So Bakersfield's City Manager won't speak to or email me directly.

But he did write a Community Voices article (in today's paper) re: fire and police negotiations that slams me as being irrational and biased, among other things

He also claims I didn't print that firefighters were offered an 8 percent raise.

Not so fast, hoss.

In my first column on this issue (which ran April 1, 2009) I detailed as much as I could about the negotiations, including the fact that fire fighters were offered 8 percent over 2 years (exactly what the rest of the city including Mr. Tandy had already received).

I also reported they had offered 2 percent of that proposed raise BACK to the city to pay into their retirement funds to ease the city's burden of paying for that benefit.

The second column I did on Mr. Tandy and his negotiations (dated April 19) is the one he seems to be having angst over.

That column wasn't about the negotiations per se, but  about how Mr. Tandy is conducting those negotiations, which was why I delved into his emails to Fire Chief Ron Fraze over how firefighters use their time and city equipment.

Yes, he's right that I think union negotiations with a public body should be much more open to the public. That way we can actually see who's being unreasonable, which is exactly why, I believe, Mr. Tandy doesn't want them more public.

I also note in his letter about me, Mr. Tandy neglects to mention that he brought up staffing as a negotiating issue with the fire department, long after the negotiable issues had been established. He also doesn't mention that fire fighters informally accepted the city's offer in mid-March only to have the city turn around and rescind that offer.

Mr. Tandy can call me all the names he wants (and I'm sure he will) but I call what he's been doing "bad faith."

Police and fire both are willing to negotiate. And yes, that means they're willing to look at ways to limit the city's share of their lucrative 3 at 50 retirement benefit. This should be a common goal for employees and the city.

But Mr. Tandy's tactics, as I said before, are getting us further from that goal, not closer.

Here's Mr. Tandy's letter:

Tandy: City, fire union must rein things in

4/28/2009

As Bakersfield city manager, I expect that my actions may be publically questioned and criticized. It is an unavoidable characteristic of my profession, as matters of public policy and high profile decision making are oftentimes controversial. The City Council expects me to provide prudent advice and to carry out their directives for the good of our community and for the best interests of our taxpayers.

I rarely comment when negative or irrational statements are made about me. However, I am compelled to respond to Lois Henry's recent column wherein she alleges that I am obstructing her communications with me and deliberately using hardball tactics to influence fire union negotiations.

As the local media know, my staff and I make it a standard practice to be readily accessible. I have dealt with many reporters in my career, and have rarely experienced communication problems. However, in Ms. Henry's case, she has demonstrated a repeated pattern of misrepresenting information I have willingly provided to her. As to her most recent requests, I initially attempted to work with her. It quickly became obvious that she was not interested in obtaining all the pertinent facts, but merely in using partial information to sensationalize the issue and put forward her predetermined opinion. She portrayed me as being inflexible and unwilling to deal with the fire union, yet Ms. Henry, who advocates making union negotiations public, chose to omit the fact that an 8 percent pay raise has been offered to them.

Unfortunately, as we are all painfully aware, the past several years of prosperous times are gone. News reports about bankruptcies, layoffs and closures are commonplace. The city of Bakersfield is certainly not immune to the effects of the economy. With declining sales and property tax revenues and escalating costs, we experience the same financial pain as the private sector does. During tough economic times, we have to scrutinize our operations to cut costs and maximize efficiency, as well. My concern for the Bakersfield Fire Department to utilize their time and equipment in a manner that reflects our necessity to cut back is a rational position.

Ms. Henry has concluded that I am using the circumstances in an attempt to "leverage" negotiations with the fire union. Under the best of conditions, union negotiations can be complicated and lengthy. It is easy for a casual observer to jump to conclusions based on hearsay. I respectfully suggest that the city's discussions with the fire union can be better served if she refrains from making inflammatory statements that are unfounded and have the potential to do harm. Instead, she should research the growing list of California cities that are taking far more drastic actions with their unions to reduce employee and benefit expenses.

Alan Tandy has been Bakersfield's city manager since August 1992. Community Voices articles are expanded commentaries that contain approximately 500 words. The Californian reserves the right to reprint commentaries in all formats.