Firefighters, city reach accord

Negotiators for the city and the Laguna Beach Firefighters Assn. have reached an agreement, ending a rancorous stalemate that reached into the recent City Council elections.

The agreement, if approved Tuesday by the City Council as City Manager Ken Frank expects, will be retroactive to Nov. 6 and continue through June 30, 2011, providing a salary increase of 11% for the remainder of fiscal year 2006-07 and increases of 5% in each of the following four years.

Cost of the raise this year is estimated to be $400,000, which will require an additional $200,000 appropriation. The increase moves the salaries into the median pay area of the county’s fire agencies, city officials said.

Negotiations began in March. The association voted on the memo on Oct. 31 and representatives signed it on Nov. 3. Fire Chief Mike Macey and the command staff in the department are not voting members of the association.

“I am glad it’s finally over and we can move ahead,” Macey said, anticipating council approval of the agreement.

An ad campaign was waged by the association throughout the summer to drum up support for its demands, and the union’s Political Action Committee backed Kelly Boyd for City Council.

Association President Andrew Hill’s and Boyd’s families have been friends for decades, and Boyd said that Hill personally appealed to him to run.

Boyd and candidate Verna Rollinger, who placed fourth in the three-seat election, gave credit to the association for Boyd’s win.

However, the issue did not predominate in election forums and was moot by Election Day.

No announcement was made of the agreement reached before the election because council members and the public did not have an opportunity to review the document until Tuesday’s agenda was made public.

There were no council meetings between Oct. 17 and Tuesday due to the election Nov. 7, the first Tuesday of the month on which the council usually meets.

Negotiations never hinged on a pay increase. Even notoriously fiscally-conservative City Manager Ken Frank agreed the firefighters were underpaid.

The association rejected the city’s initial offer of a 20% increase over a three-year period, which Frank said would have put them above the county median.

Firefighter spokesman Hill characterized the city’s offer in August as “nice raise,” but that was not the issue. Association members wanted more benefits, equipment, training and staff, Hill said.

Under the terms of the agreement, the firefighters will transition to the same insurance benefit package as the Municipal Employees and Police Employees association members, starting Jan.1.

The city will continue to pay 100% of the medical care of firefighters enrolled in the Blue Shield POS plan. Retirees who have been employed by the city for three years will be offered the option of continuing in the city plan but will pay their entire premiums.

Employed firefighters with dependents will pay 25% of the premiums. Medical and dental care will be provided for domestic partners under the same terms as other dependents.

Starting in July 2010, the city will establish a $25,000 fund to be used for certification pay to be allocated to eligible employees, and reserve another $25,000 to study ways to establish shift battalion chiefs, two of the association’s key goals.

Ground rules for disciplinary procedures, informal and formal grievance procedures, vacations, holidays, sick leave and layoff procedures are also spelled out in the resolution.

The full text of the resolution and the staff summary are available on the city’s website at www.lagunabeachcity.net.