San Bernardino Press MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2014 - NOVEMBER 2, 2014
sanbernardinopress.com
VOLUME 1, NO. 26
Measure Q controversy over police and National firefighter salaries nurses call by Vickie Vértiz on President Obama to issue executive order directing hospitals to follow highest standards for beating Ebola
develops. The first event will be the NaNoWriMo Kick-Off on Saturday, October 25, 2014 from 3:00-4:00 PM. at the Norman F. Feldheym Central Library. This will be a chance to find out about NaNoWriMo and to socialize with other aspiring writers.
With concern escalating across the U.S. about the threat of a wider Ebola outbreak, National Nurses United today called on President Barack Obama to “invoke his executive authority” to order all U.S. hospitals to meet the highest “uniform, national standards and protocols” in order to “safely protect patients, all healthcare workers and the public.” The request, send in a letter to the President, came on a day in which NNU, the largest U.S. organization of nurses, hosted a national call-in conference in which 11,500 RNs from across the U.S. joined to discuss what steps should be taken to confront a virulent disease that the World Health Organization has termed the most significant health crisis in modern history. On the call, RNs from California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Texas described widespread concerns in their hospitals about inadequate preparedness at a time at least two nurses have been tested positive for the Ebola virus in a hospital where one patient infected by the disease has died.
Please see page 4
Please see page 4
- Photo by Terry Miller
On November 4, the public will decide what to do about salaries for their local police and firefighters when they vote on Measure Q, which wants to set salaries through collective bargaining. The measure attempts to reform San Bernardino Charter Section 186 which created a legal requirement that the salaries of police and firefighters be exactly the average of what ten other California cities with a population between 100,000 and 250,000 pay those positions, reported
the Desert Sun. The way Section 186 works currently is that city and union representatives take a list of all cities in the state with the population requirements mentioned above and take turns crossing off cities, said the Sun. Usually, city negotiators cross out the highestpaying cities, whereas union reps take off the lowest-paying places until they get down to ten cities. One thing both sides of the issue can agree on is that most of those cities are not facing bankruptcy, with which San Bernardino is
struggling. Strained relations between unions and the city are informing this issue. The firefighter union believes the city created a contract on their workers that “demonstrates bad faith,” they told the Sun. “I wish we could trust the city to bargain the way other cities do,” firefighter Kenneth Konior was quoted as saying recently in the Sun, “but the politics of at least the last few years make me think we can’t.” Please see page 2
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) at the Public Library The San Bernardino City Library will participate in NaNoWriMo this year in conjunction with The Office of Letters and Light, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting creative expression. NaNoWriMo is shorthand for National Novel Writing Month, a worldwide celebration of creative writing that counted 500,000 writers in its 15th year in 2013. The
end goal for NaNoWriMo participants is to write a novel of at least fifty thousand words between 12:01 AM on November 1st and 11:59 PM on November 30th. Quantity is emphasized over quality; the idea is not to produce the Next Great American Novel, but simply to get one’s brain rolling by building characters, plots and ideas for one month to see what
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Explore creativity in Museum artMuse Programs Explore your creativity at the San Bernardino County Museum this fall at three artMUSE activity sessions. Visitors will express themselves throughout creative writing, photography, and other artistic activities. Local artists and art students will share artistic techniques and help participants draw inspiration from the museum. Activities are included with paid museum admission and are offered in a ‘drop in’ format from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday November 8, and Saturday December 6. “Everyone has a story that
is part of what makes up our community,” said Jolene Redvale, the Museum’s curator of education and coordinator for the artMUSE program. “By offering views of their personal experiences, artMUSE participants contribute meaning to an experience we all share.” Activities are geared to adults and youth ages 13 and up. Art materials will be provided, but visitors should bring a camera or smartphone for the photography sessions. To accompany the activities, a digital exhibit will display
artwork produced during artMUSE programs and events. “ArtMUSE wants visitors to view the museum as a platform for creative activity, and these programs will help visitors discover this side of the San Bernardino County Museum,” said Redvale All artMUSE programs, activities, and events are sponsored by the James Irvine Foundation. For more information about the artMUSE fall program series and the San Bernardino County Museum, call 909-798-8610 or e-mail the artMUSE program at sbcmartmuse@gmail.com or
jredvale@sbcm.sbcounty.gov. The San Bernardino County Museum is at 2024 Orange Tree Lane, at the California Street exit from Interstate 10 in Redlands. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 9 am to 5pm. General admission is $10 (adult), $8 (military or senior), $7 (student), and $5 (child aged 5 to 12). Children under five and Museum Association members are admitted free. Parking is free. For more information, visit www.sbcountymuseum.org. The museum is accessible to persons with disabilities.
Measure Q controversy over police and firefighter salaries Continued from page 1
A charter committee first wanted to eliminate the charter altogether and give the City Council control over setting salaries. The Sun reported that the initial committee language for the change was: “[...] Compensation of police, fire and emergency safety personnel
shall be set by resolution of the Council after collective bargaining as appropriate under applicable law, as it does for other city employees.” According to the Sun, Mayor Carey Davis says the bottom line is that the city cannot fix severe financial short-
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falls without cuts or income generating measures. “Firefighters and police make up a huge part of the budget, even now when we’re down 100 officers,” Davis told the Sun. “That high pay prevents us from hiring more officers,” he added, referring to the gap between the 350 officers authorized in the 2010-11 budget and 248 working in 2014. In the meantime, firefighters and police are short-staffed with increasingly difficult jobs: a high murder rate and increased fires due to weather shifts. “We’re still trying very hard to get that contract,” police union president Steve Turner said in an interview with the Sun. “That doesn’t mean that we’ve stopped doing what we have to do to protect our benefits. And so we’re unfortunately to the point where … the only thing we have to protect that benefit is the charter.” Police and fire union leaders are tasked with assessing that their benefits are up to par with other comparable employees. While they believe their benefits are below the standard, collective bargaining would open the possibility of lower salaries very quickly, hence their opposition to the measure. Recent history proves that, given the tough economic
times, the City Council will cut their pay, since they created a contract in January of this year that slashed salaries by almost 14 percent, said the Sun. Whether the officers and firefighters are underpaid can become confusing depending on how one tallies the total. While the city has saved money by cutting salaries and capping hiring, the workers still have to put in overtime to cover the city emergency and basic needs. The Sun quoted pro-Measure Q reports that said firefighter salaries were over $40,000 higher than the state average. But once overtime pay is accounted for, one has to consider whether the cuts are worth it. Should those who are meant to protect the public work two full shifts in a row consistently? In times like the ones the city is facing, that may be what has to be done, creating costs yet to be seen and paid for by the public. The city is trying to hire, both in the Police Department and Fire Department, according to Mayor Davis, as reported by the Sun. The union disagrees; they say that Fair Labor Standards Act overtime requirements would result in overtime costs that would erase the original savings.
OCTOBER 27, 2014 - NOVEMBER 2, 2014 | 3
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California ranked #1 in after school programs State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that California leads the nation in after school programs, placing first among all states in a national survey released Thursday by the Afterschool Alliance. “The good news is, because we have followed through on our long-term commitment to invest in our children, California has the largest network of after school programs in the country,” Torlakson said. “These programs are helping our children learn and stay safe after school, while helping working parents keep their jobs. The challenge is that many more children still need to be served.” Torlakson celebrated California’s number one ranking with students, parents, community leaders, and advocates Thursday in a visit to the after school program at Roy Romer Middle School in North Hollywood. The Alliance gave California its top ranking in the 2014 edition of its “America After 3PM” survey, singling the state out for both strong participation among students and high satisfaction with after school programs among parents. It found that expanded learning participation in California had increased to 25 percent, compared to 19 percent in 2009, with more than 1.6 million students enrolled. The survey also found that 92 percent of California parents were satisfied with the quality of care of their child’s after school program, up from 83 percent in 2009. “Superintendent Torlakson has spearheaded efforts to make California number one in the nation,” said Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant. “He created a statewide after school initiative within the California Department of Education that has increased quality and access to after school programs across this state. California stands head and shoulders above the rest of the country, not only for the percentage of
students it serves, but for its emphasis on making high-quality after school programs a state priority. From extraordinary STEM programs, to service learning, to its trailblazing literacy programming, California has done an amazing job with afterschool programs.” The Alliance’s report also noted California’s work to emphasize the quality of programs, including Torlakson’s move to create an After School Division within the California Department of Education (CDE) and to develop a strategic plan to build on the state’s investments in expanded learning. The CDE also recently completed development of newQuality Standards for Expanded Learning programs. A teacher and long-time
track and cross-country coach, Torlakson has long been a champion of after school programs. Legislation he authored led to the creation and expansion of these programs. California’s expanded learning programs today reach about 4,500 schools around the state. They are, in large part, funded through voter-approved Proposition 49, which guarantees $550 million annually for the state’s After School Education and Safety Program. California administers another $120 million in federal after school program funds. For more information about expanded learning, visit the CDE After School Division’s California Expanded Learning Programs Facebook Web page.
