Correspondence - #25 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Middleton, Samuel From: Victor D Mendez < Sent: Friday, June 16, 2023 3:13 PM To: eComment Subject: Agenda Item #25 - MOU with Santa Ana POA I am pleased to see that the City, after months of acrimonious negotiations, has reached a new, modified agreement with the POA. The proposed agreement appears fair and fiscally balanced to all parties and hopefully brings about labor peace that I have long advocated for. I spoke with Gerry Serrano to express my full support for this proposal and with the hope that the City can focus on the most critical needs of its police department and move forward with restoring it current staffing shortage, as well as continue to place modern methods and practices to ensure accountability of the City Manager, Chief, his command staff, and all other officers in its duty to serve and protect. After reviewing the report, a few high-level concerns came to my attention and wish to outline them for your consideration. 1. There is a lack of transparency as the new proposed expense is not very detailed. The citizen who reads the report cannot determine where the money went (Salary increases, one-time payment of $2,000, etc.) 2. It is important that the Council recognize the POA gave the City savings by agreeing to not have the one-time $2,000 payment be treated as "pensionable." 3. This pension indicated savings is about $65,000 - $130,000. The exact amount depends on the City's contribution to each individual member of the POA and how the rules for CalPers contributions are applied. 4. A more exact figure can be determined by City Staff. 5. The additional $117,000 proposed to adjust salaries for the Police Chief's command structure is not the fault of the POA. The City Manager had an opportunity to negotiate the subject language out of the Police Management MOU, but that did not occur. 6. While it is important to understand the totality of the fiscal impact of the Proposed MOU, the POA cannot be held responsible for the negotiations between the City Manager and the Police Management Association. 7. The report clearly states that the POA's fulltime release position is being paid through the members' donation of their floating holiday. 8. The floating holiday is compensation and as such the Full-time release is paid by the members not the City. 9. Any argument to the contrary is illusory and is akin to stating that the City pays the mortgage of the City Manager.