BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG -- Budget discussions in Ogdensburg will likely be contentious, as City Manager Stephen Jellie says bankruptcy and breaching union contracts are on the table.

Jellie says he plans to be transparent about the city’s finances and has painted a grim future for the fiscal future of the city.

He says union contracts approved by the previous city council are at the core of the city’s problems.

“These contracts were irresponsible at best and mismanaged at worst,” he said.

He says the city must make changes to the contracts, though the unions are under no obligation to do so for six more years.

“When we are talking about making cuts we are talking about three core areas. Everything else is insignificant,” he said.

Jellie said the Department of Public Works, Police Department and Fire Department make up the lion’s share of the city budget. He said the city has been able to work with police and fire, but a mandatory staffing clause in the fire department contract is binding the current council from doing its job.

“The raises that were promised in these contracts aren’t realistic,” he said. “It’s just a case of we can not afford them. We either have to negotiate them together, which is preferred, or we have to look at other options.”

Jellie said bankruptcy is one possible solution, but said the city could breach the contract and deal with the consequences in court.

He says decreases in sales tax, property tax and other revenues have put the city in a position where it can’t honor the contracts. He said COVID-19 has further hindered the city’s ability to make ends meet.

He said the previous city council negotiated away the city’s ability to manage staffing.

“Whether that was their intent or not, we shouldn't have given that ability away. We can never give that ability away,” he said. “Negotiations should be centered around terms and conditions of employment.”

The city has already lawyered up to prepare for issues related to the city’s union contracts. Jellie says all five of the city’s union contracts will be looked at, but the fire department poses the biggest issues.

Tensions between the city manager, who also serves as the fire chief, and the city’s fire department have been escalating.

A firefighter was recently charged with harassment after he allegedly made physical contact with the city manager at a recent meeting.

Jellie says people in Ogdensburg are making things personal, but he says it really is a money issue and has nothing to do with personal feelings.

Jason Bouchard, the fire department’s union president, says Jellie’s actions are insulting to citizens.

He says the union has filed an improper practice complaint against the city manager, and the minimum staffing levels Jellie is complaining about are all about safety.

“We need five people on scene if we want to enter a building. If we send two people in we need two people outside and we need someone to handle water,” he said. “Everything we do is about making the city safer,” he said.

Bouchard says the city manager has an agenda, and it’s about busting unions.

“They want to silence the public and sacrifice public safety,” he said. “This is a union-busting tactic that fits the narrative of the mayor and his hired hatchet men,” he said.

Bouchard says the department will honor the existing contract.

“We don’t want the public to get lost in the political rhetoric that’s going on. We want to provide the service that we’ve agreed to provide, that we live to provide,” he said.