HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/26/1970MINUTES
_ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA
June 26, 1970 - 7:30 P.M.
City Hall
Pledge
Roll Call
Present: Emmons Blake, Myron Graham, Arthur F. Spring,
' Donald Q. Miller, Kenneth E. Schwartz
City Staff
Present: J. H. Fitzpatrick, City Clerk; H. Johnson,
City Attorney; R. D. Miller, Administrative
Officer; E. Rodgers, Police Chief
1. Mayor Schwartz explained that the purpose of this adjourned meeting was to
meet and discuss with representatives of the City Police Officers Association
their displeasure with th'e' Memorandum of Understanding arrived at by the City
Employees' Association and the City. He continued by explaining the Charter
provisions and responsibilities for personnel under the City Charter.
Officer G. Grant, President of the Police Officers' Association introduced
Sgt. N. Carmack, the negotiater representing the Police Officers' Association.
Sgt. Carmack stated that the Police Officers' Association (POA) had entered
the negotiations for wages and fringe benefits at a late date in the negotiations
as there were many areas of dissatisfaction and the police officers felt their•
problems had not been fairly reviewed icy the management group. He continued that
he felt the negotiations were pretty far along prior to his taking part. There-
' fore, the POA-felt an outside mediator should be brought in to reconcile the
differences.between the regular City employees and the POA so that the City
work could proceed in harmony.
Sgt. Carmack then introduced Mr. Chris Burdick, Attorney for PORAC and Lt.
Dewhirst of the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office and an officer of PORAC.
Mr. Burdick, attorney for PORAC, stated it was his_ opinion, after discussing
the matter with Sgt. Carmack, that the City of San Luis Obispo had not met in
good faith with representatives of the Police Department on salaries or other
benefits. He further stated that the City's use of six specific cities for
comparison was not really comparable for salaries. Also, he did not feel that
the administration had treated the POA fairly. He stated it was his opinion
that an impasse now existed and was caused by the City's poor offer for wages
and fringe benefits for the police department. He felt that a third party should
be'brought into the negotiations to try and conciliate the differences. He
warned the City Council "that this is the year of'the cop and the Council had
better put up."
Mr. Burkick continued he was ready to bring in as many statewide officers of
PORAC as necessary to show the'Council how the statewide police officers
association felt about the San Luis Obispo Police Department receiving adequate
compensation for their services.
Sgt. Carmack told the-City Council he felt Mr. Burdick had summed up the feelings
' of the POA very fairly.
Councilman Blake asked if the POA had withdrawn from the City Employees' Association.
Sgt. Carmack stated that as of this time, the POA would withdraw from the City
Employees' Association. He then presented to the City Council figures on what
the cities of Monterey, Salinas, Lompoc and Santa Cruz had budgeted for the
fiscal year 1970 -71 for salaries, educational incentive and overtime for their
police officers. Sgt. Carmack continued that the City Police Officers' Associa-
tion agreed with the City's offer for uniform allowance. They also agreed with
the City's offer on overtime except on what should be defined as an emergency
He continued that one of the key demands of the police department was for an
City Council Minutes
June 26, 1970
Page 2
educational incentive to recognize with additional money any improvement that
an officer has made education wise.. For example, the acquisition by a police
officer of an AA or BA degree should be recognized salarywise by the City
Council. He continued that the officers assigned to the Detective section were
dissatisfied with the differential presently paid for detective duties as they
felt they were putting in an excessive amount of overtime that was not being
compensated.for by.the City. Sgt. Carmack continued that the detectives would
rather work straight time and be paid overtime when so ordered by competent '
authority.
Sgt. Carmack then stated that all the San Luis Obispo POA wanted as far as
standby was concerned was two hours pay for each eight hours of standby duty.
The City has presently offered one hour's pay for.each eight hours of standby
duty, with a minimum of two hours.
R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, briefed for the Council and the police
officers, the.provisions of the 1970 -71 Memorandum of Agreement between the City
and the City Employees' Association.
Sgt. Carmack stated that the POA would accept the offer made by the City for
holidays, overtime for court appearances and uniform allowance.
