The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 35

THE SACRAMENTO BEE Fridey May 25 1979 Page B3 Fish By The Bucket 1 Bargaining Units Threaten County With Court Action rkiiV A 4 i ii4 4 1 4 1 1 si' "ktk-4 '''t 4''ti' I '4 1 S-1' 4'k Iti 4444444 041- 114 1 '44 4 4 -44'''' 1 0 Vett 1'' t44t7c'" 1 1 l't4 Jo 44 '7: "14 'r ef ft' 044 1 114 7 jt I iT'' 77777-71'' 1' 1 2 1 ii SS 1 tr: 4- 4' i 11 4 444 2 "Ct s' 44 14 444 4 xt4 -4 4-- 4 4 A 4 f44zs: 4 i 4 1 4 4 -V' 4 4' 1'4: i Toi 0 1 d2-1 :11 1' '''l v44117 ffi44 4 i4 11t' Ic '41' 1 4ft f4- 444'1 i47) 4 1 1(4'': 1 I 4 5 ment will be nullified at that time Therefore Pauly recommended that the board drop negotiations lAlth employees organization for a contract for the unit until after July I and allow far the representation election at that time However attorney Robert Sharpe representing employess organization challenged that recommendation and indicated the organization would go to court if it was approved Sharpe suggested an alternative UndiT which the unit would be divided into four bargaining units one for the refuse collectors and one each for the maintenance workers in parks highways and traffic signals He said the employess organization would not attempt to retain the refuse workers under that arrangement Pauly objected pointing out the county existing 26 bargaining units are more numerous than in any other local agency in the state except Los Angeles County Under the board's tentative action Tuesday bargaining with the unit will be dropped until the election is held and the new bargaining agent determined By ED DOLAN Bee Staff Writer Sacramento County already involved in labor problems with employee bargaining units seeking pay raises 'as threatened Thursday with court action in a dispute between two groups seeking to represent some 770 workers in an operations and maintenance unit The Board of Supervisors tentatively agreed to a representation election in which Local 39 of the Stationary Engineers seeks to replace the Sacramento County Employees Organization as the bargaining agent for workers with refuse collection and maintenance duties involving parks and recreation highways and traffic signals The supervisors set next Thursday for adoption of an ordinance amendment which would allow the election The threatened court action would come about as a result of a special agreement the county entered into last yea'' with most bargaining units It governs re-employment rights in the event of layoffs which might occur as a result of Proposition 13 While only one-year contracts providing for salaries and other benefits were entered into the special agreement is for three years It provides a system of re-employment er the next two years for those who might be laid off this year The county employee relations ordinance allows for decertification or representation elections only at the end of the last year of an existing contract Because of the three-year agree ment on re-employment the county ruled Local 39 could not obtain a rep resentation election this spring despite the fact it submitted petitions showing 45 percent of the workers in the unit had asked for it The union challenged that decision in court where a preliminary ruling went against it In an appeal to the supervisors Local 39 contended the special agreement should not prevail county Personnel Man agement Director Gerald Pauly and County Counsel Lee Elam said that in view of the fact that it now appears there will he no layoffs this fiscal year which ends June 30 the agree zvk 7 iA L1 i) i i I 41-t I 4 Ny- 9:: (t) Ft 1 I( 114 I lev3 t1 1 ktifif 111 7 :7 k't At: 1 I 1 It '-''''t vr ''1 0---- I) i' -1 1liti- 5o 7l -NsL- ts -Jt jir 1 40- iu 4 cD41 1 iz il ii '')441 1 s'' I 417114I 4 4w 1 lff4114A tEt I 'N IC 7 'vtt- 441 1' 20'44' "A 104111040 A 111Sje' IFA0: Ns6t11zt14 AMil 1 i 1 tk 1 -V'': ITI 474Ntt' -4kt' c- s''" 43 44 40 4411 10' 4't'4tY -a ki c1 :1 e4t41 ow 1 10 1:) In 0' Ity Z4444tik'1414 ksli i 1 I i I i co 0 15: '4i'" ---E7---- I 4 11 0 0 Rancho Seco Disposal Plans For Nuclear Waste Debated By BILL LINDELOF Bee Staff Writer Anthony Ortiz 8 left needed a little boost during a fishing der by for youngsters 16 and under this week at the pond in Southeside Park at Sixth and streets He was competing against other boys and girls Including Julian DeAnda 6 above who seemed pleased as officials measured his 714-inch catch The derby was sponsored by the city Department of Recreation and Parks and the Sacramento Chinese Sportsmen's Club way its going to be at least until the year 2000" Vandervelden a member of the environmental group Friends of the Earth said there was a real danger of an earthquake or airplane crash damaging the waste disposal area "The protection in the spent fuel storage pool is not as good as at the core itself" he said Perhaps in