Amherst News-Times, 1998-03-11

              Three grapplers advance — Page 7
Amherst News-Times
', March 11, 1998
Amherst, Ohio
50 cents
itrator will have to settle police contract
4 MILLER
09 reporter
The city is .asking a slate arbitrator to intervene in the contract negotiations between the city and the union representing full-time patrolmen and sergeants.
The arbitration request was approve by city council during a
March 6 emergency meeting at
which it also rejected a fact finder's
Mistaken
identity
leads to
lawsuit
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Ruemontc M. Tcvis III , of Oberlin, has spent nearly $7,500 trying to
clear his name for a mistake he
claims the Amherst police department made in arresting him.
He claims he didn't do the crime
for which he was .charged and
shouldn't have had to pay a dime for
all the lime he has spent in jail and
Oberlin Municipal Court. Another
Ruemontc M. Tevis III — or some
one using his name — did assault a
man at Toucan Charlies night club
last Sept. 17, but not him.
That's why he has fited a $10
million suit against the city, police
chief William Hall, and patrolmen
Walter Gould and Luther Smith.
Tevis, 22, was arrested in mid-
September for failing to appear in
court for allegedly punching oul an
Elyria man at the night club and
knocking oyer an atrium.
The trouble is the unknown assailant wasn't Tevis. Instead.il was
someone without identification who
was using his name when he was arrested by Gould and Smith, according to Tevis's Oberlin attorney Kirk
Perry.
The attorney said police failed to
verify the assailant's identification
before taking a mug shot of him and
releasing him on $1,000 personal
bond.
The real Tcvis was arrested by
Oberlin police Sept. 25 for failure to
appear in court while walking to
work and jailed until he posted
bond.
After that, he spent several days
going lo and from court trying to
clear his name. At no time did Amherst police attempt to match Tevis
CONTINUED on page 5
report on contract talks that began
earlier this year.
Council adjourned lo an executive session, but prior to it mayor
John Higgins said the report heavily
favored the demands of the Amherst
Ohio Patrolman's Benevolent
Association.
According to the mayor, ihe contract would cost the cily an additional $159,000 over the length of
the three-year agreement. Higgins
said the city was prepared lo pay
less, but would not say how much.
The report did accept a four per-
ccm pay increase offered to patrolmen by the city. The cost of many
other provisions in the contract is
more than the city is willing to pay,
he added.
The issues contested include
court time, call-in pay for off duty
officers, holiday pay, sick leave, and
shift differential.
The emergency council meeting
was prompted by a state lafjor law
that requires parties involved in negotiations to accept or reject a fact
finder's report within seven days after it is mailed. The report was
mailed Feb. 28.
The fact finder's report was requested because the city and union
initially could not agree on items lo
be negotiated. Based on state labor
law, the mayor said the document
automatically would have been regarded as the basis for a contract if
no action had been taken.
"We couldn't afford to let this
happen because wc have to think
about other upcoming conlracLs and
what they may cost us," Higgins
said.
Patrolman Walter Gould, local
OPBA director, said the union believes the fact finding report is "fair
and equitable" to the city.
Patrolmen have to put up wilh
"unreasonable working schedules
and conditions of employment" because   the  department   is   under
staffed, he said.
Under the Fair Labor Standards
Act, he claimed employers lhat continuously under Staff their work
force must "accept the responsibility
of paying a premium" to its
employees.
But Higgins feels differently. In
the past two years, he said the city
has built a new police station and
hired additional full-time and part-
CONTINUED  on  page  2
Squires sends bill
for legal fees; law
director doesn't
like two-year lag
A bill for legal services performed for the city by the Cleveland
law firm of Squire, Sanders and De-
mpscy had city law director Alan
Anderson scratching his head in
wonder March 2.
It wasn't the $10,983.25 ihe linn
charged, bul why the firm waited 23
months to bill the city for its
services.
"It's just weird," he said during a
city council finance committee
meeting.
According to Anderson, it would
have been better for the firm to bill
the city when it concluded perform-
for
ing   each   individual   service
which il had been retained.
"I am surprised they haven't done
this. I just wonder if there was
something else behind this, but I
doubt it," he added.
Ihe bill was for a variety of services performed between Jan. 1,
1996 through Nov. 30, 1997 and
amounted lo exactly $10,000. An
additional S983.25 disbursement fee
for long distance phone calls, copying, research, delivery service and
travel to Columbus was Uickcd on.
CONTINUED on page 2
Moritorium gives CC
one year to buff up
on nude, topless law
Up and down
Maggie Smith, 5, starts her trip down a curly
slide at Powers Elementary School while her
brother, Max, 9, is nearly ready to come in for a
landing. Dozens of Amherst kids enjoyed a day
off during last week's spring-like weather thanks
to a teachers' service day held in the city's
school system. This week, they had to deal with
a spring snow storm on Tuesday.
Prompt^ by Vermilion's battles
with a topless bar, Amherst city
council has placed a one-year moratorium on the opening of the same
kind of sexually oriented businesses.
The yearlong legal delay will give
city officials the opportunity to develop an ordinance regulating adult-
oriented businesses, mainly topless
or nude dancing in bars.
The issue was discussed by city
council's ordinance committee
March 2 and passed on emergency
March 9 by the full council.
Council member Steve P'Simer
said the yearlong delay was created
in response to calls from constituents who inquired if Amherst had
the power to prevent nude or topless
bar dancing establishments from
opening in the city.
To his surprise, he discovered
Amherst has none, but should.
The moratorium will prevent any
adult-oriented busi/iess from obtaining any kind of an operating license
or building and occupancy permit.
None of the callers complained
about the possible sale of adult magazines, such as Playboy or Penthouse, at present businesses selling
magazines, he added.
"Whatever ihe pleasure is of the
rest of city council, the law director,
the mayor and anyone else who
wanLs to gel involved, wc need to sit
down and review other ordinances
and try and come up with one of our
own," P'Simer said.
No  business  featuring  nude  or
CONTINUED on page 12
She'll pamper you
in your own kitchen
with her business style
by GLEN MILLER
Monica Stark creates some magic in her  kitchen.
News-Times reporter
Monica Stark is a mother, a
cook, a business woman and, to
some extent, a party-goer.
She's not a party-goer in the
traditional sense, rather a woman who is using her skills as a
cook to carve out a new career
for herself and family by pampering dozens of women in the
area.
Stark is among the area women who are consultants for a
new company that throws parties for homemakers like herself
seeking new kitchen tools.
The concept is a lot like
throwing a Tupperware party.
The only difference is that she
pampers them. Not only does
she sell kitchen ware, but she
uses it to cook for the party-
goers.
Thai's where die idea for the
company — Pampered Chef —
got its name.
Apparently, people like the
food she makes at her parties
and what she sells. These days,
she's wearing special blue
monogrammed apron awarded
to her by the Chicago-based
company because was tops in
sales last year.
She also captured a first place
award for making a yummy desert, double chocolate mocha
trifle. It won her first place in an
Cleveland area recipe contest
using her products.
"It's not much, bul it means a
lot because it signifies I've succeeded in something I never did
before — sales," she said. "I've
always liked to cook, but never
did I imagine it would help me
financially."
The mother of three children,
Will, 4, Sarah, 2, and two-
monih-old Tommy, Stark is
among ihe women who have decided to go into business for
themselves rather than work
long, often tiring hours for
someone else*
Her demonstrations have been
for as few as four people or as
many as 16 or more. They usually last three lo lour hours,
leaving die rest of the day to de-
vole  to  her kids  while  doing
CONTINUED on page 2