Councilman Miller stated that he was the one who had encouraged the POA to go
along with the City Employees' Association in the wage increases, as he felt
the Employees!. Association would make a stronger point by representing all the
employees. Further he stated he voted against the offer made by the City Council
for a 7% increase. He continued he felt that the police officers needed more
education in order to stay within the bounds of recent court decisions. He felt
that extra knowledge should be compensated through an educational incentive of
some kind. He further felt that overtime should be paid for with time and a half
pay with no compensating time off. He continued that by paying time and a half
for overtime, perhaps with proper management, overtime could be controlled,
eliminating-this-extra cost to the City and imposition.upon its employees. He '
also felt that the standby pay requested by the POA was fair.
Councilman Miller stated he.also felt that the City police department should
not be required to handle riots and disturbances outside the City of San Luis
Obispo. He further felt that the citizens-of San Luis Obispo could be proud
of their police department as they are a good department and do a good job-.
He again stated he felt the City Employees' kssociation.should have stuck to
their original demands on the additional increase of 2.7 %. He stated that now
he was sorry he had.urged.the.POA.to stay with the Employees' Association, in
the hopes they would receive a good employee package.
Councilman Spring felt all City employees should receive fair and adequate com-
pensation for their services including the police officers. He continued that
he had discussed the salary offer made by the City with citizens in the community,
and the citizens felt the salary offer was fair and adequate.
Councilman Blake stated he did not feel that the salary package offered by the
City was inadequate. He felt that the City had met and conferred fairly with
its employees. He further felt.that'except for educational benefits, some
advance was made in.all.areas of salary and benefits such as overtime and uniform
allowance, and that additional benefits would be considered in the future. He
felt that everyone should keep in mind that all of the City employees should be
considered. He felt that the employees who had signed the agreement on behalf of
the Employees' Association may not have been entirely happy with it, but they felt
it was a step up.
Councilman Graham felt that an additional educational benefit program might be
needed to encourage the.keeping of trained officers.
City Council Minutes
June 26, 1970
Page 3
Mayor Schwartz stated he took exception to the wild statement made by Mr. Burdick
that the City had not met in good faith with the City employees to determine
wages and fringe benefits. He felt that the City had met in good faith and
further that no pressure had been placed upon the Employees' Association by the
management group or the City Council to sign the agreement. He continued that
the.City Council's management team kept the Council informed on a daily basis
of the negotiations, including copies of proposals made by the police department.
1 Mayor. Schwartz also stated-he also objected to the statement made by Mr. Burdick
"that 1970 was the.year of the cop and the Council had better put up." He felt
this should be the yaar for all City employees to better their position and keep
up with the cost of living. The Mayor also felt that the demands of all City
employees had increased and that their responsibilities had been upgraded.
Further he felt that the City Council's responsibility was to.all the employees
of the City and to try and grant a fair salary and fringe package to all,employees
and to give no advantage to a specific department.
Lt. Dewhirst, Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office and an officer of PORAC, stated he
felt that the City Council did not understand that the police department could
negotiate as a separate group without other City employees. He also felt that
this City Council made a mistake in trying to lump all employees into one salary
package as he felt that the police were entitled to a more liberal package due
to their training and responsibility. He stated that it was his understanding
that many trained policemen were leaving the City of San Luis Obispo for other
agencies that,pay more money. He felt this was quite a loss to the community.
He felt thag the local police department was highly trained and well qualified.
He again urged the City Council not to compare salaries of their regular
employees with those of their police department as the police are a more highly.
trained organization.
Mayor Schwartz answered Lt. Dewhirst by stating that at no time does the City
compare the various jobs of other employees to those in the police department,
but that each position in the City is compared to similar positions in comparable
cities.
R. D. Millet, Administrative Officer explained the reason that the 12% rate
increase was granted.to the police department in 1967.
Sgt. Carmack again stated.that the police department objected to the City com-
paring salaries with only six other cities and not on a statewide basis. He
continued that their research indicated that the cost of living nationally was
approximately 8 1/2% but that the City Administrator had quoted between 5% and
6% instead. He could not understand how these figures could be used without
using the same comparison.
R. D. Millet stated that the City administration had always conceded that the
cost of living increase was somewhere between 5% and 7 %, taking into consideration the
entire northern and southern California area.