the next 10 years the utility will be faced with a decision on what to do with accumulating waste because the present storage facilities will be full Martin said At that time SMUD officials will have to decide whether to expand the storage racks in the pools construct another building or perhaps rely on the federal goverment to find a place to store the radioactive waste ing off place until shipment to a federal facilitty for disposal Federal officials had contemplated storing the waste in rock caverns to contain the wastes over thousands of generations However no suitable storage facility has been found Meanwhile according to anti-nuclear panel member Mark Vandervelden the waste accumulates at Rancho Seco Vandervelden said that the presence of the waste was dangerous and he wondered if federal officials would ever find a place to store the spent fuel which many experts say could be dangerously radioactive for 250000 years "II you asked the people of Sacramento if they wanted a high-level waste disposal site in the county I'm sure the response would be 'no' Vandervelden said "But that Is what we have at Rancho Seco and that's the Like a hangover that won't go away the question of what to do with Rancho Seco's highly radioactive spent uranium fuel was the point of discussion Thursday night between pro- and antinuclear forces A predominantly anti-nuclear crowd of about 100 persons attended a panel discussion sponsored by the Sacramento County Citizens Advisory Committee for Solid Waste Management Most of the questions were directed at Sacramento Municipal Utility District's representative Don Martin Martin explained that SMUD was placing waste in the plant's spent fuel storage pit a water-filled tank When the plant was first built the racks in the pool were meant to be only a cool Proposed 1-80 Bypass Music Circus Draws Fire At Hearing Passing On Ticket Tax Bite Law Enforcement Chiefs Seek Convention On Anti-Crime Bills That section decrees "All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty acquiring possessing and protecting property and pursuing and obtaining safety happiness and privacy" In a statement accompanying the proclamation the signers note that a constitutional convention first must he proposed by a two-thirds vote of both the Senate and Assembly The measure then would go to the voters for approval before the convention would be called The statement also points Out there could be a question of whether it is legal to call a convention with the area Of discussion to be limited to specific topics and it suggests that the act of calling the convention will ultimately solve that question courts system "If things are not changed" he said "people are not going to be able to afford their criminal justice system" lie ''estimated that in San joaquin County when he took office 10 years ago it cost the people $500 a day for a jury trial with a court-appointed defense attorney "Now that cost is probably more like $1400 and the trials are getting longer and longer Something has to change" Baker said he and the other signers of the document would simply like to see a majority of the unsuccessful bills of recent years put to a vote of the people to see whether the changes are wanted The proclamation calls for limiting the COIIVPIlt ion to preparing measures "That will return to the citizens of this state the rights described in Article I Section I of the state constitution" If there were any doubts that many downtown residents oppose finishing the four-mile Interstate 80 bypass they were removed Thursday night at a public hearing in Clunie Memorial Hall Of the 80 persons who fired questions and suggestions at Regional Transit Director Jack Kehoe and advisers to the 1-80 Study Steering Committee on which Kehoe sits only one voiced support for the project The bypass was planned years ago as a solution to traffic congestion around the Marconi curve from Del Paso Heights to downtown But that was a much different time noted Gasoline flowed freely then Pollution did not plague health and the public conscience Congestion also will get worse with a freeway bypass that would make it easier to drive to the central business district the downtowners said In many ways the arguments against building the 1-80 bypass were emotional and personal One example was the comment by Brian Wiese: "I live on Street and have a 3- year-old daughter who was born in Sacramento Every day she watches the sun set over the smog She doesn't know anything else I hope that her daughter will see the sun set over the horizon We need an alternative to the automobile" Others voiced more technical arguments A spokesman for the local chapter of the League of Women Voters pitted the prestige of its 350-member organization against the 1-80 bypass project Among the reasons for opposing the project