Dave Ramsey – 2/12/06

This page was last updated on February 12, 2006.

Spanik betrayed many; Dave Ramsey - SEIU Local 668; Beaver County Times; February 12, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I am the business agent assigned to the bargaining at the Beaver County Jail. I was surprised and disappointed to read the remarks of Commissioner Joe Spanik in reply to Kathy Jellison’s letter to Jeff Davis and the one-sided editorial response in The Times.

“Spanik has betrayed Beaver County. He has lied to the public about keeping his door open to the unions and trying to work with them. I personally have gone to the commissioners’ meetings, and twice I have been told by Commissioner Dan Donatella that the Commissioners will not discuss this matter with the union while there were negotiations going on.”

[RWC] To Mr. Ramsey, I suspect it’s fair to say “keeping his door open to the unions and trying to work with them” means capitulation to labor union management.

“Commissioners Spanik and Charlie Camp did not refute him, choosing to look away in silence. Never have the commissioners offered an open door to us or attended our negotiations.

“The county’s jail guards still believed that if they cooperated to cut costs, then the commissioners would work with them to keep Beaver County tax dollars in Beaver County.

“After all, this is about what is best for Beaver County. They offered concessions that would have saved the county about $800,000 in the first year alone.

“But there was no bargaining to be done with these commissioners. They demanded the guards at the jail and their families surrender pay, benefits and pensions and would not consider any compromise.

“Spanik betrayed his party’s ideals, betrayed his fellow Beaver Countians and betrayed his brothers and sisters in the labor movement. He lacked the courage to be truthful and to tell Dan Donatella that what he is doing is wrong. We will remember.”

[RWC] To summarize, Mr. Ramsey is upset that Mr. Spanik for once did not act as a hack for labor union management.