Negotiations Start - City Offer "Draconian"

FINALLY, NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN
Today the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA), led by President Helen Nenadal, and the City of Costa Mesa began negotiations on a new contract.  The existing contract expired the end of March, 2013.



"DRACONIAN AND UNPRECEDENTED"
In a press release today the association spokeswoman Jennifer Muir announced that, "During the first session of negotiations today, the City presented CMCEA with a draconian and unprecedented initial proposal that attempts to completely destroy the relationship that the City has built with its employees over the last 60 years."

NEW WEB SITE
The association also announced the creation of a new web site, Costa Mesa Works, that can be reached HERE.  They plan to keep their membership and residents appraised of any progress in the negotiations on this site.  When you click on that link you'll find today's press release for your reading pleasure.

ANTICIPATED ANIMOSITY

I'm not surprised that the City's offer - which will be discussed in detail later, once the employees have been briefed on it later this week - was found to be lacking.  From what I understand at this point, and the details of which I hope to share later, not only is this less than was hoped for, but it is an in-your-face rejection of the collaborative efforts made by both the City and the CMCEA over the past years.  This pit bull approach by City negotiator Richard Kreisler is consistent with his reputation and certainly is supported by the current anti-employee council majority.

NEXT SESSION IN SEPTEMBER
We'll do our best to keep you informed as negotiations continue and as Steve Mensinger's COIN ordinance kicks in.  The next negotiating session is on September 10, 2013.

Employee Association Pledges Cooperation With City

EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION RESPONDS TO JAIL OUTSOURCING
In a press release issued late Friday afternoon responding to the decision last Tuesday by the Costa Mesa City Council to move forward with outsourcing city Jail services to civilian contractor G4S, Orange County Employee Association (OCEA) spokesperson Jennifer Muir pledged to "engage the City in what we hope will be positive and productive discussions, and we hope those discussions can remain out of the courtroom."  You can read the full text of the press release below. Click on the image for easier reading.

CMCEA PRESIDENT'S LETTER TO HATCH
It was accompanied by a letter from Helen Nenadal, President of the Costa Mesa City Employees association (CMCEA), to Costa Mesa Chief Executive Officer Tom Hatch expressing her gratitude to his role in attempting to find a workable solution to this issue.  Her letter is below.

ONLY TIME WILL TELL..
It's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out.  If, in fact, the City does as it has committed to doing - insure a smooth transition for the Jail employees, regardless which direction it take them - then it may turn out to be the best solution in a difficult situation for the individuals.  It is possible that some of the employees may remain working in the Jail, but as G4S employees.  It's also possible that other positions within the City government will be identified for them.  We'll know the answer to that question within the next few weeks.

Charter, Jail, Fire Pits, Choir & Saving Lives

AN UNEXPECTED GIFT

So, last night at the Costa Mesa City Council meeting was a mixed blessing.  We escaped early - 10:20 p.m. - but only did so because Mayor Jim Righeimer and his council decided to dodge some of the more pithy, controversial and time-consuming issues

BUSINESS LICENSE FEES TO BE STUDIED 
Except for the minutes of an earlier meeting, only one of the dozen items on the Consent Calendar was pulled for separate discussion - #11, which directed the City's Finance Advisory Committee to study the City's Business License Fee structure.  Wendy Leece pulled that one to explain why she did it.  It passed on a 5-0 vote.  The remainder of the Consent Calendar also passed without comment.  I was surprised that nobody pulled #12, the authorization of the extension of Management Partners contract and the assignment to perform an organizational and operations review audit of the Costa Mesa Senior Center.  So, look out, seniors, Tammy LeTourneau will be all over you in short order.

KICKING THE CAN

They "continued" to a future date Public Hearings #1 and #2, both involving Community Development Block Grant funds and New Business #1, the "live/work" development on Placentia Avenue.

BANNING RANCH TRAFFIC "TABLED"

Then, much to the surprise of recently-retired Economic and Development Director/Deputy CEO Peter Naghavi who had returned to make the staff presentation, the council decided to "table" the issue of the Banning Ranch Traffic Mitigation issue.  More than 30 people who obviously attended the meeting to address this issue seemed to be pleased and surprised as they wandered out of the auditorium following the announcement.

A CHANCE FOR AN EARLY NIGHT!

All of a sudden a meeting I expected would drag on until the wee hours of Wednesday morning looked like it had a chance to actually finish in the same day it began.  And that's just how it turned out.

ALL AMERICAN BOYS CHOIR

In the beginning Righeimer bestowed the Mayor's Award on the All American Boys Choir, which serenaded us with a couple songs.  The first, our national anthem, can be viewed HERE.  Note how long it took the audience to remember their etiquette and stand as the song was sung.


