BUTLER TWP Butler County Commissioner Jim Lokhaiser Thursday apologized for calling union workers stupid at last week's meeting.

He said at the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center board meeting he shouldn't have used that phrasing.

"I do apologize for the use of the word stupid," he said.

Lokhaiser said his point was that union workers shouldn't believe they would be cheated by signing new contracts before binding arbitration occurs between court-related employees and the county.

"It was too strong," he said. "It was not my intention to insult the union people."

However, Lokhaiser reiterated the workers unaffected by the arbitration, including the 200 at Sunnyview, should not wait it out.

"That's not right," he said.

After apologizing for his comments, Lokhaiser bashed a representative from the Service Employees International Union for calling the commissioners dishonest in November.

"I may be many things," he said. "But I'm not dishonest."

Along with the Sunnyview workers, about 300 employees at the courthouse and government center have been without new contracts since the old pacts expired Nov. 30.

Amid the lengthy negotiation process, the county commissioners approved seeking proposals from companies to buy or operate Sunnyview.

The county received proposals from 14 companies by Monday's deadline.

Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, board chairman, said no one had the opportunity to review the proposals to determine how many are for buying or operating the nursing home.

The commissioners maintain they only want to see if there's a market for Sunnyview as it loses money, with a projected $1 million deficit for 2009.

Dr. William DiCuccio, Sunnyview executive and medical director, said the nursing home does not have an operating loss.

He cited the government center's administrative costs charged to Sunnyview's budget and other factors chipping away at the bottom line.

"Dollarwise the county is in the black," DiCuccio said. "On paper, you lost money."