The towns of Mass are all struggling to find revenue to pay fire and Police and other basic services so for this is an affront to all the taxpayers of Mass not just the residents of Peabody.

peace
the Donkey Show.

Now, I wouldn’t call Peabody a podunk town (we are in fact a podunk CITY) but this is a terrible situation.

I have not met one person in the City who is NOT against this situation.

And I totally agree… it is making EVERYONE look bad.

This was a Union Tactic to get something extra because they were giving in to higher co-pays and premiums for health benefits. I think it was more than likely simply a “we need something in return” kind of thing… and some brilliant soul thought up “HEY! Let’s get 9/11 as a holiday pay day!”

And the geniuses at the table (the Union AND the City) all said “sure” because they never thought it through.

The Union was simply doing what Unions do… looking out for themselves by proving they are getting something for the workers. The City was just glad to be done with the negotiations and for getting the health insurance increase. When the cops voted on the contract, they were just happy to be getting a raise after 2 years (despite the increased health costs and the guarantee of layoffs in the coming year – why don’t these guys ever protect the younger ranks?)

Then the controversy hit the news… and media from all over the US was here to blast the situation.

Do these folks ever GET IT? Do they ever say… WHOOPS! And take it back? In a very quick move they could have ‘renegotiated’ the 9/11 holiday into another personal day, shook hands, a quick rank and file re-vote and PRESTO! EVERYBODY LOOKS GOOD AGAIN AND THE CONTROVERSY GOES AWAY!

But no… not it Peabody where everyone thinks they are right come hell or high water (and it frequently still does flood downtown mind you.)

The idiotic Union reps decided to spin this as “We are honoring the 9/11 heroes!” Yeah right… by getting overtime pay – some honor there.

The “Never Wrong” Mayor dug his heels in too first by lobing the blame at the Union, but then (surprisingly) taking it all onto himself. I think even he was seeing the tarnish it had put on the City and the badge carrying folks.

So then the vote this week before the City Council. They needed to fund the pay raises. These “heroes” mostly go up and railed against the stupidity of ‘honoring others’ by filling one’s own pockets… and then voted to fund it.

So let’s see….

The Peabody Police look like bastards for stealing money in the name of a national tragedy.

The Mayor looks like a rube who can’t understand why people might find this unseemly.

The City Council looks like a bunch of moron’s with the power to stop this… but the will to do nothing.

The Union looks like giant asses for the “we are honoring the memory…” crapola.

All Police are given a huge black eye from the public for 1) taking advantage of a tragedy and 2) being greedy public trough piglets.

The Citizens of Peabody are the laughing stock of the nation for at least one more news cycle because of the stupid, cowardly and entrenched actions of our local government.

Yeah… a complete mess that could have been solved long ago with a simple…”let’s fix this” action by the meeting of intelligent minds from both labor and management.

A sad sad day for everyone.

I sincerely apologize for the harm done to Police (and first responders/public safety workers) everywhere for the foolish actions by my political leaders and local police.

I blog here: The Peabody Roundtable
Another local blogger is here: The Peabody Patriot

I actually was recently bitten in the back of the knee (could I have chosen a more awkward place?) by a large-ish (60lb) dog, and man, it sucked. I’ve always been pretty fearless around dogs, and in fact I’ve helped rehabilitate abused dogs in the past, but now I have a healthy wariness. Once bitten, twice shy and all that.

I found your blog completely randomly by the way, and it’s pretty interesting. My boyfriend/SO is finishing up his masters in criminal justice and listening to him chat about it is fascinating.

My last day in vice another cop and I grunged like bikers up and borrowed some Harleys. We chased hookers (male and female) all over downtown. On sidewalks… scared the crap out of them.. had a blast. Didn’t like working narcotics though. Wanted back in patrol. Been retired now ten years.