JUST LIKE ANY OTHER KIDS
By the way, in case you're wondering, those talented young men are just like any other group of young boys, as witnessed by this photo I took before they entered the council chambers.

HANDS ONLY CPR 
Then Diane Hill told us of her experience with her recently-departed husband, Paul and the reason she's actively pushing to have Costa Mesans learn Hands Only CPR.  An excellent video was played that demonstrated the life saving technique and Hill also had a table outside the council chambers to demonstrate the procedure.

OCTA REPORT ON I-405 CONNECTOR

Then Sarah King of the Orange County Transportation Authority told us about the work being done at the Orange County line on the I-405 Connector and gave us a link to use, HERE.

 
CRIME STATS
Several speakers during Public Comments addressed the recent FBI report on crime that showed Costa Mesa's numbers were up 15%, and took the council to task for its part in the rising crime level by eliminating A.B.L.E. and cutting the police department headcount.  Righeimer attempted to blame the "problem" motels around town and quoted some statistics about one of them to reinforce his opinion. 

BIA APPROVED

When the third Public Hearing was addressed - the Business Improvement Area (BIA) reauthorization, a recent long, long letter from Newport Beach resident Jim Mosher was discussed and Righeimer said to the staff, "I wouldn't spend a lot of time on it because Mr. Mosher burns up a lot of staff time."  Contract City Attorney Tom Duarte indicated he would respond to Mosher directly, point-by-point, and provide his response to the council.


FAMILIAR NAMES ON THE SENIOR CORP. BOARD
New Business #1, the appointment of three members to the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation Board of Directors took only a couple minutes to handle.  Incumbents Ernie Feeney and Kathleen Eric were re-appointed and Barbara Echan filled the third slot.


RIGHEIMER RANTS ABOUT FIRE PITS 
Righeimer took a long time to explain why he thought it was important for The City to pass his resolution rejecting the SCAQMD's proposed amendment of Rule 444 prohibiting open burning on beaches.  He probably could have accomplished it with many fewer words, but the issue passed, 5-0.


THE CHARTER COMMITTEE, FACILITATORS AND THE SCHEDULE

At 8:00 our attention turned to New Business #5, the selection of Charter Committee members, approval of facilitators and the schedule of meetings for the committee. Read the staff report HERE.  CEO Tom Hatch explained at great length why he selected Estancia High School Principal Kirk Bauermeister and Pastor Mike Decker as his choices to facilitate the deliberations of the Charter Committee.  Eleven members of the community spoke on the issue and were fairly equally split on whether there should or should not be a facilitator, and whether the men chosen were the correct picks.  Eventually they were affirmed and the meeting schedule - every 2nd and 4th Wednesday evening - were passed on a 5-0 vote.  Then the fun began.

FIRST FIVE CHOICES

The council then launched into the selection process for 13 members of the Charter Committee.

  Read the list of 38 applicants HERE.  They followed what I viewed as a flawed process.  Each council member chose one person from the list of 38 applicants.  Their selections were as follows:

• Steve Mensinger chose Lee Ramos
• Sandra Genis chose Mary Ann O'Connell
• Gary Monahan chose Ron Amburgey
• Jim Righeimer chose William Fancher
• Wendy Leece chose Hank Panian

"NOMINATIONS"
Then the council used a "nomination" process to select the next five.  This, in my view, was the bogus part of this process.  Here's how it went:

• Monahan chose Brett Eckles and Steve Mensinger seconded it.  The vote was 4-1, with Leece voting no.
• Righeimer chose Tom Pollitt and Monahan seconded.  The vote was 4-1, with Leece voting no.
• Genis chose Harold Weitzberg and Leece seconded.  He was rejected on a 2-3 vote, with Righeimer, Mensinger and Monahan voting no.
• Mensinger chose Kevin Tobin who was confirmed on a 3-2 vote.  Leece and Genis voted no.
• Leece chose Corinne Stover and Genis seconded.  She was rejected on a 2-3 vote.
• Monahan chose Gene Hutchins, who was chosen on a 5-0 vote.
• Righeimer chose Tom Graham and Mensinger seconded.  He was chosen on a 4-1 vote, with Leece voting no.

NOMINEES FOR THE LOTTERY
The final three members were chosen by a "lottery".  Each council member chose a person remaining in the applicant pool and the names were written on slips of paper.  From those 5 individuals three were chosen by a draw of the Sergeant-at-arms.  The selection went this way:

• Mensinger nominated Kerry McCarthy
• Genis nominated Nina Flores
• Monahan nominated Andrew Smith
• Righeimer nominated Anna Reagan
• Leece nominated Harold Weitzberg

THE DRAW...
The first name drawn was Kerry McCarthy.  The second was Andrew Smith.  Finally, with the final draw, Harold Weitzberg was chosen.

