City police officers get a 4 % raise

Officers with the Huntington Beach police will get a 4% raise this

year, and another 4% raise next year as part of a new labor contract

negotiated between city officials and the Huntington Beach Police

Officers Assn.

The deal will cost city taxpayers about $1 million more a year for

police service than what they already pay. It was recently approved

by a majority of police officers and certified Monday night by the

Huntington Beach City Council.

The labor deal goes into retroactive effect, with officers

receiving pay increases dating back to October, and will expire on

March 31, 2006.

City police had been operating without a contract since October,

2003, but City Councilman Don Hansen said this year’s negotiations

were relatively smooth considering the stalemate.

“I’m really pleased with the way the discussions went,” he said.

“I really feel like both sides brought something valuable to the

table.”

Under the deal, police officers will get their first pay raise

retroactively in October of 2004, and receive another increase in

October 2005. Police also received an increase in their dental

benefits from $1,000 to $2,000 and life insurance coverage went up

from $10,000 to $50,000.

Senior police officers made out best in the deal, seeing their

vacation time increase from eight weeks a year to 10. The contracts

also include the implementation of the Longevity Pay Program, giving

officers with at least 10 years of service an additional 5% of their

base pay, while officers with at least 20 years of service receive an

additional 10% of their pay.

City Administrator moves to reinstate positions

Just two years after the city laid off 37 employees in an attempt

to weather through a recent storm of budget cuts, City Administrator

Penny Culbreth-Graft said the city is ready to begin refilling a

number of those duties and return staff numbers to pre-budget-cut

levels.

“The council indicated that as funds became available, they wanted

to begin looking at restoring critical positions,” she said. “They

specifically talked about police officers and public works employees,

which were the hardest hit departments.”

In total, Culbreth-Graft is recommending that 28 full-time

positions be filled at an annual cost of approximately $2.5 million

to the city. Here are some of the positions Culbreth-Graft is

recommending be refilled:

Fire Department oil field inspector: Handles inspection and code

enforcement of the city’s multiple oil pumping facilities.

Annual cost: $62,000

Two deputy fire marshals: The city administrator is asking the

council to hire two new fire management officials, one to coordinate

training of the department’s 134 sworn officers and another for

general management purposes.

Annual cost: $290,612

Nine police officers and two staff sergeants

Annual cost: About $1.3 million

Police records bureau chief: Oversee the police records

department, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days per week. The

department is short one supervisor and operates with an on-duty

supervisor for 10 shifts per week.

Annual cost: $65,394

Three public works maintenance workers: Support the landscaping

department with general maintenance duties including sidewalk

cleanup, weed removal and debris abatement.

Annual cost: $185,682

Environmental specialist: Locally enforce the Federal Clean Water

Act and ensure the city’s compliance with its storm water discharge

permits.

Annual cost: $53,904