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SOMEONE NEEDS TO ASK WHY To The Sentinel: I am appalled at the behavior of Keene's city government leaders in regard to how they are handling negotiations with the police union. There is something wrong with the city of Keene if the police need to go to the public for support. I remember that the last negotiation process between the police union and city officials resulted in signs being placed around the city. At the time, I thought that the police union was being unfair, but to learn now that its proposals were met with just a "no," with no explanation as to why the proposals were not liked, I now have a different opinion. I have heard that the fire department's union also currently does not have a contract right now. My question is why? Why does this happen all the time? Here we are again, the police union going to the public for support, not for disagreements over what it wants or what the city wants, but over the simple fact of tape-recording the negotiation sessions. Why? Why is there such a problem with tape-recording? Official meetings are tape-recorded all the time. Aren't negotiations considered official meetings? City council meetings are tape-recorded, aren't they? I heard the mayor of Keene on WKBK radio not too long ago saying that he did not see anything wrong with tape-recording the negotiations sessions. Isn't the mayor the head of the city? If the head of the city does not thinks it's a bad idea, why don't his beliefs trickle down to the people underneath him? What goes on in negotiations that are so secretive that the city officials do not want the negotiations tape-recorded? What are people trying to hide? What is the city council doing about this? It is clear that the police union and the city officials are at a stalemate and need someone to come in and assist in this matter. What is the city council doing to solve this problem? Why are councilors sitting back and letting two groups, who obviously need some assistance in reaching an agreement, continue like this? I would assume that the city council has heard from the city officials as to why, but did they sit down and speak to the union leadership? There are two sides to every story and, as I said before, I was under the impression that the union was being unfair the last time, until I heard their side of the story as to how the city officials were negotiating. In today's day and age, we do not need our officers going out into the streets to protect us and having in the back of their minds that the city leaders do not support them. Furthermore, we do not need our police officers or city officials spending valuable time in a long, drawn-out negotiation process. Time is money and I do not want my hard-earned tax dollars being spent on a labor attorney when the city officials should be able to handle this simple issue. There is something terribly wrong with the relationship between the current city administration and the unions within the city of Keene. The reason for this belief is that we now have another union in the city. We must ask what is going on within the walls of City Hall. Why did the non-unionized employees feel it was necessary to unionize? I would hope that the city council would investigate this and see if there is a way to fix the reasons that caused the former non-union city employees to seek out the protection of a union. Why? Someone needs to be asking this question. WILLIAM SHEA
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