Council OKs raises for 600 employees

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Payday came early this week as the City Council

approved generous raises for about 600 city employees Tuesday.

“You are really giving away the store, folks,” said resident Chuck

Scheid, a member of the city’s finance board.

But a majority of the council did not agree, voting 6-1 in favor of the

two-year agreements. When combined with cost-of-living increases the

employees received earlier this month, the city will pay out about $2

million more this year and close to $3 million more next year, said John

Reekstin, the city’s director of administrative services.

On both occasions, only City Councilman Dave Sullivan objected, largely

because the salary increases were based on a new city-sponsored study

that recommends its employees make as much or more than 75% of what

employees in similar cities make.

“In my mind, [that’s] much too much,” he said.

Sullivan also broke ranks because the labor agreements included greater

retirement benefits that the city won’t have to pay for as long as the

bullish stock market continues its roll.

“I’ve been around long enough to know that what goes up comes down,” he

said.

To justify the raises, city officials pointed out that the job market is

booming, which makes attracting and retaining qualified employees

difficult. Coupled with the county’s high cost of living, the city had to

boost salaries to regain its competitive edge, they said.

City Councilman Ralph Bauer has said that because city employees work at

an above-average level, they should be paid accordingly.

“It’s certainly well justified,” he has said.