The process as practiced in Long Beach (and many other cities) basically leaves taxpayers the last to learn details of the deal (when public speakers get three minutes each to comment before the Council enacting vote.)

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News of the new tentative agreement comes after the Council voted (6-0) on Feb. 7 to approve a new contract with the LB Police Officers Association containing with raises totaling 9% over 3 years plus -- potentially significantly now -- a "me too" provision that if other bargaining units receive a greater compensation increase, including one-time payments, the police officers union will receive such an increase, with certain exceptions.

In an agendizing memo accompanying the Council vote on the police union contract, city management said its costs would be covered in FY17 in part by using "less conservative budgetary actions such as reducing charges for insurance and funding for unfunded retirement liabilities" and left FY18 and FY19 costs to future "annual budget processes."

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The LB Firefighters Association PAC was a major contributor ($75,000+) (the LB Police Officers Ass'n PAC was #1 at $225,000) to a campaign committee for a Mayor/Council sought "blank check" sales tax increase (Measure A) written in a way that lets current and future Councils spend its revenue for any general fund items. In connection with the LB Police Officers Ass'n contract, Assistant City Finance Dir. Lea Eriksen told LBREPORT.com that "Measure A revenues will not be used to fund the [contract] increases."

Following passage of Measure A, the Council enacted a FY17 budget (Sept. 2016) that restored Fire Engine 8 to Station 8 in Belmont Shore, and in February 2017 voted to restore LBFD Paramedic Rescue 12 in NLB...but has not to date restored Fire Engine 17 to Station 17 adjacent to Stearns Park (2200 block Argonne Ave., 4th Council district.) A Fire Engine is the only apparatus that carries water and can actually spray water to extinguish a fire, meaning LB Fire Station 17 currently remains without a fire engine capable of putting out fires.

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On January 31, 2014, a multi-unit residence across the street from Station 17 burned while a Fire Engine journeyed from further away (with the fire doubling in size every minute) because a previous Council vote "balanced" City Hall's spending budget by erasing funding for Engine 17. (LBREPORT.com coverage here). Fourth district Councilman Daryl Supernaw (whose father was a LB Firefighter) and took office in May 2015 (and supported the Measure A sales tax increase) has since tried without success to gain Council support to budget restoration of Engine 17. The Engine's service area included parts of the 5th and 6th districts, but Council budget restoration of the Engine has received no serious audible advocacy from the LB Firefighters Association.

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Regarding the LB Council's current non-transparent labor negotiation procedure, on Feb. 4, 2014, then-Councilwoman (and then-Mayoral candidate) Gerrie Schipske agendized an item to ask the City Attorney to review the City of Costa Mesa's "Civic Openness in Negotiations" (COIN) ordinance and the feasibility of adopting such an ordinance in Long Beach. Costa Mesa's ordinance requires hiring an independent negotiator; performing a fiscal impact analysis on each contract term and making the analysis public; requiring each Councilmember to disclose if he/she had any communications about the negotiations with representatives of the employee association; and reporting publicly after closed sessions any prior offers and counter offers and their fiscal impact to taxpayers. In addition, before the Council can vote on an employee contract, it must discuss it during at least two City Council meetings with the proposal posted on the city’s website at least seven days before the first meeting. [For details on the COIN process from the City of Costa Mesa's website, click here.]

Counciman DeLong seconded Schipske's motion...which triggered a substitute motion by Councilman (now Assemblyman) O'Donnell, seconded by Councilman Austin, to "receive and file" (take no action on) Schipske's proposal. DeLong, seconded by Lowenthal, made a substitute-substitute motion to approve Schipske's recommendation and ask the City Manager to provide a Human Resources Dept. report on the pros/cons of the proposal.

The DeLong-Lowenthal substitute narrowly failed 4-4 (Yes: DeLong, Schipske, Andrews, Johnson; No: Garcia, Lowenthal, O'Donnell, Austin; Absent: Neal)...and an O'Donnell/Austin substitute to receive and file (kill the transparency proposal) passed 5-3 (Yes: Garcia, Lowenthal, O'Donnell, Johnson and Austin; No: DeLong, Schipske, Andrews; Absent: Neal.)

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Could the LB Council enact a COIN style ordinance now? If there were five Council votes to do so (perhaps six votes to override a possible Mayoral veto), the answer is yes [perhaps with a meet and confer requirement with the firefighters union beforehand.] However doing so now would impose burdens on City Hall now that weren't present in 2014 and might make LB Councilmembers less willing to support it now.

In 2015, Sacramento lawmakers (at the urging of government employee unions) enacted SB 331, a measure authored by state Senator Tony Mendoza (D, Artesia). The measure requires cities, counties and special districts with COIN style transparency ordinances to apply COIN-style disclosure requirements regarding all kinds of public contracts over $250,000...not just contracts with government employee unions. In other words, whenever a city, county or other government body with a COIN ordinance considers a public contract (for items including accounting, financing, hardware and software maintenance, health care, human resources, human services, information technology, telecommunications, janitorial maintenance, legal services, lobbying, marketing, office equipment maintenance, passenger vehicle maintenance property leasing, public relations, public safety, social services, transportation, or waste removal) it must provide a report listing offers, counter-offers, names of those involved and other negotiation details, filed at least 30 days before each contract is considered and at least 60 days before the agency votes on it and must consider the contract for at least two meetings before voting.)

In other words, it's an extremely burdensome, arguable killer provision. To make its intent obvious, SB 331 lets government agencies that adopted a COIN transparency ordinance avoid these requirements by suspending, repealing or revoking their COIN ordinance. SB 331 received the voted support of now-Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell (D, LB) and state Senator Ricardo Lara (D, LB-Huntington Park.)