CJ Dablo
Staff Writer
The Signal Hill City Council passed a resolution Tuesday that concludes labor talks with the Signal Hill Police Officers’ Association (SHPOA), and, over a two-year term, the City will save about $150,000 in compensation costs, according to an estimate from a staff report.
The resolution to approve a memorandum of understanding between the SHPOA and the City marks the end of negotiations that started last November.
Both the City and the SHPOA reached an agreement that largely affects salaries, employee pension contributions, and retiree healthcare benefits, according to a staff report from the deputy city manager’s office. Both parties agreed to freeze merit increases effective Jan. 1, 2012. Under this new plan, current employees will increase their contribution to their retirement pension plan from two percent to three percent starting this month. Employees will increase their contribution an additional one percent in July 2012. New hires will increase their contribution from two percent to seven percent.
The new plan also allows police employees to use comp time hours through Dec. 31, and will also establish a health savings account for retirees. The plan will allow employees to convert up to half of their accrued sick leave hours to fund their retiree health savings accounts. The City and the SHPOA have also agreed to form a committee that will review other cost-saving alternatives for the future.
Both the SHPOA and City councilmembers acknowledged that the City still faces financial uncertainty following the recession that began in 2008. A staff report from the deputy city manager’s office highlighted one major stumbling block to the City’s budget from the agency that manages the employees’ pension system: The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS, has increased its rates to about 47.5 percent. CalPERS further advised the City that the rates will be expected to rise to just above 53 percent by the 2014-15 fiscal year.
Councilmember Ellen Ward acknowledged efforts by the City staffers who had to follow the City Council’s directives, especially in a time when the City has faced a decline in sales tax revenues following the recession’s onset in 2008.
“It’s a thankless job,” Ward said to Deputy City Manager Charlie Honeycutt and the other City employees who helped with the labor negotiations. “And it’s tough because the Council gives you all these orders and saying ‘No. No. No.’ And you have to go in and be the bearer of bad news!And you’re just carrying out our orders, and it’s tough when we don’t have any money.”
Councilmember Ed Wilson acknowledged the efforts made by the representatives from the SHPOA and expressed gratitude that both the union representing the police officers and the City avoided a labor talk impasse.
While salaries have been frozen as of next January, the City has agreed to review merit increases with the SHPOA if specific conditions take place that would affect Signal Hill’s bottom line. A report from the deputy city manager’s office outlined these conditions. The City can revisit the issue of merit pay if all of the following thresholds are met: projected mid-year revenues for the FY 2012-13 are greater than $16,903,683; the City is able to pay an estimated $823,000 in the next fiscal year to keep its redevelopment agency, and it establishes a $1.54 million redevelopment reserve account; CalPERS increased rates in the next fiscal year are not greater than 48.879 percent; and the City does not lose any major businesses that generate $250,000 or more in sales tax revenue.
Nick Davenport, who serves as the president of the SHPOA, recognized that the City is currently facing budget problems but also said that the City should look to keep the experienced officers since Signal Hill has made a significant investment in their training.
“The POA concern is retention. How do we retain them? Well, right now, because we’re currently below the median of comparable cities in salaries, other cities start looking attractive, and that’s understandable. Every once in a while the grass looks greener on the other side. But what we want to do is get the grass the same color green on both sides. We want to keep these officers,” Davenport said, suggesting that some veteran officers might make lateral career moves to join police departments in other cities if they’re offered better salaries.
“If we see things moving next year, we want to do what’s best for you,” Mayor Larry Forester replied, acknowledging the difficult choices veterans officers may make. “We have well-trained officers. We appreciate them and we want to keep them.”
Other City Council highlights:
Food trucks The City Council voted to approve a zoning ordinance amendment that would regulate food truck events on private property in specific commercial and industrial zones. Food truck vendors will be required to obtain a business license and apply for permits if they want to sell food during these events. In addition to other regulations specified in the zoning ordinance change, the City will require that vendors prominently display their letter rating from the county’s health department. The amendment must be approved in a second-reading vote by the councilmembers in a future Council meeting.
California Avenue closure Starting Sept. 19, California Avenue will be closed for up to six weeks to through traffic between Spring and Willow streets. The City will still allow California Avenue to remain open to local traffic to help businesses in the affected area to stay operational, according to a report by the public works director.
Tattoo/body-piercing studios The public hearing to discuss a zoning ordinance amendment surrounding tattoo and body piercing studios has been continued to the Oct. 4 Council meeting.
Hotel/motel guest registration In a second-reading vote, the City Council approved an ordinance that would allow hotel and motel guests to register electronically. The ordinance outlined the criteria needed for approval if hotels and motels choose to use a computerized registration system as an alternative to a system that requires guests to manually fill out registration cards.
Improvements at Orange Avenue and Willow Street The City voted to authorize the city manager to award a contract to Golden State Constructors, who will be responsible for a number of improvements at Orange Avenue and Willow Street. The proposed project will install a new traffic light and sidewalk/curb improvements at the intersection. According to a staff report from the public works director, the contract is worth $189,244. The City budgeted a total of $277,000 for the project. The project has been funded by community block grants and a grant from the MTA.
The next Signal Hill City Council meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 7pm in the Council Chambers.
