Psst! Do you want to know when the City Council offers public employees salary and pension increases before it's too late to have input?
Right now, the City Charter allows the Council to direct City Management to negotiate with public employees without telling the public what is being done before the contract is agreed to by both sides. And, nothing in the City Charter requires the City Manager to certify that the City has the funds to pay for what is being given in the contract so contracts can be agreed to without the public knowing "how are we going to pay for it?"
Funny thing is that all school districts are required under state law to sunshine bargaining proposals, to allow the public to comment on the offers and to make the CEO of school districts certify that the school district has the money to pay for the bargaining proposals. This hasn't "ruined" the bargaining process for either side.
So why is it cities are allowed to keep this process hidden from the public?
That isn't right and as a Charter City, Long Beach can amend its charter to require that this process gets opened to the public for scrutiny.
Will you help me change this and open up the process so that the public knows what is being offered and asked for by both sides BEFORE negotiations begin?
On Tuesday, January 18, during the City Council, we will be discussing my agenda item outlining how our Charter can be changed to require that the City Council open up the negotiating process so that the public knows ahead of time what is being offered to employees and what the employees are requesting in any new contract negotiations. Additionally, the City Manager would have to publicly certify that the City has the funds to pay for any increases given in a contract.
I am trying to get the City Council to put this "sunshine" requirement on the next ballot so you have an opportunity to vote for a fully open and transparent process.
There are many people who want to stop this proposal. You will hear their "argument" that we don't need to set this in law -- that "future city councils can follow our policy." Nonsense. If this requirement is not put into the charter by a vote of the residents, this council and future councils can continue refusing to open up this process.
By helping me get this on the ballot we can open up the process of bargaining so that the public can provide input at an early stage and the City Council is held accountable for that we agree to. This will make a giant step towards real pension reform.
We can make all the noise we want about adjusting the formula for pensions (and they do need to be changed for new hires)-- but those formulas will not have an impact for at least 15 years because we are not hiring a lot of new employees.
Opening up the process right now will have immediate impact because the public will be brought into the process at the beginning instead of at the end when it is too late.
After you read this email, take a moment and email the Mayor every member of the City Council and tell them you support a Charter Amendment requiring that City contracts be "sun shined" so that the public can know at the beginning of the process what is offered and that the City Manager must certify before the contract is signed that the City has the money to pay for what is being given in the contract.
Please send your email to:
Bob_Foster@longbeach.gov
district1@longbeach.gov
district2@longbeach.gov
district3@longbeach.gov
district4@longbeach.gov
district5@longbeach.gov
district6@longbeach.gov
district7@longbeach.gov
district8@longbeach.gov
district9@longbeach.gov
Notice: This is not a City of Long Beach site.
Dear Readers: Please note that this is not a City of Long Beach website and is not paid for nor maintained by taxpayer funds.
If you contact Gerrie Schipske through this site on any matter pertaining to the City of Long Beach, a copy of your contact will be forwarded to her official city email as an official public record.
Save Station 18
Popular Posts
-
Glad that my colleague Robert Garcia agreed to my suggestion that the proposal to require benefits for the domestic partners of employees em...
-
I am happy to announce that the Sares-Regis Group, the developer which purchased a great deal of the Boeing property in the 5th Coun...
-
San Diego has set out with an aggressive program to lure corporate America to pay up to be the “official” something of the City of San Diego...
-
Don't know about you. But I am running into more and more people lately with seriously allergies and coughs. People are complaining abou...
-
May 15 and 22 Is walking in nature your passion? Do you love the outdoors and want to lend a hand while hiking at the Nature Center? Then...
-
Schipske Congratulates Stacy Mungo on Winning 5 th District Seat – Says Looks Forward to Smooth, Positive Transition Long Beach, C...
-
Shaping Up the Fifth Summer Alley Clean Up: Volunteers Have Tackled Three Alleyways in First Two Weeks of Project Before ...
-
Schipske Calls on Council to Examine City’s Investments in Financial Entities That Are Foreclosing on Long Beach Homes and Are Facing Feder...
-
I am walking the 5th District and talking to people who are at home when I knock on their door. People are mostly satisfied with what is hap...
-
In writing my two historical books on Long Beach, I found out an interesting connection between Long Beach and the attack on Pearl Harbor on...