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It’s two months since the Pleasanton Police Officers Association declared an impasse during its labor talks with the city administration, and the two sides appear as far apart as ever.
After the recent confirmation that mediation between both parties has failed, it remains unclear when, or if, Pleasanton police officers and city officials will see a contract advanced that meets their respective demands.
“Our goal here is to get a fair contract,” Brian Jewell, president of the PPOA, told the Weekly. “We’re not asking to be the top-paid agency; we’re asking to be fairly compensated and be at the median.”
The PPOA first declared the impasse on May 24 after the union had rejected the city’s offer of a 15% pay increase for officers over the three-year contract. The previous contract between the city and the union ended on May 31, meaning the union is now beyond day 60 without a new contract.
According to the city’s website, the city’s offer would have consisted of a 6% pay increase on June 1, a 5% pay increase in 2024 and a 4% pay increase in 2025 for regular officers. An 18% pay raise over the three-year contract would have been enacted for police sergeants, who are also represented by the union.
City officials say they also agreed to the PPOA’s request to “triple the city’s contribution to employee’s retiree health savings accounts and to provide an additional 5% premium pay for specific departmental assignments.”
“The city has offered a generous compensation package that represents one of the largest pay increases for police officers and sergeants in its history,” Heather Tiernan, communication manager for the city, told the Weekly on Friday.
But while the city’s offer somewhat mirrored the PPOA’s request of a 19.5% increase over three years, one of the main reasons why the union turned down the city’s offer was because of retention pay, which the city flat out rejected.
The retention pay, according to the city’s website, would have offered a 2% increase to officers who have been with the department for eight years, 4% to those who have been there 12 years and 5% to those with 15 years on the force.
“We know firsthand, other officers are looking elsewhere,” Chris Lewellyn, vice president of the PPOA, told the Weekly. “They have gone on ride-alongs with other agencies to see if that’s a fit for them and we expect officers to be leaving this organization if we don’t get a fair contract.”
Lewellyn said that as someone who runs the personnel and training unit, he knows the issues regarding recruitment and retention for the Pleasanton Police Department.
“We’ve had six officers and or sergeants who have been out for over a year and it is unlikely that they will return,” he said. “At this point, now we have 13 total on leave just due to injury. That includes … eight vacancies in August. So 21 people are not available to work.”
City Manager Gerry Beaudin, however, touched on the topic during the July 18 City Council meeting, saying there is an important difference between a leave and a vacancy, which adds another layer to the police staffing problem.
“We have a number of employees that are on leave … Those leaves are held positions — they’re not vacancies — and so we’re waiting for those employees to come back to our organization. We don’t recruit for positions for employees that are on leave.”
“We value those employees, and we want to make sure that they know that they have a spot to come back to,” he added. “That’s the law and beyond that, that’s our commitment to our employees.”
Jewell also said that the temporary disbandment of the special enforcement, crime prevention and traffic units is affecting officer morale in terms of being able to move up within the department.
“This makes officers feel that their ability to go into specialized units and attain their goals,” he said. “The succession planning, they feel, is not here, which impacts the likelihood of us retaining officers.”
Lewellyn said that as someone who has been with PPD for so long, and has personally collected the equipment of so many officers who have left the department, the main reasons officers are leaving are because of mandatory overtime, disbandment of units and comparatively low pay that the PPOA has been highlighting publicly during the negotiations.
But he also said the turnover is relatively new, as he has noticed that shift of Pleasanton officers leaving more in the last four years — before that he said it was almost unheard of for PPD officers to leave because of their love for the city and their job.
That’s why he said it was disappointing to hear that the city was not willing to include retention pay in negotiations.
The shortage of staff is something that hasn’t just been felt by residents, both of the union leaders said. It’s something that their fellow officers are feeling in the form of being overworked.
“On June 6, I spoke to the City Council regarding the staffing issues at Pleasanton Police Department, emphasizing the closure of the traffic unit and the subsequent result of lowered enforcement,” said Rebecca Rodriguez, a PPD officer who spoke during public comments at the July 18 council meeting.
“Curiously, four days later, a member of this City Council called Pleasanton PD to ask why there were no traffic officers staffing the intersection due to the gridlock traffic caused by the I-680 closure,” she continued. “We have been trying to tell you that Pleasanton PD has no dedicated traffic officers to contribute.”
