Mayor's Veto Puts BOE Employees Back On City Side of Budget

Mayor Sebastian Giuliano exercised his authority Tuesday afternoon to use a line-item veto to restore his proposal to put non-certified union employees, who are party to a municipal labor contract, under the payroll of the city.  They are currently under Board of Education payroll.

The mayor's proposal was shot down at the Common Council meeting last Thursday when the Democratic majority voted into affect an amendment to delete the shift in payroll.

The ensuing public commentary incited the Council, on a bi-partisan basis to call for an investigation into labor practices by the Board of Education, and to audit their finances.  That call for an investigation lead to the posting of a police guard at the Board of Education Administrative Offices by the mayor.

The Common Council will have to call a meeting to address the mayor's veto, and to overturn the veto they will have to pass it with a supermajority vote, or if all Council members are present, eight of the twelve available votes.

"I'm not surprised that this is occuring," Common Council majority leader Tom Serra said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.  "We're strategically concerned about the proposal.  We need to be clear, and that is not clear."

Serra said he will meet with the Democratic caucus over the next few days, and is confident they have the votes to sustain the original amendment to defeat the mayor's proposal.  The Common Council has ten days in which to meet and vote on the mayor's veto.