City Hall: Police union seeks pay study documents

May 17—THE MANCHESTER Police Patrolman's Association has filed a Right-to-Know request with the city seeking documentation and communications related to an ongoing citywide compensation study, after a controversial committee vote earlier this month.

The study of Manchester city employees' pay, which has been proceeding for about nine months, could be shelved and a major compensation overhaul abandoned, after members of the Committee on Community Improvement voted, 3-2, to receive and file a request from the city's human resources director to extend the end date for the study to June 30, 2026.

In favor of walking away from the study were Aldermen Chris Morgan, Ross Terrio and Crissy Kantor. Opposed were Pat Long and James Burkush.

The vote came after committee members were told the study would recommend pay increases for many city jobs to make them more competitive with the private sector.

If the full board agrees with that recommendation when it takes up the issue May 21, work on the study will stop June 30 — and $250,000 already spent on the project will be lost.

The study, funded by the city's special revenue reserve account, is a review and analysis of the current staff compensation structure — known around the city as "Yarger-Decker," after the consulting firm that developed it.

On May 13, Attorney John Krupski, on behalf of the police patrolman's union, filed a Right-to-Know request with City Clerk Matt Normand seeking:

—Communications in the past year between past or present aldermen and Mayor Jay Ruais, former Mayor Joyce Craig or Human Resources Director Lisa Drabik related to the compensation study currently being conducted by Evergreen Solutions, a Tallahassee, Florida-based consulting firm

—Communications to the employees of the Manchester Police Department about the Evergreen study in the past year

—A copy of the Evergreen compensation study

—Documents related to any meetings or gatherings between Ruais and/or Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur and Terrio, Morgan and Kantor in the past six months, except for regularly scheduled public meetings of the full Board of Aldermen

Kyle Daly, president of the Manchester Police Patrolman's Association, and Krupski did not respond to requests for comment.

Clean sweep for pilot

Members of the Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic have thrown their support behind a request by the public works department to make a street-sweeping pilot project that has run for the past two years between April and November a permanent program.

Deputy Public Works Director Owen Friend-Gray said the additional sweeping efforts — performed once a month in an area bounded to the south by Valley Street, to the north by Auburn Street, to the west by Pine Street and to the east by Wilson Street — have resulted in "a significant improvement" in leaf and litter collection in that part of the city.

"The improvements not only benefit the city by improving the quality of life for those living and using this section of the city, but also affords the city additional credit in complying with our federally mandated storm water permit by adding 160 additional miles per year of curbs swept," Friend-Gray wrote in a memo to aldermen.

The sweeping program ran once a month in 2022 and 2023, from early April through the end of November.

Sweeping takes place the first Wednesday and Thursday of the month. One side of a street is swept each day, keeping the other side available for resident parking.

The program impacts parking between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. on those days.

All vehicles must be parked on one side of the street on Wednesday and on the opposite side the next day.

Signs containing the information were installed as part of the program.

In addition to the signs, public works personnel use Nixle text alerts and social media to notify residents.

Each month Nixle alerts are sent out ahead of upcoming sweeping efforts.

If weather conditions prevent sweeping, Nixle and social media alerts are used to notify city residents of the delay.

School board students

City school board members held a brief induction ceremony Monday for the 2024-25 student board members:

—Josselyn Ascencio and Lucas Miller, Manchester School of Technology

—Deepasha Giri and Jaime Ceniceros, West High School

—Erika Berberi and Fatuma Muhidin, Central High School

—Aalizah Kan and Grey McDonald, Memorial High School

The school board also recognized outgoing student board members:

—John Alade, Manchester School of Technology

—Ashlie Brown and Ushika Thapa, West High School

—Mack Tripp, Memorial High School

Paul Feely is the City Hall reporter for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Reach him at pfeely@unionleader.com.