Rodriguez was just one of several speakers who said they were concerned about the city’s lack of action to find some sort of resolution during these negotiation talks.
Several speakers at that meeting, and other prior meetings, made the point that the city should utilize dollars from capital projects such as the recently approved cricket field, new skate park at Ken Mercer Sports Park and the Century House renovations to solidify police pay instead.
But, according to Tiernan, that just isn’t the best solution in the city’s eyes.
“Salaries and benefits represent recurring costs that require ongoing revenues to fund these expenses. Using one-time resources from capital projects or the General Fund reserve to cover employee compensation costs will lead to a budget deficit in the long run and will impact city services and programming, as these one-time revenues will not be available in future years,” Tiernan told the Weekly.
“Unrestricted fund balances (reserves) are intended to be used for emergencies (fire recovery, storm recovery, etc.) and economic uncertainties and depleting the General Fund reserve will impact the city’s ability to provide vital city services and community programs during such times,” she added
Even so, Rodriguez went on to emphasize the importance of coming up with a contract that will be able to properly compensate their work so that they can continue to provide their crucial services to the city.
“I was working that day and in the same three hours that you called to ask for traffic enforcement, I responded to a baby not breathing, a fight in progress and an overdose,” Rodriguez said to the council. “I can state with confidence that there was no time that day for anything but emergency calls.”
Lewellyn and Jewell, who also spoke to the council during the July 18 meeting, emphasized that in order to keep their officers from getting burnt out to the point where they consider leaving the department, retention pay must be added to the city’s contract offer.
“In our negotiations, we wanted to include retention pay for that reason, because if we’re able to include that incentive, we would be able to retain our talent,” Lewellyn said. “That is an industry standard. Out of our 10 comparable cities, we’re the only agency without a retention incentive.”
According to Tiernan, the lack of retention pay is coupled with the fact the current salary for officers and sergeants is below the average of the cities being used as a comparison, which will continue to be the case if the city’s contract isn’t accepted by the PPOA.
“This is a typical scenario for public agencies at the end of a labor contract due to the different bargaining cycles of other agencies and usually changes when the wage adjustments for the new contract take effect,” Tiernan said.
However, out of those comparable cities, one noteworthy PPOA supporter that came forward during the July 18 council meeting was recently retired Dublin police chief Garrett Holmes, who said that Pleasanton needs to work harder to meet the demands of the union.
A 50-year resident of Pleasanton who was in law enforcement for 30 years, Holmes took to the podium and gave the council and Beaudin a scathing critique of the continued stall in negotiations.
He particularly called out Beaudin, just like Jewell and Lewellyn did, on how the second-year city manager said in a June 6 council meeting that “staffing is not as it is being described”, that “we had to make adjustments in how we deliver services” and that the situation was “really just a routine transition of employees”.
“Yes, every police department has regular staffing issues with people on leave, who are injured, etc,” Holmes said. “This is not what we’re talking about here. Units don’t get shut down or reallocated just for regular staffing issues.”
He added that even though Dublin is a smaller city, there are more officers per shift on the street right now and they are also running special units — which shows that if Dublin can do it, so can Pleasanton.
“The morale in your police department is low. These officers are coming to you and meeting to tell you that things are not great, and are asking for your help, all of you, to settle their contract,” Holmes told the dais. “They are asking you to show your commitment to the public safety and show your commitment to this police department. Instead, you have stalled any contract settlement.”
And at the end of the day, that’s what the PPOA wants from the city, according to union leaders — to show them that the city values their work by working together on a contract that will help them retain their talent.
“In the last City Council meeting, several council members and city manager stated that they value our police officers and they appreciate us. But while we hear them, we would like them to show us how they value us because right now, we’re not feeling that,” Jewell said. “We feel that we are just a number — a position being filled. They’re not showing us that they value us.”
After the City Council recently met with city negotiators during a closed-session meeting on July 26 for an update on the outcome of the failed mediation, Tiernan said that the next step is for the California Public Employment Relations Board to conduct a fact-finding. That is when a qualified, impartial third party makes written findings of fact and recommendations for resolution of an impasse.
As of Friday, Tiernan said there have been no new contract offers from the city.
“The city remains committed to reaching an agreement that works financially within budget restraints, while demonstrating its commitment to the well-being of its police officers and sergeants,” Tiernan said.
Our city council majority of four, Brown, Arkin, Niebert and Testa, are in effect defunding the police department by not settling their contract.
It’s my understanding that when they settle the city doesn’t pay the increase missed dollars back to June 1. These 4 council members are balancing the budget on the backs our our Police Officers.
It’s also not true that they cannot reallocate the 10.5 MILLION the council budgeted for enhanced skate park and century house. The money can and should be reallocated to settle the contract and shore up the budget.
As an aside, I have asked no less than 3 times for an ROI on the 4+ million being spent on century house. The response – crickets.
And anyone remember our Mayor Brown stating “I’m worth it and a lot more” at the meeting discussing council increases. Our Police Officers are worth it and a lot more! Majority of 4 need to do the right thing and settle this contract so we can retain and hire the best for our city.
This inaction from Brown, Arkin, Testa and Nibert won’t be forgotten at the ballot box!
As the nation faced the public outcry of defunding police and the Black Lives Matter protests threatened our city limits, it was the men and women of the Pleasanton Police Department who successfully held back an organized attempt to violently disrupt our own idyllic community while allowing and supporting the peaceful march organized by local high school students and others who were sincerely concerned. Those same men and women quietly lined the parade route, showing care and compassion as well as readiness should the unthinkable happen. They recognized and respected the gravity of what was happening to our country, and were there for us. Physically, visibly there, to assure us that they, too, were appalled at the injustice happening across the country.
As residents, we have consistently expressed gratitude for the even-handed approach of community policing, and until recently have ranked our feelings of safety at remarkably high levels in annual city-funded surveys. 97%,as I recall. We all, council included, took pride in knowing our police department wasn’t broken, as so many others across the country were. We knew the perpetrators would soon be apprehended if a crime was committed within our city.
One would expect a no-brainer to deliver a reasonable contract offer for such stellar performance and dedication to the community these people serve. To stall negotiations over a concept as simple as retention pay seems unimaginable, yet here we are. Not long ago we celebrated men like Joe Rose, who gave a lifetime of service to this city. Many of us know officers who have retired here and continue to serve the city in other ways because living a lifetime of service is who they are, and how they believe it should be. To deny them a meager percentage as retention pay defies logic and renders disingenuous the words “safety is a priority” that keep coming out of city hall.
How about stop spending so much time/money on changing the driving lanes on W. Las Positas, and Valley and pay our Police Officers!
Those lane configurations may be Alameda County money. However, the money council approved for the old house on Santa Rita Road and the second skate park would more than cover the Police pay issue.
With two council members Nibert and Testa supporting Pamela Price, Nibert with money donation, Testa with her endorsement, is an indication they do not support our police department.
Some investments are decent (skatepark, preserving special places). Others are necessary (strong police force, good schools).
If PTown doesn’t prioritize a strong police force, the town can and will go downhill.
Some investments are nice to have (century house, skate park), others are non negotiable – fully staffed police force with a contract.
Why not sell the century house to an investor that will fix it up and maintain the historical quality vs investing 4+ million? And so far no one in city hall can provide an ROI on the century house. And they seem to believe that just because they are dumping 6+ million into a skate park that it will magically become better utilized. It’s a handful of people that will use it vs everyone in town depends on our Police Officers. City Council – are you paying attention?
The likes of Testy Testa and especially SimpleArkin making decisions – they are running Pleasanton into the ground.
A well paid police force is 100 times more important than a Century House.
Only Jack Balch takes the time to understand the issues, read the financials, ask strategic questions. We need a majority of competent City Council Members like him.
It is too bad that the City of Pleasanton which received $8.5 million in ARPA funds decided to move some of that money into the Capital Improvement Plan instead of funding police like many cities.
With ten Pleasanton police officers on leave, and there are five current vacant positions in the Pleasanton police department:
No matter how you spin it:
There are fifteen less Pleasanton police officers in uniform, serving, protecting Pleasanton residents.
That is an understaffed Pleasanton police department!
If an officer requests leave under the requirements, the city must allow that leave—so ten officers were allowed the requested leave. While it is unfortunate, it is within the police officer’s rights. As for the five (two new officers have been hired, so 3), the city will hire as soon as they have the right people. Maybe using county officers like Dublin could reduce the ongoing pension issues https://www.cityofpleasantonca.gov/gov/hottopics/ppoacontractnegotiationupdates.asp
Kathleen, revisit the link you provided.
“City hired two police recruits will not fill a vacant position until they have completed police academy.”
Nearly ten percent of recruits do not complete the police academy.
I don’t know the particulars of those hired—previous experience for example. Our officers are well paid, not that they don’t deserve a boost. But why are officers and community members showing up at meetings and, let’s say, whitewashing the truth? I believe the city manager corrected the errors (again, see the web site I posted).
It is the city manager that is white washing it.
It is called spin.
There are 15 uniform police positions not on duty serving and protecting Pleasanton residents.
The city manager taking direction from the city council majority, deliberately stalled so it would go into mediation. That allows any agreement to be the result of mediation.
WHY? – The same people that created the problem can never fix the problem, since it means acknowledging their mistake.
This is my final comment on this topic.
Michael is 100% correct on this. The community is not whitewashing the issue. Maybe Kathleen needs to attend some of the meetings, might open her eyes a bit.
MsVic, I can watch the meetings. I’m not sure why Michael says the city manager is whitewashing the truth—go to the website I posted. I would certainly hope no one at the city would post fibs.
Kathleen did you watch the last meeting? Garrett Holmes who isn’t an officer in Pleasanton, but in Dublin spoke to our city council. What he said was true. Our city council has some great writers who spin information to be released in statements. The lies about the money that was allocated to skate park and century house can and should be reallocated to resolve the police contract. City manager, at direction of council claims the money cannot be switched, and that quite frankly is not true because it has been done before. There is a lot of information coming out of city hall that is simply being spun so as to confuse the issues and residents. I have zero faith in the majority of 4 to run this city. If we can’t recall those 4 I do hope everyone remembers this at the ballot box.
MsVic, I am aware of Dublin’s former chief speaking. Dublin uses Alameda County police. Dublin has a surplus of funds because they do not have to pay for retirement. Check the website to see what police are costing us—the largest part of Pleasanton’s budget (lower on the page). Maybe we should shift to using county police?
“The city manager taking direction from the city council majority, deliberately stalled so it would go into mediation. That allows any agreement to be the result of mediation. WHY? – The same people that created the problem can never fix the problem, since it means acknowledging their mistake.”
I suspect they don’t see this as a “mistake”.
The city council majority appears to be of the popular left-wing view that law enforcement is insensitive towards anyone it comes in contact with, uses unnecessary force, is too well armed, and therefore needs to be defunded and/or “re-imagined”. People coming in contact with/taken into custody by the police are now deemed to “need help”. Setting standards/holding people accountable for their actions with a strong police presence is “ineffective”, “unfair”, “racist”, etc. – and no longer a priority.
Why does every keep mentioning Dublin. Im surprised even the Ex chief did not point out that Dublin police are just alameda county sheriffs when making the comparison as it did not present the entire story.
The contract is with the country. The county pays the retiree benefits not the city. its apples to oranges to compare it to Pleasanton unless you are making the argument that we should also use ASCO as our local PD.
Also am I correct in reading that the major hang up in all of this is a retention bonus?
There are two main issues Resident. The first one is that the wages being offered by the city are below the surrounding comparable cities, which is why we have officers leaving for lateral positions in other cities. The second is that nearly every city is paying retention bonuses. Our city flat out has refused. So compromise is not even taking place. And the city is stalling, because the longer they stall, the less they have to pay. If and when the contract is negotiated and finalized, the city doesn’t pay the officers the higher wages back to the day the contract ended, therefore saving money for the city. My biggest issue is that the city knew the contract was coming up and still passed a budget with 10.5 million allocated to a skate park and the century house and the budget they passed was far short of what was going to be needed for the police. The four of them, Brown, Arkin, Testa and Niebert need a class in sound fiscal practices. Brown needs a class in leadership skills. The four of them are not good for our city.
Brown, Arkin, Testa and Niebert are an embarrassment to the community! I think a recall for each might be in order!
Last night’s city council meeting demonstrated how inept Brown, Arkin, Testa and Nibert are. Watch the meeting. At the end Jack Balch asked for a special meeting to be called, the rebuttal to that was Brown’s hand off to Beaudin and he claimed he has regular calls with POA president (two to be exact) and that a meeting was being planned with POA for a week or week and 1/2 from now, when they could clear their calendars. Someone has to tell me what is more important than settling the contract right now. Oh and Beaudin received a 5% increase after only being CM for 6 months. what???? And guess who worked on that increase – well Brown and Arkin. More on this topic to come. All of this info is public.