(City Clerk Brenda Green takes a lottery slip from Sergeant-at-arms as Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz looks on)

YOUR CHARTER COMMITTEE IS...
So, the 13 folks who will spend the next six months, meeting at least twice a month, trying to coble together a charter that the voters might find acceptable on a ballot sometime next year will be: Ron Amburgey
Brett Eckles
William Fancher
Thomas H. Graham
Gene Hutchins
Kerry McCarthy
Mary Ann O'Connell
Henry S. Panian
Tom Pollitt
Lee A. Ramos
Andrew B. Smith
Kevin A. Tobin
Harold Weitzberg

They will be "facilitated" by Kirk Bauermeiser, Mike Decker and Kimberly Hall Barlow.

(Chief Tom Gazsi chats with facilitators Mike Decker and Kirk Bauermeister while committee member Lee Ramos speaks with Robin Leffler)
 

OUTSOURCING THE JAIL OPERATIONS

After a short break the meeting re-convened at 9:20 to discuss the privatization of the Costa Mesa Jail Operations.  CEO Hatch went through the relevant high points of the lengthy staff report, HERE,  He addressed several cities that already use G4S - the proposed contractor - the potential savings - over $600,000 annually and, in vague terms, the "transition" anticipated.

MEETINGS UNSUCCESSFUL

Hatch said the staff had met many times - at least seven - with members of the CMCEA and the OCEA to try to find common ground - unsuccessfully.

MUIR CLAIMS BAD FAITH NEGOTIATIONS

Among the four speakers addressing this during public comments was Jennifer Muir, representing the OCEA and the CMCEA.  She told us that the City was trying to sabotage efforts at conciliation - that The City had taken the "It's my way or the highway" approach to negotiation on this issue.  She mentioned an April 16th email to the City requesting a meeting that had gone unanswered.  Not surprisingly, the other speakers also had problems with this plan.

PASSES, 4-1
Eventually, after lengthy discussion by staff and council members, the item passed on a 4-1 vote, with Leece voting no.


BACK TO COURT?  NOT SURE... 
I asked members of the OCEA what their plans are now.  They said they'll wait and see for the moment, but I won't be surprised to see them back before Judge Luis Rodriguez sometime soon for a reconsideration of the Preliminary Injunction that was lifted earlier this year.

NEXT UP... THE BUDGET, AGAIN

So, at 10:20 we adjourned to the budget study session next Tuesday afternoon, June 11th.

Judge Denies Employee's Request

JUDGE RODRIGUEZ SAYS "NO"...
In a press release a few minutes ago the City of Costa Mesa, HERE, announced that Judge Luis Rodriguez denied a temporary restraining order request by the CMCEA to block the City Council from voting tonight to outsource its jail operations.

CMCEA JUMPED THE GUN
According to the press release, "Judge Rodriguez said the City Council would have to approve a contract with a private company to take over jail operations before he could weigh the merits of the employees' association request."

ITEM WILL REMAIN ON THE AGENDA
So, apparently the item will remain on the agenda tonight - LATE tonight - and this drama will have to play out after the vote is taken.

OCEA WILL WAIT AND SEE...

Jennifer Muir, representing the Orange County Employees Association (OCEA), which provides legal help to the CMCEA, confirmed the comment from the City press release and indicated that they will wait to see what happens at the City Council meeting tonight on this subject and that their goal will be to have the Preliminary Injunction reinstated.  There was no one from The City available for comment at press time.

Undercard To Monday Night's Rumble(Updated)*

"IN THIS CORNER..."
We just received notice that, as an undercard of sorts to Monday evening's Feet To The Fire Charter Debate between Jim Righeimer and Katrina Foley, tomorrow - Saturday, October 13th - Troy Davis will host Orange County Employee Association Assistant General Manager Jennifer Muir and Daily Pilot columnist and Costa Mesa buttinski, Jack Wu in a discussion of Jim Righeimer's Charter.  Too bad this will be radio - Jennifer is a real hotty.  Wu, not so much.

SATURDAY AT 10:00 A.M.
Yep, Davis will host what may be a lively discussion on his Money Matters Radio show on KOCI, 101.5 FM from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.  Additionally, Davis will be live in their chat room at www.kociradio.com (click "chat" in the upper right corner) so listeners can join in the conversation if they are so moved.

