan. We're getting attention paid to the "entrances." And it took plenty of time just for that conclusion to be reached.
A bomb of sorts was dropped. It seems FPL are planning to harden even more areas of the Village network of power lines. Yup, more of those secure concrete poles. Perish the thought: delivery of electric service that is more reliable than what we have. Heidi Shafran misunderstood what the poles were all about, and she thought they would be considerably higher than the current poles. They are in fact identical to the concrete poles we already have, which are identical in height to the wood poles they replaced. But nothing could reassure one of our Commissioners, who apparently thought the world was coming to an end.
Finally, we do not yet have a contract with the City of North Miami for the delivery of water. They are engaged in some form of thinking it over.
Things started well enough. During public comment, one resident criticized the Commission for entertaining a Resolution scolding the government of Venezuela for mistreating its people. This Resolution had been listed on the Consent Agenda, and the Resolution's sponsor, David Coviello, pulled it from Consent. I naively, as it turns out, thought he was pulling it, because he took the criticism to heart. No, he wanted to let us all know that the reason for this Resolution was that someone in the City of Doral asked us, and other municipalities, to be co-sponsors of the complaint. My feeling was that this Resolution, like others our Commissions have passed, had nothing to do with Biscayne Park, or anything of relevance to us, and we should not take the time for it or place it on our public record. It appears I was the only Commissioner who looked at it this way. So I suggested we add language scolding the governments of Syria, Russia, North Korea, and others, since we're letting the world know how dissatisfied we are about mistreatment of citizens of places other than BP. Oddly, that suggestion didn't get any traction, either. So we have joined Doral and some number of other local municipalities in giving the government of Venezuela something to think about.
A piece of good news that took some time separate from the Consent Agenda was that we have reached what we all hope will be a mutually satisfying agreement with Joe ("Coach Joe") De Madet. Joe has been a central part of the Village's recreation programs for several years, and it seems we may have staved off his fantasies about retiring. We'll let you know if and when we can go on without you, Joe.
Leslie Reilly, one of our neighbors and a fitness trainer, introduced herself and hopes to provide fitness-related services to as many Village residents as want them.
Our storm water overrun problem will now be dealt with by the Craig A Smith company, who will use a subcontractor named R. P. Utility and Excavation, at Smith's discretion. We hired Smith, and they hired R. P. Barbara Watts pulled this item from Consent, because she wasn't sure R. P. had good enough credentials for her. She was not distracted by the fact that they had good enough credentials for Smith. As an aside here, I have a red car with clearly visible white letters that say "100% ELECTRIC." It is remarkable how many people stop me or roll down their windows, and I roll down mine, so they can ask me if the car is really "100% ELECTRIC." I don't tell them what a dumb question that is. (Why would it say "100% ELECTRIC" unless it was "100% ELECTRIC?") I just say yes, it is. And so it was with Craig A Smith's defense of its selection of R. P. Utility and Excavation. The Smith President was asked in a variety of ways, consuming way too much time, if R. P. was really an OK and acceptable contractor. The Smith President did not tell us what a dumb repeated question that was. He just reassured us that R. P. is really OK (otherwise, he wouldn't have hired them, kind of thing).
The discussion about how Board members are chosen was not, in itself, a problem. It took time, but it was worth it. There were some controversial issues, and they deserved attention. What took plenty of time, and was not at all worth it, was the review of each Board, and the reconfirmation or addition of members. Central to this exercise was the trotting out of each Board member who was present to give us the surprising news that he or she wanted to remain on the Board. Gobble, gobble, gobble went the time. Bottom line: Boards now full, and I'm very happy, delighted, actually, to say that several newer and/or not-previously-involved residents expressed interest, sometimes avid interest, in serving on Boards. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!
Our discussion of "traffic calming" measures for the Village, and especially around the park: As you might imagine, the featured speaker for this item was our police chief. As in, who would know better about traffic calming measures than a police chief? And that turned out to be the operative question. Oh, the inspired and perspicacious ideas offered by our Commission, who couldn't have been more helpful to our police chief when it came to thinking of ways to calm traffic. I suspect he was grateful for all the assistance.
I'm sorry to say that I myself contributed to the "where on earth did all the time go?" show. I thought Parks and Parkways should devise a Village-wide plan for median design and development. In my defense, I thought this would take somewhere around two minutes. It seemed kind of like an obvious and uncomplicated concept that would give P&P a very substantial and far-reaching mission. Something they might be very proud of. Nope. It turns out this is practically impossible, as P&P Chair Dan Keys brought painfully to my attention, what with the time it would take and the fiscal scope of the work. But I didn't ask for work, as in actual median development. All I wanted was a plan, on paper: the 101 course. Implementation was the 201 course, or maybe even the 301 course. Well, we're not getting a unified or Village-wide plan. We're getting attention paid to the "entrances." And it took plenty of time just for that conclusion to be reached.
A bomb of sorts was dropped. It seems FPL are planning to harden even more areas of the Village network of power lines. Yup, more of those secure concrete poles. Perish the thought: delivery of electric service that is more reliable than what we have. Heidi Shafran misunderstood what the poles were all about, and she thought they would be considerably higher than the current poles. They are in fact identical to the concrete poles we already have, which are identical in height to the wood poles they replaced. But nothing could reassure one of our Commissioners, who apparently thought the world was coming to an end.
Finally, we do not yet have a contract with the City of North Miami for the delivery of water. They are engaged in some form of thinking it over.
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