The Sealy News (Sealy, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 4, 1995 Page: 4 of 46
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4 THE SEALY NEWS Thursday, May 4, 1995
Opinion - Editorial
EDITORIAL
i SAN
By JIM GRIMES
int
Exercise your voting right
It’s election day Saturday, and a chance for all qualified voters to
“speak their piece” at the ballot box. Anyone who did not cast their bal-
lots in early voting, should remember to attend the polls sometime
between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. May 6.
Candidates have introduced themselves through the News to the
public, telling readers who they are and what they represent. They have
given every voter an opportunity to learn something about each of
them. And they have followed their introductions with political adver-
tisements. Voters should study each of them and become familiar with
these men and women. Each invites your support ...make your selec-
tions. Vote in the city election and also in the school trustee election.,
there are several choices to be made.
Also on the city ballot give consideration to the issue on collective
bargaining which concerns police officers. Study the issue before you
vote, understand what is being presented, and then make your most
educated vote.
Be an in formed voter in whatever election you cast your ballot.
Study the candidates and the issue...then mark your ballot according
to your convictions.
The two elections in Sealy are in close proximity of each other, both
are on the same block...within walking distance of one another.
Voting is everyone’s privilege and one that should be exercised. If a
person does not go to the polls, then that individual really has no right
to complain about the outcome of the vote. ,
C everal weeks ago I men-
O tioned that I need to walk
every day to help my back prob-
lems. I don’t because I can’t seem
to find, or make, the time neces-
sary. and basically being a lazy
person it is too much like work.
As I have grown older it seems
that my body doesn’t work as good
as it did when I was in my teens
and twenties. I was never very ath-
letically inclined (see earlier state-
ment about being lazy) but I was-
n't exactly uncoordinated either. I
guess that I took for granted that I
could do anything phys- finis
ical that I wanted to do
and that my body would •
respond.
For whatever reason I
never was subjected to % -
the usual assortment of i
broken bones and other
injuries my friends had. 1 -
The only broken bones 1 A
encountered were get
ting my nose broken
three times playing Lu
football, and breaking a big toe,
also playing football I had the
usual cuts, scrapes, and
Me bruises that all boys
The experience, but never
anything too serious.
But once I hit my late
t. "1 twenties things sure did
change. Now it seems
) like every few years I
A have (° go back to the
- hospital to get something
Pel fixed. One crushed
■ elbow, two back surg-
Hacsie eries, still more back
problems, and now I’m having
shoulder problems and high blood
pressure. Sometimes I just feel like
I’m falling apart.
I suppose that I should exercise,
eat better, and just take better care
of myself. I haven’t ever had a
cholesterol test, nor a complete
physical and don’t want to take
either. I don’t really want to know
if something is wrong, ignorance
is bliss as they say. I would say
that what you don’t know can’t
hurt you, but the way I have felt
lately I know that is not true.
□ □□
Madame V. — Give me a call.
Letter to the Editor
Officer anti-collective bargaining
Dear Editor: is stated in the personnel policy.
I am an officer of the Sealy Police The whole purpose of collective
Department and have been for near- bargaining is to sit down and write a
ly 20 years. I am also a life long res- binding contract. I feel that I do the
ident of Sealy while a majority of best job I can and should be evalu-
the Sealy Peace Officers ated on my own merits, not by an
Association members do not even , outside negotiator.
live here. . The City loses that right of evalu-
I am not a member of the Sealy ation through collective bargaining
Police Officers Association. I was Another thing about collective bar-
never asked to join. If this group gaining is that the City is forced to
claims they represent the police negotiate and only the union has the
department, why were not all police right to walk away.
officers included? I love the City of Sealy and feel a
1 feel our police department is special relationship with all its citi-
well equipped, well trained and is zens. I want the best for them and
fairly compensated. The Sealy of- feel collective bargaining will hurt
ficer that is president of the asso- our City and our Police Department,
ciation and a Bellville resident says I vote AGAINST collective bar-
that all they want is the right to sit gaining May 6, 1995.
down and talk. A. C. (Louis) Novosad,
They have that right every day. It Sealy Police Officer
Austin County Crime Stoppers
Crime of the Week
Type of Offense: Burglary of a Habitation
Crime Stoppers heading for Hempstead. Victim
Type of Offense: Aggrivated accepted ride, when suspects got
Assault to Loop Road in Austin County
Austin County Crime Stoppers they turned onto Loop Road
will pay up to a $1,000 reward for where victim was pulled from the
information leading to the arrest car and was cut and knocked
and indictment of person or per- unconscious and robbed.
sons involved in the commission The suspects are described as
of this crime. Your identity will follows: /
remain anonymous, no one will 1. Driver—B/M, 6’ to 6’1” tall,
know you me! medium build, light complected.