GIVE ME SOME FEEDBACK, PLEASE
This should be a very interesting hour.  I'm going to try to catch it - unless there's a particularly good college football game on television.  For those of you who DO listen, I'd appreciate your feedback here in the form of comments.  Let us know what you think of the discussion.



*UPDATE OF THE BROADCAST
Thanks to all of you who sent comments following the broadcast this morning.  Many of you made excellent observations.  Some of the rest of you just needed something to yap about - business as usual.

MUIR ON HER GAME - WU NOT SO MUCH
I did listen to the entire broadcast.  I, too, was disappointed that Jennifer Muir had to bug out early, leaving Jack Wu alone to misrepresent issues for the final few minutes.  In my view, Muir was BY FAR the better prepared of the two.  Her answers were crisp and she quoted proper citatitions in Jim Righeimer's Charter accurately.  Wu seemed to be way, way off his game.  He muttered his answers and just didn't seem to have done his homework.  Even better, a couple times he made statements that only supported something Muir had just said, acknowledging, for example, that people just don't trust Righeimer.  I guess Jack's too busy managing Dana Rhorabacher's campaign finances.

THANKS..
I'm grateful to KOCI and Troy Davis for this presentation, and for the opportunity to play a small role in it as a participant in the chat room they had going during the program.  I'm also grateful to those other folks who participated in the chat room.  I think those comments helped Davis keep the discussion going.

KOCI A VALUABLE TOOL...
I confess that I don't listen to KOCI much, but this is a valuable tool to inform the public about a variety of issues.  I hope Davis and the management of the station find a way to keep this particular ball rolling.

Injunction Blocking Layoffs And Outsourcing Upheld!

FOURTH DISTRICT APPEALS COURT RULES
According to a press release issued just after noon today by Jennifer Muir, Assistant General Manager of the Orange County Employees Association (OCEA), the "Fourth District Court of Appeal has upheld a preliminary injunction blocking the City of Costa Mesa from laying off more than 100 employees and outsourcing their jobs to the private sector"

"HUGE MORALE BOOST"
Muir's release quotes Helen Nenadal, president of the Costa Mesa City Employees Association (CMCEA) as saying, "This is a huge boost for employee morale during a dark period in Costa Mesa's history."

 JUDGE SCHUMANN'S INJUNCTION AFFIRMED
You will recall that Superior Court Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann issued a preliminary injunction blocking the City from outsourcing to the private sector.  It was not precluded from shifting jobs to other government agencies, however.  The City appealed that decision to the Fourth District Court of Appeals, which affirmed Judge Schumann's order in its entirety. 

BACK TO COURT - LEGAL BILLS PILING UP
This means we go back to court sometime in the near future.  In the meantime, the legal bills just keep on piling up - a result of the current council's stubborn refusal to deal with the employees in a forthright manner.  Those bills have totaled more than $2 million for the fiscal year that just ended and that figure is not yet complete.

NO CITY RESPONSE YET
I've inquired of the City for a response but its official reply to this situation is still pending.  If and when I hear more I will update this entry.

EMPLOYEES BREATHING EASIER
In the meantime, the employees who would have been affected by this situation - those who have received as many as a half-dozen layoff notices in recent months - can breath a little easier, for now.

 HOW WILL THIS AFFECT THE ELECTIONS?
It is unclear how this decision by the court will affect the municipal election.  We can almost be guaranteed that folks on both sides of this issue will try to find a way to use this decision to their advantage.  It's not going to be pretty.

Leaders Volunteer Maximum Pension Rate(Amended)***

BIG PENSION NEWS
City of Costa Mesa Communication Director Bill Lobdell issued a press release Friday afternoon announcing that the city's top leaders have volunteered to pay 39% of their pension costs. The text of that press release is below:


City of Costa Mesa leaders volunteer to pay 39% of their pension costs, one of the highest employee contributions in the state

COSTA MESA, Calif. - The top leaders for the City of Costa Mesa have volunteered to pay 39% of their pension costs—the highest rate possible—saying they need to set the example of contributing their full retirement share to help insure the city’s finances are sustainable. The employee contribution will be one of the highest in California for public workers.

“We don’t know of any city in the state where public employees are contributing this high of a percentage to their pensions,” Mayor Gary Monahan said. “It makes me very proud that Costa Mesa’s leadership team is leading the way when it comes to pension reform. This is a landmark for Costa Mesa and its residents.”

The move to increase pension contributions will affect eight city executives, including Chief Executive Officer Tom Hatch, Assist. Chief Executive Officer Rick Francis, Economic Development Director Peter Naghavi, Police Chief Tom Gazsi, Finance Director Bobby Young, interim Public Services Director Ernesto Munoz, and interim Development Services Director Khanh Nguyen.

