From The Press Democrat, March 24

SANTA ROSA, CA – Leaders of cash-strapped Santa Rosa on Tuesday gave police officers and firefighters a standing ovation after their unions agreed to forgo pay raises totaling more than $4 million over the next two years.

“My faith has been restored. You came through,” Mayor Susan Gorin said as she and other City Council members rose in unison to show their appreciation as the concessions were announced.

Administrative Services Director Michael Frank said the decision to forgo all or part of their pay raises next year will cut the city's projected $23 million deficit by $1.3 million in the upcoming year and more than double that the following year.

In exchange, council members agreed to drop proposed layoffs of 26 police officers, six firefighters and three police technicians pending approval of the tentative agreements by the public safety unions next week.

Police Officer Brad Conners, speaking on behalf of the 144-member Santa Rosa Police Officers Association, said his union and the 28-member Santa Rosa Police Management Association are willing to give up raises for the next two years “to keep our city and working environment safe.”

“We realize a tightening of belts is necessary to keep police officers in those 26 positions,” he said.

Frank said the city, based on a history of police pay raises, had built in 5 percent pay raises for each of the next two years, an amount that would have cost the city a total of $3.75 million for members of the two police unions.

Frank said the 2009-2010 budget and the expected deficit is predicated on future pay raises and cost-of-living adjustments guaranteed to most of the city's 1,400 workers now under contract.

The 130-member Santa Rosa Fire Fighters Association, which saved the city $550,000 by deferring a 2 percent raise last year, also agreed to give up almost 5 percent of an expected 8 percent pay raise in 2010. That would result in an annual savings of about $500,000.

Human Resources Director Fran Elm said the city in 2010 is contractually obligated to conduct a salary survey of firefighters in comparably-sized cities and pay that amount.

“We think that would be around 8 percent,” she said.

In exchange for the firefighters' concessions, the council agreed not to close a second fire station on a daily rotating basis, which would have saved $1.2 million, and not to cut six firefighter jobs, which would have saved $450,000.

The firefighters will receive the 2 percent raise they deferred last year and a likely 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment, both starting July 1.

Frank said the salary concessions “don't fully balance out” with the jobs the council agreed to keep, but the balance will be covered by revenues generated by Measure O, a sales tax measure passed by voters in 2004 to bolster the Police and Fire departments personnel and services.

Of the $8.7 million worth of cuts before it Tuesday, the council reinstated jobs and services totaling $6.1 million. Of that, the 26 police officer positions represented $4.2 million annually in salary and benefit costs.

The council did cut other departments and programs, including about a dozen positions.

Councilwoman Jane Bender said there still is time to save those jobs, including several park maintenance positions, because the 2009-2010 budget won't be adopted until late June.

“We need help from all our bargaining units,” she said.

Council members agreed that Tuesday's cuts were among the most painful because they affect filled positions.

Unlike the elimination of past positions, many of which were vacant, the recent cuts involve current workers.

“This is the tough part of the job,” said Councilman Gary Wysocky, “telling people we don't need them.”

While the council unanimously agreed on most of the cuts, they split over City Manager Jeff Kolin's recommendation to cut the pay of Advanced Planning Director Wayne Goldberg by $20,000 and reduce his title to a lower status.

Kolin did not attend Tuesday's meeting because he is in Hawaii on a two-week family vacation.

But his recommendation on Goldberg was overruled by the newly realigned council, whose more environmentally-friendly members — Gorin, Wysocky, Veronica Jacobi and Marsha Vas Dupre — said Goldberg's 25-year tenure with city and expertise made him too valuable to possibly lose.

Goldberg has been the target of the building community, which unsuccessfully pushed for his dismissal several years ago, a move that led to his removal as head of the city's Community Development Department and the creation of a three-person advanced planning team.

Bender, along with Council Members John Sawyer and Ernesto Olivares, on Tuesday opposed keeping Goldberg's full pay and the title, noting building in the city has come to a virtual standstill and, as a result, the cost of Goldberg's position is not justified.

“It's contrary to cutting our expenditures,” Sawyer said.