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Negotiations Update

On July 14th members of the SBPOA's negotiating team met with the City's negotiators. We received a new offer from them that is worse than what they have previously offered. We experienced a continued lack of good faith on their part and continued double talk relative to how they are reaching their figures. The bottom line is there is no reason to call for a meeting Friday and waste your valued time off. The City's negotiators stated they will take our last offer to City Council this coming Monday. That offer consists of the following:

• Continued concessions "as is" until June 30th 2012
• MOU extension to December 30th 2012
• Charter 186 selection criteria would not allow for a pay increase or decrease for calendar years 2010 and 2011

Bare in mind, the above-described offer is still subject to member ratification even if accepted by City Council. In the meantime, we were assured that your full medical stipend will be paid this pay period and your accrued leave sell-backs are being processed.

As a reminder, there is a City Council meeting on Monday, August 2, 2010, at 3:00PM. Use this time to start making arrangements to be there also!

On Tuesday June 29th, members of the San Bernardino Police Officer’s Association met with City negotiators regarding the status of our current contract. Although all prior offers had been rejected, we agreed to the meeting as a last ditch effort to reach an agreement that was beneficial to both sides.
 
During this meeting, the City made two separate proposals seeking deeper concessions and both were rejected. We have submitted a new offer to the City which their negotiators agreed to present to Council at the first available session. That offer consists of the following:
 
• Continue current concessions until to June 30th, 2012 and suspend recruitment bonuses
 
• Extend Current MOU to December 31st, 2013 (3 ∏ year extension)
 
Tier retirement formula for those hired after July 1st, 2010 to 3% @ 55. If by August 1st, 2013, the majority of agencies used for salary survey purposes pursuant to the City’s Charter are still using the 3% @ 50 formula, the City shall convert back to that plan.
 
• Early retirement incentive – Should the City provide any early retirement incentive program to any group of employees, such incentive shall also be provided to members of the SBPOA.
 
The tone of meeting was contentious. The negotiators were explicit about the City’s intent to impose even greater concessions upon expiration of our current MOU (December 31, 2010). Barring a last minute agreement, the City is making arrangements to reinstate our concessions effective July 1st, 2010.

Near-sighted Decisions Will Cost Us

Richard Lawhead
Posted: 06/16/2010 08:01:01 PM PDT

The city of San Bernardino's budget challenges are well publicized. Last year, the city faced a $9 million budget gap, and balanced the budget mostly through concessions offered from the San Bernardino Police Officers Association and other city employee groups.

One year later, the city finds itself in an even worse financial situation, with the budget deficit ballooning to a staggering $24 million. I'm proud that the SBPOA was the first group to step up and make a substantial offer to the city to help balance the budget. We volunteered to continue the concessions we made in 2009 for another two years.

These concessions, millions of dollars in total, have caused considerable hardships among San Bernardino's police officers and their families - particularly in these challenging economic times. What sets the SBPOA apart from police departments in other cities is that not only did we proactively offer these concessions, but they also represent money out of our pockets - $5,000 to each police officer. Other police departments have agreed to give back future benefits, such as raises. We offered to continue giving the city money directly from our current paychecks.

Unfortunately, early Tuesday morning, city officials rejected our offer. To say we are disappointed with the city's rejection is an understatement.

What makes the situation even more frustrating is the city's continued "head-in-the-sand" approach to balancing its budget. The SBPOA has provided detailed, innovative recommendations on various revenue-generating measures the city could implement only to have these ideas fall on deaf ears.

While the City Council rejected these ideas, it has failed to develop concrete ideas or plans of its own to improve the city's financial situation - except one.

The only meaningful "decision" made by the City Council is to have city employees - most noticeably police officers - bear the brunt of the budget shortfall by cutting our salaries and health care benefits further. A few weeks ago, the City Council telegraphed this decision by hiring  a "professional contract negotiator." Why would the recently hired "contract negotiator" recommend anything other than an outright rejection of our concessions offer knowing full-well that they benefit from a protracted and heated contract dispute?

As president of the SBPOA, it's my responsibility to represent our 309 members who put their lives on the line each day to protect San Bernardino.

But, as a police officer, I also have a responsibility to protect our city and its residents and businesses. That's why the SBPOA offered to continue its concessions and it's why we continue to promote ideas to bring additional revenues to the city.

Our members cannot and will not support additional financially painful concessions, particularly when the City Council has refused to take any concrete steps toward finding real, lasting budget solutions.