On the date of April I suspect(s) short hair in wave style. Was
cut and robbed a victim; the vic- wearing baggy blue jeans, slip
tim was at the Shop and Go in over blue shirt, tennis shoes, clean
Chappell Hill, trying to get a ride shaven. Has been seen in
to Brenham or Buckhorn. Victim
was approached by three black
males who advised that they were
Established 1887
THE SEALY NEWS
(USPS 487-260)
111 Main Streel
P. 0. Box 480
409/885-3562
1-800-236-2916
SEALY, TEXAS 77474-0480
Entered as second class mail matter in the
post office at Sealy, Texas under the Act of
Congress of March 3,1897. Second-class
postage paid at Sealy, Texas._________________
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY MORNING
SEALY PUBLICATIONS, Inc.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: In Austin County,
$20 per year: outside Austin County, in Texas.
$25.00 per year; outside Texas, $50.00 per
year____
NOTICES OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS
should be mailed to The Sealy News, Inc.,
P. O Drawer 480, Sealy, Texas 77474-0480
Hempstead on several occasions.
2. Passenger seat—B/M, 5’8” to
5’10”, medium build, medium
complected, short hair, clean
shaven. Wearing black shorts,
white sport type pull over shirt
with writing, tennis shoes.
3. Passenger in back seat—
B/M, 5’6” to 5'7”, medium build,
medium complected, short hair,
clean shaven, wearing lose fitting
Scratchfad
If there be a human being who is freer than I,
then I shall necessarily become his slave. If I am
freer than any other, then he will become my
slave. Therefore equality is an absolutely neces-
sary condition of freedom.
— Mikhail A. Bakunin
ike the vertically
Lchallenged among
the male species at a urinal,
I try to stay on my toes.
It's a trait I attend to.
Covering my butt. Because
I know no one else will.
Which is a semi subtle
and round about way of
bringing up what has
become a controversial
subject here in Sealy — collective bargaining.
Let’s attempt to define a bit of what collec-
tive bargaining, which was passed by the Texas
Legislature in 1973, is when applied to police-
men. Basically, it gives them the right to nego-
tiate “wages, hours, working conditions, and
all other terms and conditions of employment."
Critics of collective bargaining contend they
worry that by unionizing the police depart-
ment, a strike could occur and it will affect
taxes. Fact: there has never been a police strike
in Texas, with or without bargaining rights;
nor, to anyone's knowledge have any of the
cities with bargaining rights experienced a tax
increase attributable to collective bargaining.
Come Saturday, May 6. Sealy voters — at
least those that bother to mosey over to the poll .
-— are asked to vote for or against the issue.
It was placed on the ballot after the Sealy
Police Officers Association (SPOA) submitted
a petition with 117 names to the city in January
calling for the referendum. SPOA was formed
in November 1994 when seven members of the
11 -man department joined and is affiliated with
CLEAT (Combined Law Enforcement
Associations of Texas), a state-wide police
association with over 16,000 members.
Charles Seely, a 12-year veteran in law
enforcement, serves as SPOA president. A
position, he says, that has put him in a precari-
ous spot. And in the center of a controversy
with his employer of the past two years — the
City of Sealy and its police department. It dates
back to the day the collective bargaining issue
cropped up locally.
Seely contends his job evaluations as a SPD
patrolman had previously graded out in his
)1
ueky s(1
^S^K^I^^^h
Sealy’s new city hall and post
office, completed in 1968, had a lot
in common with another big city
project, the airport, that came along
about 15 years later.
When planning started for what
became known as the Municipal
Complex, Mayor Harry Nowak’s
dream of a city hall — with a red
Police association members
claim they’re being intimidated
Collective Bargaining is center of contention, controversy
favor, but since November he has been kicked
in the butt with several reprimands — political-
ly motivated yet unfounded, he feels.
He's currently on a 60-day leave of absence
due to a knee operation. Seely says he asked
for “light duty" but was told there wasn't such
a thing within SPD. When his leave is up June
3, Seely says he's terminated if a position isn’t
available. He doubts there will be one since
SPD recently hired two additional officers.
“What we want with collective bargaining is
to be able to sit down with the council and dis-
cuss our jobs and grievances. It doesn’t mean
more money necessarily. But we do want comp
time when we put in overtime," notes Seely.
“But the way it is now we can't approach the
city council."
Seely says under current cbnditions an offi-
cer doesn’t have the option of sitting down
with management or administration nor city
council to say he'd like better training, quali-
fied fellow officers and equipment.
