Slate Gets New Term: Moog is Re-Elected At Assessors Local

Slate Gets New Term

Moog is Re-Elected At Assessors Local

By REUVEN BLAU

David Moog has been re-elected president of the Assessors Local 1757 of District Council 37, defeating Francis Schloss, 76 votes to 47.

DAVID MOOG: Upgrading members' status. "I'm glad that the membership has full faith in me in continuing as president," Mr. Moog said during a May 3 phone interview. "Through trying times I've always come through and I'm glad they recognized that."

Mr. Moog's entire slate was re-elected in last month's mail-in vote, which was administered by the American Arbitration Association. The slate includes: Vice President Mathew Joseph, Recording Secretary Sylvia Heller, and Treasurer Shirley Jim.

Certification Key Issue

Local 1757 represents 157 Assessors in the Department of Finance. The vote marked the union's first closely contested election in over a decade. The central issue of the campaign was the new legislative requirement that all Assessors obtain state certification within the next two years.

Mr. Moog, who will be sworn in May 24, lobbied for the change, asserting that it will help educate the Assessors and ensure the quality of their evaluations. Ms. Schloss opposed the new requirement. "They ran on the premise that the membership was afraid of the certification process," Mr. Moog said. "I have full faith in my membership that they can pass these classes."

Assessors who do not initially pass the certification exam will have another year to complete the test.

In literature mailed to members before the election, Mr. Moog noted that when he first became president, the city was planning to lay off a large group of Assessors. "Eventually the layoffs were scaled back, and over the next few months many of the laid-off employees were hired back at equivalent titles or at higher city Assessor salaries," the letter said.

Got Exam Held

Mr. Moog also pointed out that he successfully lobbied the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to administer the first Assessor exam in years. The exam enabled the Finance Department to make provisional employees permanent and to hire back some of the laid-off Assistant City Assessors, Mr. Moog said.

The union president is also serving on the DC 37 Salary Review Committee for all professional titles. He has used that position to argue for greater pay increases for his members based on salary comparisons to similar jobs in surrounding areas and the new certification requirement. "Our local was the first and so far the only one of two locals to submit arguments for higher salaries," Mr. Moog's letter stated.