On Jobs and Leadership

The election is about a week away now, folks. November 8th will determine the future direction of this City. It is in yours hands, as it should be.

I did want to touch base on a couple of items that have come to my attention.

First, being the latest mailer from Mayor Cervenik. He claims that he has helped retain or created about 3500 jobs in Euclid, and, then proceeds to list the various companies that have added jobs.

Jobs, growth, of course, are what this City desperately needs. Jobs, and, the tax revenue it brings are the very life blood of City Services all of you expect.

What the mailer does not tell, or explain is over what time period any of these retained or created jobs occurred: since he became Mayor in 2003? Or, was it in the last year? That is unknown.

If we do some math, the total new jobs listed come to 405. He also listed Bluestone Business Park (former Chase Brass site) as the home to 1000 jobs (when the economy recovers).

Folks, Bluestone Business Park is empty! Nothing is on it. The assumption that it will contain

1000 jobs is pure guess work by the Mayor. Certainly he has no idea when it will be filled, and/or how many jobs will come from it. But, the last check with the owner, Fogg indicated

that any interest so far comes from warehouse type firms, firms that will bring few jobs.

Also missing from the Mayor's piece is the loss of jobs Euclid has suffered over the years of his Administration. Topping that list is Park-Ohio which took about 400 jobs out of the City several years ago.

The point here is that under this Administration, Euclid is on a jobs tread mill: some businesses

have grown, or come to Euclid, others have shrunk or left the City. Too many times the small businesses interested in Euclid are ignored by the current Administration.

To move ahead, we must jump off this treadmill. To do that, not only must we work with our larger firms, which we do now, but, we must begin cultivating those interested in opening

up small businesses. To do that, we must better integrate the activities of the Chamber of Commerce with city efforts to attract and grow jobs.

As a mentioned in earlier blogs, a real strategy to "Buy Euclid" must be implemented for the retail sector, along with developing a "commercial/industrial" pool that encourages local industry

to purchase from Euclid or Northeast Ohio firms. This will truly create jobs and City tax revenue.

The OAPC Report

On October 17th, the Ohio Association of Police Chief issued their report on the conditions of

the Euclid Police Department. Broken down into 18 sections, it should be used as a blueprint to make sweeping changes in how the Department is run. Police Chief Steven Sarver of Newark, and, Police Chief Douglas Knight of Vandalia conducted the top to bottom review.

Any organization is a reflection of its core values and missions statement. In good organizations each employee understands and works toward the values of that statement. The Euclid Police Department current mission statement is confusing and too long, according to OACP. Even when a committee was appointed to review that statement, Chief Repicky ignored the new statement

Leadership communication flows from the core statement of values. Great communication is the hallmark of well functioning organizations. While policies and procedures of the Police Department show a willingness to communicate, it is not translating into real communication with staff. When asked by OACP if “critical information is communicated efficiently” only 4.08% respondents said yes. 57.1% said “no.” In another question, when asked if “your input is considered before important decisions are made” 0% said “yes” while 80.9% said “no.”

Lack of communication has done much to undermine the spirit and cohesiveness within the Euclid Police Department. This is clearly illustrated in the management-labor area. OACP states that “a healthy relationship between labor and management is non-existent at this time.” Part of the contract between the City and Fraternal Order of Police Local #18 calls for a Labor-Management Committee consisting of the Mayor (or designee) Police Chief, and members of the FOP. In well functioning organizations, such a committee should meet every three months or so. Frequent meetings creates open line of communication, and building mutual trust. Euclid’s last meeting was held over a year ago and amounted to little more than grip sessions. OACP recommends that for EPD to move forward, labor and management must be willing to sit face to face and discuss issues before they become problems.

Two cases in particular that has caused much friction within the department. First is the lack of performance reviews for 2010 to the present. Chief Repicky stated that given retirements and supervisory personnel, it would be unfair to give review. The second is the need for 4 police captains.

Chief Repicky (and the Mayor) believed that not filling the position was a budgetary matter. Members of the department believe that it a personal and vindictive move based on who would next be promoted. OACP believes that since no conversation about dropping to three captains occurred prior to the latest opening, there is some credibility to staff feelings. OAC feels until both of these matters are resolved, morale cannot be restored.

Lack of a clear vision, poor communication and labor management mistrust creates an atmosphere where most officers enjoying being out of the Police Station and out on the street. As OACP reports, command staff confirms that “neither the Administration nor the police department establish annual written goals or specific and measurable objective by which to assess Euclid police performance. Further, the police department has no formal mechanism or periodic survey of citizens satisfaction to assess the degree to which the police and service philosophies conform to expectations of the community and city administration. One command officer described the current state of the EPD goals and objectives as “surviving and maintaining.” Another patrol supervisor, in a separate interview said, “We don’t know what we’re going, or what is expected of us.”

In many ways, the department is adrift, its effectiveness more the result of individual officers, rather than organization excellence. An example cited by OACP is in crime prevention. Euclid only one officer is trained in crime prevention techniques, and that the commitment to crime prevention has fallen off, according to a police supervisor. OACP recommends that ALL members of the Department share in crime prevention responsibilities. A good program of crime prevention addresses the community’s perception and misperception of crime in Euclid. Every few years, such programs must be evaluated for effectiveness and adjusted accordingly.

The focal point of all of these issues appears to be Chief Jim Repicky. The OACP report makes no ultimate value judgment of his leadership. Yet OACP reports, that the effectiveness of the lines of communication among the captains and Chief Repicky was poor. In his 3 years as Chief the command staff met together only 3 times, the Chief ultimately ending them all together. This means that critical information was not share uniformly among the chief and the captains. This ties in with the answers received from FOP members as to the three most important issues facing the department. Answers included poor leadership, trust, favoritism, personal agendas morale, no input. While not all the fault of Chief Repicky, the rejection of his leadership by his own staff was clear and overwhelming. He had no real choice but to step down.

One individual the OACP does not mention is Chief Repicky’s supervisor, Mayor Bill Cervenik. As the city safety director, he is ultimately responsible for what happens within the department. What can be gathered from OACP Report is that Mayor Cervenik failed to provide adequate supervision for Mr. Repicky. In the area of labor management, he very well could have intervened and insisted on frequent meetings between Police Management and the FOP. At the same time, Mr. Cervenik allowed members of the Department to speak to him directly, rather than through the Labor Management Council. Thus, he undermined is own chain of command, without providing feed back to the Chief to improve his performance.

For a Mayor that prides himself on keeping the safety forces strong, the OACP provides a devastating critique of his own management of the Euclid Police Department. It appears that Mr. Cervenik placed more value on his friendship with Chief Repicky, than on the well being of the EPD.