Interim Fire Chief Tom Arnold is not paying into the retirement system and will be unaffected, but his successor will pay his or her full pension share.

The estimated annual taxpayer savings from the increase contributions, including the fire chief’s share, is more than $50,000.

Non-public safety executives are currently paying 31.49% their pension costs. The contribution increase will go into effect as soon as it’s approved by the City Council, likely at its Feb. 7 meeting.

Police Chief Gazsi currently pays 11.61% of his pension costs (as do other Costa Mesa police officers), with the City picking up the remaining 88.39%. Police officers are allowed to pick up 48.633% of the cost of their pensions. Gazsi and CEO Hatch are currently working on a plan to move the police chief toward this maximum contribution level.

When hired, the new fire chief will immediately begin paying 49.32% of the cost of his or her pension, if the City Council approves the increase in employee contributions. Currently, the fire chief would be paying 12.92% of his pension costs, with the City would be picking up the remaining 87.08%).

Recently, due to an expired clause of a labor agreement, Costa Mesa firefighters (excluding battalion chiefs) dropped from paying 12.92% of their pension costs to paying 2.15%. The City now pays 97.85%. In real terms, the firefighters now pay $103,000 annually to their pensions, and the city pays $4.7 million

In recent negotiations, the City has asked the firefighters to pay the 29.92% of their pension costs.

“Our leadership team felt like we couldn’t be asking employees to make their full pension contribution unless we did it first,” said Chief Executive Officer Tom Hatch. “In these times, it was the right thing to do for our City and its residents.”

IMPORTANT DETAILS MISSING
However, others feel this announcement left out some important details. For example, Jennifer Muir, Communication Director for the Orange County Employee Association, sent this comment in response to the press release: “The true leaders in Costa Mesa, the City’s rank and file employees, have been paying nearly 40 percent of their pension costs for years. And we’re supposed to be celebrating that the City’s leadership is following that great example? I guess it’s better late than never.”

**LOBDELL FIRES BACK
Saturday afternoon Communication Director Bill Lobdell sent me an email refuting the "facts" provided (above) by Jennifer Muir. Here's what he wrote to me:

"Muir is flat out wrong.

1. Until now, all general employees -- managers and rank-and-file -- made the made the exact same contribution. This fiscal year it's 31.5% of the total pension costs.

2. Muir apparently used LAST fiscal year's numbers, when ALL non-safety employees paid about 38% of their pensions. But pension costs went up this year and the employee contributions stayed the same, reducing the percentage paid by employees down to 31.5. 

By the way, Muir knew her information was wrong late Friday afternoon because the Register and Voice of OC reporters told her, but I guess she didn't bother to correct it with you. 

Only Muir could take what is a positive step forward for the City and is residents and, using false information, twist it into something divisive."

So, the beat goes on...

***MORE MUIR
OK, this is it now on this post on this subject. Jennifer Muir read Bill Lobdell's reply and offers the following rebuttal. This will be the last entry on this post on this subject... it's getting too complicated to follow. Anyhow, here's Jennifer's comment from today, Monday, January 30th:

"Bill Lobdell is correct that I was using last year’s PERS rate when I emailed you. I only realized later that the rate had subsequently changed. That said, the employees demonstrated true leadership when they agreed to that contribution level in 2010 – a level that is virtually the same as what executives are agreeing to now. The only reason managers and executives shared the same contribution rate back then is because CMCEA employees led the way by negotiating those contribution levels. I pointed that out to you because it’s deeply disappointing to employees when the City’s media machine consistently fails to acknowledge efforts and sacrifices the rank and file have made these past several years. Plainly, that is what’s been divisive."

NO OUTREACH TO EMPLOYEES
Also missing in this dialogue is that fact that - despite mention being made of recent negotiations with the firefighters - as I understand it, no overture has been made by City management to ANY of the individual bargaining units during the past 12 months requesting a discussion of modifications to the current pension rates. Instead, the elected (and appointed) leaders of the city have chosen to create a hostile, adversarial atmosphere and attempted to violate their own rules by issuing premature layoff notices to nearly half the staff.

A NICE GESTURE, BUT...
While this gesture by the top leaders in the city is certainly noteworthy and is much appreciated, the reported $50,000 savings to the city represents only a drop in the bucket. It is hoped that the City management will actively engage the bargaining units in sincere, meaningful discussions about pension contributions, and do it soon. It is my understanding that each of the individual units would welcome those kind of conversations. I guess we'll see...