Unfortunately, talk of "shared sacrifice" rings hollow if the City Council is not willing to do its part by reining in spending and showing the fiscal leadership that our city so desperately needs.

The city's decision does not just impact San Bernardino's police officers this decision and the lack of leadership harms all of San Bernardino residents. We made our offer with a focus on maintaining the Police Department's effectiveness, which has lead to a 24 percent reduction in violent crime (murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults) in the first three months of 2010. These positive results didn't happen by chance.

They occurred because of a dedicated, adequately staffed Police Department.

Further "concessions," or worded differently, deeper Police Department budget cuts, will harm the department's effectiveness and likely result in the loss of valuable veteran police officers to other, more stable municipalities in the Inland Empire and throughout the Southern California region. If this occurs, everyone in the city of San Bernardino loses.

It's time for the City Council to take a longer-term approach to address the city's budget shortfall.  

What this demands is real leadership, effective planning and a willingness to take off the blinders and evaluate a range of solutions other than simply cutting salaries and benefits of police officers and other city employees.

On Tuesday June 15th, members of the San Bernardino Police Officer’s Association met with City negotiators to follow up on their offer of continuing a three million dollar annual benefit concession for the next two years. The City rejected the offer and countered with a proposal to continue existing concessions for six months while negotiating a long-term contract. City negotiators stated they anticipated seeking significantly deeper concessions in the new contract.

In addition to offering the three million dollar annual concession, the POA again proposed a number of cost recovery and cost reduction methods which conservatively total eight million dollars annually, a number that far exceeds the City’s existing request.

What does this mean to members of the SBPOA?

Effective July 1st, you will have the full City paid stipend toward health benefits reinstated and will be eligible to sell back twenty-seven and a half hours of holiday time, twenty-four hours of sick time, and depending on tenure, twenty to fifty hours of vacation time.

Budget Message

The City of San Bernardino faces challenging financial times.  Last year, the city closed a $9 million budget gap with the help of concessions from the San Bernardino Police Officers Association and other employee groups.  This year, the city faces an even worse situation with a staggering $24 million deficit.

Just after he joined the city in 2009, City Manager Charles McNeely expressed concern about the 2010 budget to the Press Enterprise (San Bernardino's woes include a new deficit of nearly $5 million - June 3, 2009).  The article concluded with City Manager McNeely asking how the city would balance its 2010 budget if city employee unions would not continue their concessions, stating “my view is that we've got to come to some resolution about that."

We agree with City Manager McNeely … we must resolve the city’s budget problems, and that’s why we are one of the first groups ready to take action to help accomplish this.  On Monday, May 24, 2010, the SBPOA met with City’s Negotiation Team and offered to continue the significant concessions we made to the city in 2009 for another two years.  

These concessions, totaling in the millions of dollars, have caused considerable hardships to our members, but we understand that it is in the best interest of the city as a whole that we offer this solution to the city’s ongoing budget woes.  We understand that the SBPOA has a responsibility to not only represent our 309 members, the men and women who put their lives on the line each day to protect San Bernardino, but we also have a responsibility to our city and its residents and businesses.  It is with this in mind that we made the offer to continue our concessions.

With this offer, the SBPOA believes we have answered the City Manager’s call and have done our part to help the city, and now we ask the City Council to do their part.

Budget Message:
“Now is the Time for Real Leadership and Long-Term Solutions”

The City of San Bernardino faces challenging financial times. After relying on short-term fixes and concessions from the SBPOA and other employee groups to close a $9 million budget gap in 2009, the city now faces a staggering $24 million deficit this fiscal year.

City officials have hinted they will ask SBPOA members for further concessions to balance this year’s budget. However, closing the city’s short-term budget deficit by asking the men and women who put their lives on the line each day to protect San Bernardino residents and business owners is wrong. Our members deserve better, as do the people who live and work in our city.

The city’s budget woes are not new. The City Council has failed to address San Bernardino’s declining revenues and worsening financial situation for more than two years. The SBPOA and other employee groups have offered detailed recommendations on various revenue-generating measures…only to have these proven ideas fall upon deaf ears.

In the coming weeks, we’ll begin educating San Bernardino residents and business owners about the realities our community faces, the consequences of continued inaction and the long-term cost-saving and revenue-generating solutions available to the city of San Bernardino. We can achieve financial stability without damaging the city’s public safety record – a remarkable 24 percent reduction in violent crime in the first three months of 2010.  This result didn’t just happen by chance.

The SBPOA and its 304 members remain committed to working with San Bernardino decision makers to find comprehensive, lasting solutions to the city’s budget problems.