The Woonsocket City Council seemed poised to vote down a memorandum of agreement promising 198 retirees concessions they've accepted will be honored in the event of a a city bankruptcy, but tabled it instead Monday night.
Council members expressed frustration with the short notice they were given to consider the resolution ratifying the agreement during a 6 p.m. work session earlier that night, and dismissed their part in the process as symbolic. Sara Rapport, attorney for the city and the Budget Commission, assured council members the memorandum, a key part of the Budget Commission's 5-year-plan, hinged on their approval.
Council President John Ward said the retirees were the first to agree to a 20 percent co-pay on their insurance, and to move to a higher deductible plan. "They were the first ones. The first ones to step up," Ward said.
In return for being the first among the parties the Budget Commission is negotiating with to agree to those terms, Ward said, they asked for the memorandum. The Budget Commission has already approved the agreement, a point some council members made in dismissing the need for their involvement.
Ward asked his fellow councilmen to consider tabling the agreement until they had more time to discuss parts of it they had questions about, rather than reject it outright.
"I don't think that I'm comfortable with this resolution," said Council Vice President Dan Gendron. He said he'd prefer to skip tabling the measure and vote against it.
Councilman Marc Dubois expressed similar sentiments. "I don't want to be part of this process," he said, adding that he also preferred voting against the measure instead of tabling it for further discussion.
"I understand this vote is largely symbolic," said Councilman Al Brien. But Ward pointed out the retirees had asked for the council's consent as part of the agreement.
"That's correct. This is not a symbolic gesture," said Rapport. "They (the retirees) see you as the entity they will deal with long term, not the Budget Commission," since the Budget Commission will only last five years, after which the retirees will be dealing solely with the Council.
In fact, she said, the agreement, and that part of the 5-year-plan, hinges on Council approval. "I really exhort you to let me answer your questions," Rapport said.
Rapport said there were about 800 people who are retirees or beneficiaries who could be covered by the agreement, but only 198 had signed on so far. Under the agreement, if the city goes into bankruptcy, Director of Revenue Rosemary Booth Gallogly has prepared a letter asking bankruptcy officials to honor their agreement with the Budget Commission, a guarantee no other group in the 5-year plan has been afforded, in deference to their willingness to be the first to agree to the concessions.
Gendron, swayed by the arguments for tabling, moved to table the agreement, and Councilman Christopher Beauchamp seconded it. The motion passed, with Councilmen Roger Jalette and Dubois voting against tabling the discussion.
A second work session on the agreement will be held at a yet to be determined date.
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