So Seely feels he’s hampered in doing his
job because he’s gone on record as being criti-,
cal of the ways things are handled and the
chain of command. And from having
approached the media.
Seely places a Polaroid photograph down
picturing a windshield on a city-owned chipper
truck. He claims the photo was taken Nov. 22,
1994. It displays an inspection sticker that had
expired November 1993. "Now how can we
write citations when the city can t get its act
together?" questions Seely.
Because of what has transpired in the past
week or so, via local news stories, Seely claims
SPOA members on the police force are being
“intimidated” to the point of being “terror-
ized.”
Several other SPOA members notified The
News on Monday and agreed with Seely’s
allegations. One officer noted it’s been “non-
stop intimidation in the department” and that if
an officer backed the SPOA he’d be fired “if it
(collective bargaining) is not passed.”
“They’re looking to reprimand any associa-
tion member,” he said.
Another officer, also on the condition of
anonymity, claims each officer on the depart-
ment was “recruited" by the city.
“(Former Chief Paul Martin) wanted a pro-
gressive police department at the time.
“Every officer hired back then, by whomev-
er, the Chief or somebody, said 'this is the best
of the best we can get The best of the best we
could hire a t the time.’ Now, the city says
we’re the ‘bad guys.’”
I can sympathize with Charles Seelyand the
SPOA members, somewhat. Though I do not
experience his problems in my job.
My ownself has been under the employ of
Jim Grimes, the publisher here, for some seven
or more years. First in Madisonville, and then
here. I have the license to enter his office, with
door closed or open, and air my gripes.
Sometimes he’ll listen, others time not.
He has never censored me in my ravings in
Scratch Pad. It’s an opinion piece, not gospel.
I can go on record as to admitting I love my
wife and whoopee cushions, while disliking
Italian food and tacky and pulpy idjits.
By choice, most of us can choose our work-
place. Freedom to say take this job and shove it
and move on if we're dissatisfied.
But a law enforcement officer is on a leash
in seeking employment to pursue a career. He
or she has to do it within an agency or depart-
ment; city, county, state or federal.
In civil service, regardless of the job, you
become a pawn of bureaucracy and are at the
mercy of an administration. But a police officer
doesn’t only work for the top brass; mainly,
he's putting his life on the line in these trou-
bled times for you, the public — a cop is there
to protect and serve the citizenry, in theory.
Most, albeit not all, law officers are consci-
entious. And they deserve a pat on the back
and adequate compensation, along with the
freedom to do their jobs the best they can.
Let's return now to a number of SPD officers
and the city, which for the moment, isn’t net-
working. They’re at odds in beliefs. They’re
not getting along famously by a long shot.
Words and accusations are spewing back and
forth as if fired from assault rifles.
Would mediation help heal the schism? I
don’t know. But I do believe necessity is the
mother of intervention.
I’ve had my say. Now it’s up to you. By
voicing your opinion May 6 and voting yea or
nay for collective bargaining.
Who do you answer to? It’s really nothing to
get in a quandary about if you are an indepen-
dent thinker. Because, down the road, you only
have to answer to yourself.
□ □□
In giving rights to others which belong to
them, we give rights to ourselves and to our
country.
— John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Complexity of city hall and post office
Publisher Emeritus
Publisher
Assistant Publisher
Editor
News and Advertising
Sports Editor/Darkroom
Technician.....
Receptionist
Ad Composition
Composition
Correspondent
Eart Luedecke
Jim Grimes
Jim Cunningham
Wilma Petrusek
Carolyn Grimet
Joanie Griffin
blue jeans, gray pull over shirt carpet in the mayor’s office—was
with buttons, tennis shoes, in full bloom. And at the same time.
The vehicle used in the robbery Sealy had been designated for a
is described as follows: new post office building.
A late 80’s model Grand Prix or So everything was pretty much in
A late 80 s model Grand Prix or place. The city owned the land, and
Cutlass, gray with /2 gray vinyl the financing, which we talked
top, very clean, with loud, music about last week, would fit. Now all
possible boom box in trunk, we had to do was convince the Post
chrome wheels, two door, possi- Office Department that the City of
ble from Hempstead. Sealy was its most logical landlord.
Anyone having informationIf you happened to miss, or have
about this crime should contact forgotten all the airport excitement,
about in s crime should contact you might be wondering what the
Crime Stoppers by dialing 865- similarity of the two projects was.
