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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/26/1967City Council Minutes June 26, 1967 Page 2 On motion of Councilman Blake, seconded by Councilman Miller, the City Council approved the request of KATY. Motion carried. Councilman Gallagher voting no. 3. The City Council again met with Mr. Landell, President of the City Employees' Association, to discuss employees' salary requests not previously decided upon with the Council. , ' Mr. Landell presented a letter from the County Employees' Association notifying _ the City Employees' Association that they were supporting the request of a 14% salary request by the City employees. He continued that if the City Council persists in their present salary plan he felt that they would not be doing their job to the taxpayer and to the employees in the City as he felt that for over half of the employees of the City under the City Council salary plan, the pay would place these employees further behind in their purchasing power by another three or four percent as the City Council in the past three years has not even granted the minimum cost of living increase to the employees. He also wished to remind the City Council that the number of employees per capita in San Luis Obispo is less than those employed in the other studied cities which means that the employees in San Luis Obispo are doing a better job for less money. Mayor Whelchel stated that the City Council had agreed to the Employees' Association's request to allow a $50.00 per year uniform allowance to the Fire Department including the dispatcher. The Mayor also added that the position of Paint Lead Man created by the City Council at the last session had been set back to Maintenance Man II at the request of the Department. R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, stated that the salary costs in the general fund were $55,000 and approximately $8,000 in other funds. Mr. Landell questioned R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, on the disposition of holdover funds from the 1966 -67 budget particularly in the general fund. R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, answered as follows: The initial balance had been $190,000 and the estimated ending balance $43,000. It now appears that next year's starting balance would be $122,000 and the ending balance $23,000 reduced by the proposed salary increase. Mr. Landell stated that the City in the past has always been able to come up with additional funds when the City Council desires to proceed with a project and he listed the Edna Road Sewer and Water Extension and the proposed ?Monterey Street Realignment. Jack Wainscott, Fire Department, stated he supports the request.of the City Employees' Association for salary increases but that he must first be loyal to the Fire Department and stated that the City Council should be aware of the job being done by City Fire Department personnel. He stated that in achieving the Class 4 Fire Insurance Rating each and every property owner in the City is keeping his insurance costs down and stated that the City had a fine Fire Department and urged that the City Council give them the same salary consideration as wis given the Police Department. He also urged that the City Council give special consideration to the Fire Department Clerk Dispatcher whose workload has increased tremendously and who deserves more consideration. He added that most of the firemen in addition to fighting fires are required to handle expensive fire equipment and the firemen were not compensated for this ability. He stated that his study has shown that other Departments have a salary title for engineers who handle this equipment and who receive at least 10 to 20 percent more salary than ordinary firemen. He also asked the City Council to consider the hazards faced by Fire Department personnel. He stated he felt that the Fire Department Officers should also receive more compensation due to their training and ability. He stated that for example the two Battalion Chiefs in the City of San Luis Obispo receive about 10 percent less in salary than engineers receive in the metropolitan areas. City Council Minutes June 26, 1967 Page 3 Mr. Landell asked the City Council if they had made any decision regarding the Employees' Association request for a new vacation policy for all City employees. The City Council felt that the present vacation policy was fair and that no change was warranted. The Council also announced that existing overtime policies would be continued. Mr. Landell then presented in detail the reasons for the Association's vacation ' request and stated that in the 5 to 10 years of service the City employees receive 50 paid days of vacation where the average cities and companies checked for the 5 to 10 year period were granting 68 days vacation. Mr. Landell stated he was not asking for the average vacation of the agencies studied but was asking for 10 working days vacation per year for 5 years at which time one additional day per year would be given for each year of service up to a maximum of 20 days at 15 years. The City Council discussed with the City Employees' Association representatives the existing economic conditions in the City and the anticipated revenues to the City for the 1967 -68 fiscal year. Jack Wainscott asked the City Council what their reaction would be to having the City Employees' Association put a charter amendment on the ballot to tying salaries of employees to some type of job index or cost of living index. It was the consensus of the City Council that they would be willing to discuss any proposal that the City Employees' Association wished to put on the ballot any time they wish to make such a presentation. Mr. Landell, President of the City Employees' Association, thanked the City Council for their consideration particularly in allowing him to pound on the table a little in presenting the City Employees' request for salary increases and fringe benefits and hoped that the City Council would continue-to-study the request of . the employees so that they may receive adequate compensation for their services. 4. The City Council then discussed some of the items brought out in the initial budget study, Page 1, Item 4 of Capital Outlay, Blanket Coats on minor streets. R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, presented a priority list to the City Council as recommended by the City Engineer. The City Council authorized preparation of plans and specifications for Items lA through 3B of the priority schedule and Item 6E. On motion of Councilman Gallagher, seconded by Councilman Spring, the meeting adjourned to 7:00 A.M. Thursday, June 29, 1967 at the Little Chef Restaurant. Motion carried. APPROVED: July 5, 1967 Roll Call City Staff r H. FITUATRICK CITY CLERK MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL June 29, 1967 - 7:00 A.M. Little Chef Restaurant Present: Emmons Blake, Frank Gallagher, Arthur F. Spring, Donald Q. Miller, Clell W. Whelchel Present: R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer; J. H. Fitzpatrick, City Clerk.