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National nurses call on President Obama to help fight Ebola Continued from page 1
The call came just hours after NNU released a statement by RNs who work at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas voicing frustration and concern over what they viewed as a lack of preparation and training at their hospital, the first in the U.S. to see, first a patient with Ebola who subsequently died, and now an RN who has been infected with the virus. In the statement, the Texas RNs described confusion in the hospital over policies in responding to patients with Ebola, inadequate advance training and availability of proper personal protective equipment, and changing guidelines. In the end, the nurses, said they felt “unsupported, unprepared and deserted to handle the situation on their own.” “Sadly, the problems expressed by the heroic Texas Health Presbyterian RNs was predictable in our fragmented, uncoordinated private healthcare system, and it mirrors concerns we’ve heard from nurses across the U.S.,” said NNU Executive Di-
rector RoseAnn DeMoro. It is the circumstances in Dallas, which have mirror the concerns nurses across the U.S. have been expressing, both on the call and via an online NNU survey filled out by more than 2,500 nurses that have prompted NNU to call on President Obama to mandate improved safety standards in U.S. health facilities. “Not one more patient, nurse, or healthcare worker should be put at risk due to a lack of health care facility preparedness,” DeMoro said in the letter to President Obama. “The United States should be setting the example on how to contain and eradicate the Ebola virus.” The letter also states: “Every healthcare employer must be directed to follow the Precautionary Principle and institute the following: “Optimal personal protective equipment for Ebola that meets the highest standards used by the University of Nebraska Medical Center “Full-body hazmat suits that
meet the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F1670 standard for blood penetration, the ASTM F1671 standard for viral penetration, and that leave no skin exposed or unprotected and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-approved powered air purifying respirators with an assigned protection factor of at least 50 – or a higher standard as appropriate. “There shall be at least two direct care registered nurses caring for each Ebola patient with additional RNs assigned as needed based on the direct care RN’s professional judgment with no additional patient care assignments. “There will be continuous interactive training with the RNs who are exposed to patients. There will also be continuous updated training and education for all RNs that is responsive to the changing nature of disease. This would entail continuous interactive training and expertise from facilities where state of the art disease containment is occurring.
“If the Employer has a program with standards that exceed those used by the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the higher standard shall be used. The Ebola pandemic and the exposure of health care workers to the virus represent a clear and present danger to public health. “We know that without these mandates to health care facilities we are putting registered nurses, physicians and other healthcare workers at extreme risk. They are our first line of defense. We would not send soldiers to the battlefield without armor and weapons. “In conclusion, not one more patient, nurse, or healthcare worker should be put at risk due to a lack of health care facility preparedness. The United States should be setting the example on how to contain and eradicate the Ebola virus. Nothing short of your mandate that optimal standards apply is acceptable to the nurses of this nation,” the letter from DeMoro to the President concludes.
National Novel Writing Month at the San Bernardino Public Library Continued from page 1
The Feldheym Central Library will also be a “Come Write In” center this year. Beginning on Wednesday October 29, the Feldheym Library will be open for NaNoWriMo writers. Drop in any time between 11:00 am and
5:00 pm. Bring your pen & paper or laptop and work on your novel in the company of other writers. Caffeine will be provided. These “Come Write In” events will be every Wednesday from October 29 through November 26 from
11:00 am-5:00 pm. The Young Writer’s Program for youth ages 7-17 consists of writing workshops every Monday afternoon in October and November, from 4:00-5:30 pm. The word-count goal for the adult NaNoWriMo program is 50,000 words, but the Young Writers Program (YWP) allows 17-and-under participants to set reasonable, yet challenging, individual wordcount goals. Finally, the library will hold a wrap up celebration on Saturday, December 6. (time TBD). NaNoWriMo writers, including the young writers who participated, will gather to celebrate their month-long achievement: completing — or attempting to complete — a first draft of a novel. Some NaNoWriMo authors have gone on to further success –
Sara Gruen’s 2007 NaNoWriMo project, “Water for Elephants”, was made into an award-winning film starring Robert Pattinson – but the primary goal is to write with enthusiasm and perseverance, and to have fun while you’re doing it. Mistakes will be made, plots will stink or compel, characters will fall flat or resonate: it’s all part of the joy. NaNoWriMo is for everyone: elementary and secondary students who would like to improve their writing skills, armchair scribes who have always wanted to try their hand at fiction, and even published professionals. All of these free events will be held in Kellogg Room A at the Norman F. Feldheym Central Library at 555 W. 6th Street in San Bernardino. For more information call 909-381-8238 or visit www. sbpl.org