ATTACKS BY a Bellingham radio talk show host on public employees last year became a little too much for many of the 325 members who belong to Local 114.

The members — who work for the City of Bellingham — decided to hit back.

But how?

They believed that calling up and debating the issue with the KGMI host, Brett Bonner, would likely prove to be an exercise in frustration.
After all, he had control of the microphone.

Vinnie O’Connor, Council 2 Staff Representative in Bellingham, had an idea.

“I suggested they prepare advertisements on who they are, what they do and how they are proud of their community and their jobs,” he says.

The Local members liked the idea.

“They wanted to tell the listeners: We are your neighbors, your friends; we perform a job in the community; we pay taxes; we love our city and our community,” adds O’Connor.

The messages, sponsored by Local 114 and Council 2, aired in January. They featured two employees, one a librarian and the other a Public Works official. They were subtle and non-threatening, yet effective. And they were well received.

But the advertisements, which took a few months to prepare, were broadcast right at the time when the Local was in the middle of collective bargaining with the City. The timing was coincidental. But some listeners jumped to the conclusion that the ads were part of a campaign linked to the negotiations.

When a local newspaper reporter questioned him on the timing of the ads, O’Connor explained that they had been planned before the November elections. And Jo Zeimet, the city’s human resources director, wrote in an e-mail message to the newspaper, “We do not feel that these pieces are related to contract negotiations.”

Meanwhile the Local members and O’Connor are hoping that the ads help get the message across that they are tired of the public-employee bashing on local radio stations and that they are proud of their jobs and love their community.