2949. If the call is long distance, The land, naturally the most
call collect. important element in airport devel-
Herbert Kollatschny
Opal Kovar
Claudia Janecek
June Yanchak
Frank "BO" Krampitz
The News welcomes expressions of all view-
points from readers. Letters should be kept
as brief as possible and are subject to con-
demotion. They must include signature and
valid mailing address. Pseudonyms and ini-
tials will not be used. Became of the volume
of mail received, unpublished individual let
ters cannot be acknowledged. Send to LET-
TERS TO THE NEWS, III Main Street,
P.O. Drawer 490, Sealy, Tenei 77471
Austin County Crime Stoppers opment, was available. And the
will pay up to a $1,000 reward for thousand-and-one other details you
information leading to the arrest have to put up with when dealing
* : c with the feds had been worked out.
and indictment of any person or All this, plus the fact that Sealy had
persons involved in any felony been designated by the FAA as the
crime. Austin County Crime site for a "reliever airport" for the
Stoppers may be contacted by di- Houston area.
aling 409/865-2949. Your identi- So what went wrong? One final
ty will remain anonymous! Austin detail the airport consultant hired by
County Crime Stoppers’ tele- the city hadn’t completely figured
out... the money to pay for it.
And here the similarity ends. But
phones are manned 24 hours a
day, seven days a week, including
holidays. Crime Stoppers needs
your information not your name!
it would take a lot more than two
installments in this column — prob
ably a book - for the complete
telling of what actually happened
before the sordid mess was finally
put to rest.
Getting back to the mess
city hall and post office s
(the project that did 1
work) there was a minor H .
revival of the currently BEC.p.
dormant R.C. (resis- 0
tance to change) ele-X. 0
ment when word got on , ox
the street about what the
city was thinking about “
doing.
The first question,
naturally, was, “How're •—-
they gonna pay for it?" Well, we
don’t have to go into that again.
And the next was, “Suppose the
post office decides to move, then
what are you gonna do with that big
building?"
That didn't seem too logical
either. The P.O. always appeared
satisfied with their accommodations
while I was still a city G.I., and it’s
only recently that they’ve been talk-
ing about moving to larger quarters.
And as far as the city’s feelings in
the matter are concerned, it’s posi-
tion is, “the sooner the better." and
has been for a long time especially
since the two buildings have been
long ago paid for.
It took two rounds of bidding to
clinch the deal for the city, and we *
had some pretty formidable com-
petitors. too, people who had been
in the business ever since the P.O.
went to the lease option.
Some years later, the monthly
rental the city was receiving
brought up the question, “Did they
bid too low?”
The original lease agreement was
cars for lOyears, beginning
0 May 1, 1968, at $520
per month. Then four
.0 five-year renewal
options, with about a 12
T A percent increase annual-
Aal ly, ending April 20,
* 1998 The current
t monthly rent, if my old
■ notes are correct, is
■ $708.
! Sounds cheap but it
1 was the going rate at the
time. And had we missed out, Sealy
might have been doing its post
office business from a plain brick
box somewhere off in the boon-
docks for the past 27 years.
What you see now is what you
could build for $175,000 back in
1968. That’s $100,000 for the city
hall and $75,000 for the P.O. The
latter includes the required basic
design and some sprucing up of the
exterior to blend in with the city
hall.
We did lots of traveling and look-
ing before coming up with the final
product. And then to complicate
matters, the mayor died just as the .
project was getting underway good.
This development, as you can
imagine, sort of upset our little
three-man city commission. That :
left Dr. Frank Vykoukal and yours
truly, who inherited the mayor’s
job. Together, we appointed John :
Selman to fill the vacancy and with
a lot of help from a lot of people :
managed to finish the job.
Details next week. :
United Way to conduct training
The Management Assistance Program/MAP, of the United Way qf
the Texas Gulf Coast will be conducting a special training session
designed exclusively for nonprofit organizations in Waller, Austin and
Colorado counties.
The training will cover three areas that will be very beneficial to
nonprofit organizations: Revisiting Your Agency’s Mission Statement
and Vision for the Future; Planning an Effective Fund-raiser and
Marketing Strategy; and Managing Staff and Volunteer Resources. :
The training session is $20 per person and will be held on Thurs-
day, May 18, from 9 a.m. until 12 noon at the United Way Service
Center, located at 505 Bains, Suite 301 in Brookshire. Dress is casual '
and all registrations and fees must be received and paid by Friday,
May 12. For more information, please call (713) 375-5110 or 800-
366-3025. :
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Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Petrusek, Wilma. The Sealy News (Sealy, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 9, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 4, 1995, newspaper, May 4, 1995; Sealy, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1702798/m1/4/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Virgil and Josephine Gordon Memorial Library.