By Ed Jacques, LEJ Editor

It did not have to come to this. Fraser Mayor Marilyn Lane was a part-time elected official, whose duties included running council meetings, hiring competent administrators, performing weddings and participating in local parades. Instead she rehired former City Manager Jeff Bremer and gave him a  "no cut " contract that provided him health care for the rest of his life regardless of where he is employed. In the past 25 years, arbitration was only needed once to settle the Public Safety contract, and that was Bremer's first term in the early 1990's.

Like a recurring nightmare, negotiations broke down after the current contract expired in July 2005. Over the next eighteen months contract talks sputtered, staffing levels shrunk through attrition but arrests increased 40% while traffic citations were up 20%. The Public Safety Officers believed that if they continued to do a outstanding job a fair settlement would be in the works. After all, the City had recently given raises to non-union department heads averaging 20%, with one person receiving a 36% increase.

Instead, the City of Fraser filed for 312 Compulsory Arbitration adding insult to injury to the morale of Fraser's hard working Public Safety Officers. They had brought in a representative from the Michigan Employees Retirement System (MERS) and documented how the City could save $170,000 per year, without a benefit loss by enrolling.

The City refused to give the proposal any serious consideration, choosing instead to remain in control of the pension system and its associated high cost. The unit was also willing to work with the Employer on the escalating cost of medical benefits. In turn, they were asking for a modest raise similar to what's been negotiated in other Macomb County communities.

The City and Union disagreed on comparable cities for the arbitration. After reviewing the proposed list from both sides, the Arbitrator ruled in favor of POAM. The City appealed the Arbitrator's ruling to Macomb County Circuit Court where they lost again. The real fireworks began when Mayor Lane and City Manager Jeff Bremer convinced the City Council to appeal the Circuit Court decision to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Lane then instructed the Director of Public Safety to issue a memo to all officers discouraging them from talking to City Council members. She insinuated that Council members were being intimidated. Enough was enough. FPSOA President Mike Iafrate and Vice President Renee Campion jumped into action. They consulted with POAM President and Fraser Business Agent Jim Tignanelli about appropriate action. Tignanelli reminded them of other POAM local's success in removing unfriendly politicians. Jim always offers POAM's expertise, but he had a personal interest in bringing credibility back to the City. Tignanelli served 18 years in the Fraser Public Safety Department, acted as its local union president and headed the DARE program. He raised his family in Fraser and served the community in many other ways including a seat on the Board of Education. Tignanelli had successfully achieved a fair contract the previous 25 years he had negotiated with the city. The Mayor had to go!

The Union called an emergency meeting and a vote of no confidence was given to Mayor Lane. Every member committed to volunteering their time to the campaign of Moe Geremotte in his bid to unseat the Mayor. Geremotte was a strong candidate who lives and volunteered his time to the City of Fraser for over thirty-five years. Moe had twenty-five years of management and labor relations experience and an excellent reputation. He promised to run a clean campaign no matter how much dirt was thrown his way. One of the significant highlights of the race was when during the homecoming parade and football game, an airplane flew over the city encouraging citizens to restore confidence in Fraser by voting for Moe. Although no one took the responsibility for that message, Lane automatically assumed it was the city's public safety officers and she was determined to retaliate. She continued to ignore important issues in the campaign and went on record that public safety officers were over paid. The Mayor and City Council threatened lay-offs and Lane tried to make the argument that the Union's cost of living request was unrealistic because only three PSO's live in the City of Fraser!

In the meantime, Geremotte's campaign was gaining steam. Moe was conducting town hall meetings, meeting with local civic organizations and shaking as many hands as possible. Renee Campion had worked tirelessly on designing and helping distribute the thousands of flyers proclaiming the PSO's endorsement of Moe.  "Mayor Lane tried to paint us as greedy ", said Campion.  "The real issue was her lack of integrity and Moe's ability to bring honesty and creditability back to the office of Mayor. The more she attacked us the harder we worked. " Lane had a substantial war chest and there were reports that business people were being pressured into displaying her political signs. The Union responded with a game plan that has worked for many POAM local units. They doggedly walked the neighborhoods and knocked on doors bringing their case to the people. They handed out thousands of flyers outlining their reasons for supporting Moe Geremotte. Jim Tignanelli attended council meetings and sent nearly a thousand personal letters to residents asking for their support.

Public Safety Officers worked the polls on Election Day and were awarded with a victory.

 "This was a team win, " said President Mike Iafrate.  "Moe ran a great campaign, PSO's worked the plan, command officers got involved and POAM supported us every step of the way. We are now looking forward to rebuilding a positive relationship with our City Administration, something we haven't enjoyed for awhile. "