Police Take Pay Issue Straight to Council

Frustrated by stalled contract talks, Santa Ana police officers Monday took their case for a hefty pay raise straight to the City Council.

About 100 officers and dozens of residents who support them crammed the council chambers hoping to persuade the board to relax its tough bargaining stance.

The city’s contract with the Santa Ana Police Benevolent Assn., which represents about 440 peace officers, sergeants and non-sworn personnel, expired June 30. The PBA has asked for raises of 11.9% for officers and 24.9% for sergeants to bring their salaries up to those of the Irvine Police Department, which pays the highest salaries in Orange County.

The city is offering a 4.5% pay raise this year and 4% next year. Santa Ana police officers now earn $2,463 to $2,995 a month.

The council could not act on the officers’ request Monday night, however, because the wage dispute was not on the meeting agenda. Officers addressed the council during time reserved for public comments.

“I’ve heard you’re upset with the high-percentage wage increases we’re seeking,” said Donald Blankenship, PBA president. “With respect, maybe you ought to be upset at being so far behind . . . the city next door.”

Blankenship also criticized the council’s budgeting of several million dollars this year for tree replacement and other neighborhood improvements, rather than shifting some funds to police salaries.

“We are not asking that you trade trees for cops, although we are certain city residents, when they dial 911--they expect a cop, not a tree,” Blankenship said.

“(But) by scaling back just a bit on some of these (improvement programs), you can more than come up with the dollars necessary to pay your police the salaries they deserve.”

Several residents also spoke in support of the officers.

Priscilla Holmberg stood at the microphone flanked by portraits she had painted of two Santa Ana police officers killed in the line of duty.

Hazards of Duty

“This can happen again,” Holmberg said. “That’s why they’re (the pictures) hanging in the roll-call room.”

City Manager David N. Ream agreed with Blankenship that the Santa Ana Police Department is the “finest in Orange County.” But Ream said the city’s offer--when benefits are taken into account--would place the department near the top among county law enforcement agencies.

Monday’s session was the second time officers had appeared en masse in a week. Last Monday, more than 250 officers jammed into Orange County Superior Court to hear a court commissioner grant the city’s request for a preliminary injunction against future sickouts or strikes.

Fourteen officers who were scheduled to work that morning were reprimanded by the city for attending the hearing, although they had been issued summonses ordering them to appear.