was that it would only solve congestion for a few hours a week those periods known as the morning and afternoon rush hours The free ways aren't crowded at other times the league spokeswoman said And she said using the approximately $60 million in federal funds available for this project will jeopardize future federal funding She explained that more smog resulting from more automobile use will disqualify Sacramento from other federal grants because it then will be unable to meet requirements of the Clean Air Act Opponents also seized on conclusions in a staff report by Cal Trans associate planner Chuck Olson who said that even if a six-lane bypass is built at an estimated capital expenditure of $60 million "sometime within the next 20 years it would become just as congested as it is now" Alternative proposals to the bypass which itself has several alternative approaches ranged from doing nothing to transferring the federal highway funds to building a light rail system Of the latter alternative Wayne Hultgren president of the Modern Transit Society of Sacramento disputed cost figures compiled by steering committee advisers The committee staff estimated constructing a light rail line would cost about $50 million with cost of equipment another $20 to $30 million for slightly more than nine miles of track that is upwards of S8 million pei mile Hultgren said the society based on other studies "has figures to show a light rail system in Sacramento can be built for $5 million per mile" He said light rail offers a comprehensive approach to transit problems and that the society's plan includes bus feeder lines to the rail cars plus park and ride lots More than 2000 MOsic Circus ticket subscribers are being asked to send in more money because the summer theater was refused an exemption from the city's entertainment tax earlier this month Robert Smart Music Circus treasurer said pre-season subscribers have already begun to send in an extra 5 percent that was not included in the price of tickets that went on sale April 16 "Most people are just mailing it without any major problems" he said although some are a little hostile "I don't blame them" Smart said "No one likes to pay more" Subscribers are being contacted by letter Smart said When the Music Circus receives the additional numey their tickets on hold in the box office will be sent to them The addition of the admission tax increases the lowest priced season ticket from S93 to $9765 Individual tickets will range from a low of $683 to a high of $1575 the latter for tickets to the Bob Hope show during the week of August 20 The Music Circus lost its bid for exemption from the year-old municipal tax May 15 The City Council disagreed with contentions that the theater-in-the-round is a non-profit entity although Music Circus attorney Leo Schuering provided documents showing that both the state and federal governments regard it as non-profit Russell Lewis co-producer said Thursday that there are no plans to pursue a lawsuit "I don't think anybody wants to sue anybody" he said Music Circus officials had assumed the production would be exempted from the tax he said as Sacramento's opera and ballet are "In our carelessness we did not follow through" he said "If the city needs that money we don't mind" By WALT WILEY Bee Staff Writer A group of San Joaquin County law enforcement chiefs expressing concern over the "serious crime problem" in California is calling for a state constitutional convention to consider changes in the law dealing with crime and the courts The county's sheriff district attorney and the chiefs of police of its six cities have signed a proclamation calling for the convention District Attorney Joseph II Baker explained that the document came out of a meet ing last week of the informal county "chiefs association" which gets together to discuss problems of mutual concern "The idea is to get some of these laws that keep getting killed in the Assembly Criminal Justice Committee and have them go directly to a vote of the people to see if the people would want them" said Baker He said law enforcement interests for years have been attempting to get changes in the law through the Legislature but they have met with little success For example he said there have been several unsuccessful bills introducA that would reduce the cost of trials Others he said are bills that would allow a less than unanimous verdict in non-capital felony cases and would provide for six-member juries in misdemeanor cases "And there are stiffer penalties needed in some of the more violent felonies" said Baker "Something needs to be done as well with the law regarding these mental patients who commit serious crimes" He said most of what is needed amounts to ways of streamlining the 'Recovery Of Lynch's Legal Fees Sought By Los Rios Halt assistant