Wednesday, April 5, 2006 St. Cloud Times 5A Local Colorado governor refuses to enter transit arbitration 2nd day of strike results in congestion, little else DENVER (AP) Gov. Rill fa I 1 si am a k'k. -r-, -fit Bill Owens Strikes is the fault of union leaders ,7 i i The transit system averages about 275,000 rides per weekday. Aurora resident Lauren Barela complained that her commute took an hour and 20 minutes, instead of her usual 45-minute bus ride.
"I won't be able to do this for too long, maybe a week. It's just taking me way too long," said Barela, 24, who rides the bus to save on gas and parking. Union leaders had recommended approval of the transportation authority's contract, which included a wage hike of $1.80 an hour over three years in 15-cent raises every quarter, plus increases in health benefits. However, 55 percent of workers rejected the offer in a Sunday vote, triggering the strike. "They failed and now the public is suffering because of that failure," he said.
Yvette Salazar, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001, said they still wanted a face-to-face meeting with Owens. "We know he isn't a transit-friendly, labor-friendly governor," she said. "I hope he hears the public and passengers out there. We will continue to ask him." Regional Transportation District spokesman Scott Reed reiterated the agency's position that it would not agree to arbitration. Representatives of both sides planned to sit down informally Wednesday with a federal me- Owens rejected a request from Denver's mass transit workers to intervene in their two-day-old strike, blaming union omcials for thewalkout The transit union wanted Owens to rescind a ruling by the state Department of Labor, which would put the workers back on the job and send both sides into binding arbitration.
But Owens said that would take the decisions out of the hands of the transit system's elected board. Owens blamed the strike on union leaders who unanimously recommended the proposed contract but did not convince their members to approve it (1 diator in an effort to resolve the stalemate but no formal negotiations have been scheduled. As the strike entered its second day, commuters found more congestion but few major problems on the area's roads and inter-states, said Paul Peterson of the Colorado Department of Transportation. The RTD operated about 45 percent of its normal bus service schedule Tuesday, but light rail operations were shut down. AP photo Striking bus driver Vince Barone chants for arbritration Tuesday during a rally at the Regional Transportation District's Market Street Station in Denver.
From Page 1A Bats watching or listening to the Twins game rather than being here." Kleis said feedback was an expected part of the negotiations. There will be a televised public meeting at City Hall before April 24 to discuss the deal. "One thing that came out of this was that there's a lot of passion for baseball in this community Kleis said. "When I first approached Joel, I couldn't say 'Please stay in St Cloud. Don't go to St Joe, but we're not going to do anything different' That couldn't happen.
This is something that we had a handshake agreement on and then went public so we could discuss it in this type of forum" Kleis said he'd like to see similar participation on other city issues. He said other more expensive initiatives haven't drawn as much interest "There's nothing better than walking on those fields," said Cory Hollenhorst, who has played for local teams and spent two years in the Northwoods League. "We need to consider all the users. It's all our field." bers guy, I'm not satisfied with the deal. But it sounds like we're going to get a chance to make ourselves heard and, if we work together, hopefully we can reach an agreement that keeps everybody happy." Cathedral baseball coach Bob Kara initially proposed the task force.
Tom Frericks, former baseball coach at St. Cloud Apollo High School, also was a member of the most recent mayor's baseball task force and said that the idea of negotiating behind the scenes was "irritating" and "alienating" people whose involvement with the Municipal Athletic Complex goes back to the time it was built in 1971. Sutherland said he was. to blame for the deal not becoming public sooner. He asked the city in December to keep any negotiations confidential because of the risk of the information leaking to his investors and the city of St Joseph, where he proposed to build his own ballpark, he said.
"Building a ballpark doesn't happen overnight," Sutherland said. "I can't wait until our lease is up to find we have to go someplace else. "It's important for us to have something new for our fans every year," Sutherland added. "We just want to find a way to put the money that the River Bats make for the city back into the ballpark. I'd like to think that in the 10 years we've been around I haven't done anything to make myself appear untrustworthy to anyone." Gathering was a first Tuesday's meeting was the first chance for the Bats, the city and the public to gather in the same room to discuss their differences.
"I'm not necessarily opposed to this or in favor of it," Apollo activities director Jim Michaud said. "It might be a very good thing. I can understand where this kind of private money infused into the public coffers might be a very good thing," Michaud said. "But I'm not sure. There's too much that's unsettled at this point.
What I find ironic is looking around at all the baseball fans here and we'd all love to be home of seven nights. Would you travel 400 miles to watch your kids play. Maybe he would. We just don't know that stuff about him." Task force welcomed Sutherland told the audience he's in favor of a task force, through which hell become better acquainted with the other users. Williams said she's comfortable with the idea of a task force but believes concessions and advertising shouldn't be approved yet "We think it should be looked at for another year" Williams said, referring to the Bats' existing lease agreement that runs through this summer.
When asked how Sutherland could proceed without knowing whether his team would have a place to play in 2007, Williams said, "Well, mat's up to him." Andy Auger, who plays and manages an amateur baseball team that plays at Putz and Faber, said it was a positive meeting. "Whether we accomplished anything, I don't know," Auger said, "Personally, being a num on the concessions and advertising part of the agreement because the season is about to start" Tuesday's meeting lasted about 2Y2 hours, followed by one-on-one interaction between the principals and the public. Many of those in attendance believed the forum at least brought the issues out, even if they questioned whether they accomplished anything. "I feel a lot of good questions were asked, but I also feel like a lot of questions were skirted around and talked around," said Linda Williams, a St Cloud resident whose sons play at Putz and Faber. "They gave a 10-sentence answer and afterward I was wondering if they gave us an answer or not I think part of our problem is, I wouldn't say we don't trust Mr.
Sutherland, it's scary though because he's on a different level. It would be like me saying 'I love my business and I'm passionate about of course I am because I'm there all the time I asked him "Would you still be there if it wasn't a business? Would you be like me, going to a game four out April 24. At that same meeting, the council will decide what form a task force will take and its responsibilities for the potential implementation of years 3-10 of the agreement No done deal "This isn't a done deal," Kleis said. "If it was, we wouldn't have had this meeting. We would've just had the vote and moved forward "We're going to figure things out sooner rather than later," he added.
"That's why there was this built-in two-year window before there was any change in operational control of the facility. I'd like to have a task force and have it spelled out (which) organizations which it needs to represent, and have an end date set for when they're to come up with a conclusion. I'd like that to be within a year if possible. We need to move Mother sues after infant's body found in laundry Includes: i FREE Ftummmwou We're the brand new shop with more than 40 years of I tAILKNML Check I DIAGNOSTIC -Check of External gent" Uptigrow's attorney, Dan Flan-zig, said the most important thing now is to make sure this never happens again. "Every hospital has a protocol when something like this happens, and South Nassau has a she was born four months' premature on Feb.
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