(May 6, 2008) -- LBReport.com provides exclusive video coverage of salient portions of a May 5 City Hall news conference at which LB Mayor Bob Foster said City Hall can pay for contracts covering non-public safety city employees and LB firefighters, carrying a combined Gen'l Fund cost of roughly $26.5 million over five years, despite City Hall's continuing structural deficit, declining Gen'l Fund property tax and sales tax revenue and living "paycheck to paycheck."
Appearing alongside City Manager Pat West with senior city management and union reps present -- but without Councilmembers visible -- Mayor Foster said the two proposed five-year contracts are sustainable...and said that they don't "contemplate" or "advocate" tax increases.
Mayor Foster said the raises/increased benefits will be paid by City Hall becoming leaner, more focused on core services, possibly with fewer employees.
Pressed for specifics, Mayor Foster indicated that he didn't have the figures at hand and didn't cite numbers. He said City Manager West is preparing the FY 09 budget and shares the Mayor's view that the new agreements can be paid without new taxes.
Mayor Foster called the proposed agreements "fair" and said City Hall's goal was to bring LB city employees to the "median" in terms of pay and benefits with other jurisdictions, saying this was necessary to deter LB city employees from leaving for jobs elsewhere.
Asked why a one-year contract length wouldn't be more prudent in a period of declining revenue (to see if City Hall really can become sufficiently leaner and more efficient to produce millions in savings), Mayor Foster indicated he believes the five-year proposed length (instead of the usual three years) will help ensure that city employees reach "median" pay/benefits with other jurisdictions.
City management indicated that the contracts also include a "re-opener" before they expire, allowing them to be extended without lengthy future negotiations.
To launch video of Mayor Foster's opening remarks on the 2002 pension spike, click below:
