I am a longtime supporter of the PPOA.
If not for this press release from the PPOA we would not now about this.

What is the current pay scale? I'm sure the union wants to compare Pleasanton to Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco, but that's not a fair comparison. SF and Oakland have roughly 100 murders per year, and all three have exponentially larger gang and drug problems. Does the city sell its law-abiding, usually tranquil populace?

Mr. Julius.

That’s now how police unions get to negotiate. They have to be compared to a list of comparable cities that has been mutually agreed upon by the Union and city. You can find this list in the unions MOU online. Pleasanton is compared to cities like Livermore and Union City, not Oakland or SF.

Pleasanton is now at the bottom or near the bottom of the list in terms of pay while simultaneously short many officers, looking to hire 25 apparently in the near future. Why would any competent officer want to go somewhere for the lowest comparable compensation when they can move one town over and make more? Keeping the pay comparably lower will ensure quality officers leave, quality candidates go elsewhere, and the city will be provided with lower service as only the bottom barrel officers will be attracted to Pleasanton because they can’t get hired anywhere else. Not sure why a city with more resources than these other comparable cities that prides themselves on service and being a premiere destination would undercut their officers like that

Part of the 23/24 budget for our city uses the open positions dollars as part of the overall funding to balance the budget and keep it from going into the red this budget year. If those positions are filled, guess what? Our budget goes into the red. 25 open positions is far to many for a town our size. We have all seen crime increasing. Do any of us want fewer police in our city? Crime and safety was one of the top concerns for residents during the last election. Every council member had residents safety as part of their platform promise.

This is the most fiscally irresponsible budgeting process lead by the majority of 4 - Mayor Brown, Council Member Testa, Council Member Arkin and Council Member Niebert. Only Council Member Balch has shown any fiscal responsibility in the budgeting discussions. This council votes on the budget June 6.

Let your council members know we must keep up with salaries of like cities for our police officers. Stop the 10 million spend on the skate park (we have two in town already) and century house (fix only what is critical such as the roof or better yet sell it and the land to a private entity that will refurbish it) and put that money where it’s needed, filling open positions in our police department and fixing our water issues.

Honestly, there is so little crime in Pleasanton, it is best for officers who already have 15 or 20 years. But they would take a pay cut. Many Pleasanton residents would love to be police officers for the amount of current pay. They city just needs to promote the jobs within city limits better. I live in Livermore and commuting to Pleasanton to be an officer would be a dream. But I did not know about this til now. Sure, if officers want to get shot at and get more money, move to Oakland. On the other side, the few officers I have met were really good and may deserve a raise. May.

Since the firefighters faced this same situation last year, and the teachers’ union for the past two years, I begin to wonder if promoting from within would help, rather than having nonresidents in all the top decision-making positions holding up collaborative bargaining sessions?

Promotions to higher-ranking police positions most often do come from within the ranks. Pleasanton prides itself on high standards for hiring police officers, as most of us think the city should. That's one reason we as residents have a great deal of confidence in our department and its officers as well as how safe we feel living here.