Sgt. Carmack stated that the POA does not agree with the Memorandum of Agreement
signed by the City and the Employees' Association. He felt that the City should
continue negotiations with the police department and grant them their demands.
If the City would not do this, he felt a third party should be brought into the
negotiations. He further felt that even though members of the police department
belonged to the Employees' Association, at no.time did the Employees-' Association
really represent the police department.
Councilman Miller suggested that the POA stay with-the City Employees' Association
and work within the organization. He felt that separate organizations- could
not really gain the benefits they desire.
Officer Gary Grant felt that the issue is not who is representing who, but how.
much is to be paid to police officers by this City. He did not feel that fair-
ness had been shown by the administration as they did not recognize the changes
currently being made in the six comparison cities as of July 1, 1970. The com-
parison was based on the changes made in July,- 1969.
City Council Minutes
June 26, 1970
Page 4
Sgt. Carmack stated he felt that a check of cities in the 20,000- 25,000 population
bracket would show that the salary paid by the City of San Luis Obispo for police
officers were nowhere near the average paid to police officers in cities of the
same size. He continued he did not feel that the City of San Luis Obispo paid an
adequate salary to their police officers. He further stated.that the San Luis
Obispo police officers did not feel it was.a question of whether the City could
or could not afford the suggested increase, since they felt the increase was
necessary to keep adequately trained police officers and other items in the '
budget could be cut. Sgt. Carmack continued that.the 7% increase offered by
the City only met last year's cost of living and did not take into consideration
the increase in the cost of living from last year to this year.
Mayor Schwartz stated that to his knowledge no agency in the County had received
more than a 5% cost of living increase for the fiscal year 1970 -71.
Officer Grant stated he did not care what the other employees received, as he was
only interested in what he received so that he can put food on the table for
his family. He also did not care what other agencies or cities paid their
employees, as all he wanted to do was to receive the amount of money he felt
would fairly justify the service he performs.
Sgt. Carmack stated that the police officers in San Luis Obispo are all unhappy
with their working conditions and would go to any length to get what they wanted,
regardless of the consequence ;to the City and its citizens.
Jack Wainscott, Battalion Chief for the Fire Department, stated that formerly
the City negotiated with its employees for wages and fringe benefits in January
and that all employee matters were settled prior to budget considerations by
the Council. He felt under this system the City employees received better
treatment and were in the upper median of comparable cities, but now when the
salaries were negotiated later in the year the salaries for City employees
were much lower than comparable cities. He added that he felt the police
officers in San Luis Obispo, as a group, were treated better than any other '
employee group in the City.
Officer Preston Simmons stated he would like to stay and live in San Luis Obispo
but if he did not get an adequate salary increase he would have to move on to
a better paying job. He continued that he was willing to give a little but he
could not give up everything. He felt that a good salary schedule for police
officers would keep a happy force. He stated he would stay in San Luis Obispo
if the City approved the 12% increase.
Councilman Blake stated he felt all City employees should be adequately compen-
sated as all were excellent members of the community and they must all be con-
sidered by the Council. He stated.that the Council had considered all the demands
of the POA and Employees' Association. He stated that some were accepted, some
modified and some rejected. He felt that the agreement reached was fair to all
parties concerned. He felt that any matters not settled this year could be
considered next year or•some future year.
Officer Simmons urged the City Council not to pay the police department.the
highest salary in the state, but to pay.them the average for a comparable city.
He urged the Council to approve the 12% pay raise for the fiscal year 1970 -71
and then grant additional increases in future years in order to catch up with
the cost of living.
Bill Calloway, President of the Fireman's Association, stated that the Fireman's
Association agreed that the City Employee's Association did represent them in
negotiations for wages and fringe benefits.
Sgt. Carmack stated that a 12% overall increase would be acceptable to the Police
Officers' Association.
Mrs.. Carmack, taxpayer, stated she felt the City Council should pay their police
officers an adequate salary so that they could keep up with the cost of living.
City Council Minutes
June 26,'1970
Page 5
There being no further discussion, the meeting adjourned to executive session.
On motion of Councilman Miller, seconded by Councilman Blake, the meeting
adjourned to June 29, 1970 at 7:30 P.M.
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APPROVED: August 24, 1970
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J. fT A RICK, CITY CLERK