Should we subcontract all government services?

[beach]

Here are my personal expenses thus far:$2,000 for the academy (required by state)

$500 for body armor (gotta make it home each night)

$900 for custom leather duty belt (this thing is sweet)

$900 for .45 caliber handgun (because they don't make a .46 caliber)

$500 for tactical 12 gauge shotgun (for those special occasions)

$500 for miscellaneous gear (i.e. ammunition, flashlights, cuffs, asp, oc spray, etc.)

$200 for Stetson cowboy hat (gotta play the part)

And there are more expenses to come ($1,800 .223 caliber patrol rifle, for example).

They did provide the uniform and badge though (approximate value $75).

Sounds like someone found an alternative to ******..... :razz:

 

[mmmarvel]

My two cents worth - I worked in a different area of a city service in a 'former' life/career - let's just say it was a stinky business. I worked for the city for about 18 months when the city turned it over to a private contractor to run. From a workers point of view, we were asked to do the same with less. The shifts got cut down from 5 or 6 workers (on the off shifts) to 2 or 3. Day shift crew dropped from 10 to 12 guys down to about 8, including management in both counts. The pay didn't get any better, the benefits weren't any better - but not really worse either. There was the safety concern, especially on the graveyard shift where it was typically a 2 man shift, if something happened to you, it could be a while before your coworker found you.

The city learned to look over the contract CAREFULLY, because if it wasn't specifically spelled out in the contract, the contractor either refused to do it or immediately slapped an addition charge for the extra service. Obviously the contractor was able to do the contract and make money by cutting back on the labor. There were some folk who were pretty worthless, who got shown the door in a quick hurry. To my knowledge, that particular city still has that contractor running this particular stinky service and it's been over 20 years ago. From the aspect of the city, they are rid of head counts, they are rid of all the issues of labor, etc. they just have to monitor the contract and work with the contractor when there is a capital expense that comes up.

In Houston, we have a union, but we are not forced to join it to work for the city. At present I believe that only about 40% of the city employees are members. I've been a member of unions in the past, don't care to join them if I don't have to.