For a while it was easy to dismiss some of the bumps-in-the-road in the Brevard Tax Collector's Office as "transitional issues", "rookie mistakes" or "growing pains". But as we near the conclusion of Lisa Cullen’s first year running the office, it's easy to see why continuing problems between management and the Deputy Tax Collectors who serve the public on a daily basis have to be taken more seriously.
While some in senior management may privately gripe over the idea that the BCTC Office is the first in the state to be an organized unit, the time for whining about it is over and the time for following the contract has long since arrived.
It's time for Lisa Cullen and her senior staff to honor the contract as it's written. It's time for Lisa Cullen to remember who her friends are – i.e., the people who helped get her elected in the first place.
Issuing a handbook that attempts to override the Collective Bargaining Agreement is not acceptable!
Forcing Deputies to take "flex time" when the C.B.A. clearly spells out that all hours over 40 per week shall be treated as overtime is not acceptable!
Here's hoping things will rebound and the next three years in Lisa Cullen's administration will be far better than her first.