to the chancellor It was revealed last week that Lynch who is an attorney had contacted the district's insurance company which began paying for his legal defense in the properly setticment case Lynch's fellow trustees said he took the action without their knowledge The board then stopped the insurance company from paying for the defense but allowed Lynch to use a district-paid lawyer to complete his bid to set aside a default Judgment this week Hall said he does not yet know what Lynch's defense cost the Los Rios district Trustees of the Los Rios Community College District say they want to recover whatever legal costs were paid by the district in fellow board member Robert Lynch's property settlement involving his girlfriend and her ex-husband The board which maintains that Lynch's involvement in the suit has nothing to do with his position as a board member voted Wednesday night to try to recover the costs incurred by Lynch but that such action is subject to the advice of its legal counsel Robert A Galgani "If its going to cost more to recover the fees the board may choose not to go through with it" said Marc Heterosexual Power Play Blamed In White Verdict Another Mather Drug Sentencing County Sues San Juan School District What" said that homosexuals have made some progress noting that openly gay candidates like Milk have been elected to public office The Carter administration has arranged meetings with the gay coalition he added and churches are beginning to look into the needs of homosexuals "Whenever we live our own gay lives we are making political statements" said Graham past president of the Gay Students Union at California State University Sacramento and the University of California at Davis "We must work in the legislative halls There is a lot of work to be done politically "Being gay is a political act" he said "because it challenges the state to live up to its ideals All the elected officials and laws don't do any good unless the people are behind the laws "You can't legislate good will" The verdict in Dan White's trial on charges of killing San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk is an example of how established white male heterosexuals try to destroy any challenges to their power according to the editor of a Sacramento newspaper for homosexuals James Graham who spoke at American River College Thursday during Gay Awareness Week activities said Moscone and Milk worked for all the people But he said the jury sympathized with White whom he described as all "mom and apple pie" White's conviction of voluntary manslaughter Monday sparked a demonstration by San Francisco homosexuals who felt the verdict was too lenient That protest erupted into violence Graham editor of "Mom Guess A second Mather Air Force Base security policeman has been sentenced to hard labor and a dishonorable discharge following his court-martial on drug offenses Thursday according to base officials Airman John Daloise IS is one of the seven members of the 320th Security Police Squadron who were relieved of duty following a drug abuse investigation by the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations last January Daloise was also reduced to the rank of airman basic during his one-year hard labor term and must forfeit all pay for that period He was found guilty of two charges of cocaine transfer and a single count of marijuana transfer As promised the county of Sacramento filed a Superior Court suit against the San Juan Unified School District and the three board members IA ho have voted repeatedly not to pay an $87851 election bill incurred for their own election last fall The suit filed by Deputy County Counsel Monte Fuller contends that on June 27 1978 the San Juan school board approved the holding of a recall election in November at an estimated $100000 cost A bill for the actual $87581 cost was sent to the district about Feb21 A week later school board members asked the grand jury to investigate the allocation method used by the county to compute the election costs The grand jury concluded that the method was proper The district was sent a second bill on April II but the board majority again refused to pay the election costs The three-member majority all named in the suit are Merrillyn Carson Stephen Franks and Charles Watkins The three board members and John Browning were all elected in last November's election in which four incumbent board members were recalled flowever Browning and incumbent David Doerr have voted to pay the election costs The refusal to pay the bill is "arbitrary and capricious" in light of a law requiring the school district to pay all costs for recall elections according to the suit which was filed Wednesday The suit also seeks $1500 in attorneys fees and 1 percent interest on the amount of the bill computed from Feb 21 r'.