City, police reach salary agreement

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The city and its police officers have finally

struck a deal.

In a closed session Monday, the City Council unanimously approved a

labor agreement with the Huntington Beach Police Officers’ Assn., almost

eight months after the most recent contract expired.

The agreement, which would effectively end a long, high-pitched battle

between the police and city officials, is slated to appear before the

council in open session May 21, where public approval is expected. The

package deal is expected to go into effect June 30.

“I think we are all happy to get this behind us,” Mayor Pam Julien

Houchen said. “We’re approaching the busiest time of year for the city,

and we want to have our personnel and officers ready.”

Huntington Beach police salaries currently range from $30,804 to

$58,272, for officers depending on classification.

The new contract spans the course of three years, and includes an 11%

wage hike the first year and a total of 5% each additional year. The

agreement also increases the officer retirement plan, which originally

offered officers at 50 years old 2% of their salary multiplied by their

time on the force up to 3%.

It also initiates a single benefits package for all officers. A

two-tiered benefits plan has separated new officers from those hired

before 1997 for years, city officials added.

City officials said the labor agreement mirrors the proposal nixed by

the police officer union in February, and that a new vote on the union’s

part recently clinched the deal.

“It includes all the same money and benefits, which we were OK with

the first time around,” said Russell Reinhart, police union president.

“But at that time, we had some language issues with the agreement, all of

which have been corrected.”

Corrected enough that 162 of the 215 union members recently met to

vote on the contract. Where February’s tally was a landslide against the

agreement, the new vote garnered 155 ayes and only 7 against.

“I’m very glad and wish it could have been taken care of a long time

ago,” said Senior Officer Gil Coerper, a 36-year veteran with Huntington

Beach police. “I think the membership wants to move forward and start

working with and not against City Council. There are many other things

for officer’s here to do than take up council’s time.”