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Managers sacrifice to pare budget; union workers call their burden heavier
By JEREMY HAY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
In July, as five months of contentious contract negotiations came to a close, Rohnert Park employee union leaders complained publicly that the city’s managers weren’t being asked to shoulder an equal share of concessions to help fill the budget deficit.
Angered, City Manager Gabe Gonzalez fired back in an email to all city employees. In it, he said cuts to managers and confidential employees’ benefits equaled the pay cuts rank-and-file workers were being asked to take.
“I want to make clear that these reductions are all cash value to the city, no fluff,” he said in a phrase that he underlined.
Gonzalez was referring chiefly to administrative leave hours. They are a bank of extra hours to be used for more time off. In Rohnert Park’s case, they also can be cashed in at year’s end. Only salaried workers who under federal labor law do not get paid overtime get the benefit.
Until July 1, Rohnert Park’s top managers got 150 hours a year — or 18 and three-quarter days — that they could use for time off in addition to their four weeks of vacation. They could cash in any time they didn’t use, up to 100 hours, at the end of the year.
Confidential employees received 60 hours a year that could be used, and they could sell back to the city up to 50 unused hours.
“It was essentially a 5 percent bump by being able to sell those hours,” Gonzalez said.
He spoke in the past tense because new contract terms that Gonzalez helped set and that took effect last month reduce the number of administrative leave hours.
The new arrangement grants 100 hours to managers, but limits the hours they can cash in to 25 a year; none carry over to the next year.
For the city’s two exempt confidential employees, the benefit was cut to 50 hours total, and a limit of 20 that can be cashed in.
“It’s a considerable amount (of savings) considering they are the city’ highest-paid employees,” Gonzalez said.
But union leaders say that because the cuts were to benefits, they weren’t the same as those their members took.
“The reality is it’s above and beyond their 2,080 hours; our unit took pay cuts based on our 2,080 hours,” said Angie Smith, president of the Rohnert Park Employees Association, referring to the sum of annual work hours based on a 40-hour workweek.
Her 28 members took a 6.25 percent pay cut and, overall, gave back 13 percent in combined salary and benefit cuts.
“They just don’t get as much administrative leave,” Smith said, referring to managers and confidential employees. “It’s a bonus.”
Gonzalez responded that the aim was to realize an equal percentage of savings from each bargaining unit, not necessarily to make the exact same cuts.
The changes bought the city’s administrative leave plan into line with “the industry standard,” Gonzalez said, and “is fair” given the demands on department heads.
“Most of our managers do work excess hours, they’re here late, they stay for council meetings and other sessions,” he said. “These are employees that typically don’t work an 8-to-5 workweek.”
On that point, at least, he has surprising support. Smith said she takes no issue with administrative leave, just how Gonzalez represented it as equivalent cuts.
“They do put in a lot of extra hours, it’s not five or 10 hours, it could be an extra 15 to 20 hours,” Smith said. “I’m sure they work way more than the hours a year that they get compensated for.”
You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay at 521-5212 or jeremy.hay@pressdemocrat.com.
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I wonder what proof John Hudson has that there is corruption of any kind on the RP city council or among it’s management group. If there were, John would have been first in line to demand a grand jury inquisition. Alas, he hasn’t demanded and inquisition OR turned over a shred of evidence to the media because…wait for it…he doesn’t have any proof. Not one shred.
Sandy Lipitz is still and employee of the City of Rohnert Park. She knows where the bodies are buried. She could easily embarrass the city council beyond even what it takes to embarrass them, which is one hell of a lot.
This is typoical of about any city in California. As long as city councils are allowed to choose the city auditors corruption will be the rule rather than the exception. The city auditor of Bell, where four city council members are under indictment, gave Bell a clean bill of health for several years before the scandal broke. Meyer, Hoffman & McCann, the auditor chosen by the Bell city council, has lost only one client since the Bell scandal broke. The rest of its clients prefer to have an auditor that will not blow the whistle when it finds something wrong. City auditors know that they will not be rehired by the citiy they blow the whistle on and nor of the nearby cities will hi8re them either.
If I were a city employee in Rhonert Park I would wake up every morning thinking about how great it is to have an opportunity to work for the great city council led by Jake Mackenzie earning top dollar and working in a peaceful, productive environment.
Oh well, I knew it was a dream. I think I will call in sick today.
“The reality is it’s above and beyond their 2,080 hours; our unit took pay cuts based on our 2,080 hours,” said Angie Smith, president of the Rohnert Park Employees Association, referring to the sum of annual work hours based on a 40-hour workweek.”
LMAO, show me a public employee who works 40-hours a week, 2080 hours a year, I’ll show you a liar every time. They show up to work, they work ½ time is that, public employee’s are the laziest group of workers we have not to mention it takes 20 public employees to produce 1 private worker.
The main issue with the public sector and why the system is broke is for the above and for the over spending habits of government workers. Government workers haven’t been held accountable by taxpayers or the federal government for their waste, fraud, and abuse of our money. When public employees are held to the same standards as private sector, then maybe we’ll see a change. Until this time occurs, we’ll continue to be a broke country.
City manager unclear on the concept
Rohnert Park city manager states that city salaried employees do not get paid for additional time put in to complete their job; however, actually they do with their so called “Bank” of hours. This is just part of the problem with government’s spending habits.
The employees of the city take a pay cut to their monthly take home pay and the management takes a bonus reduction.
News flash – salaried public employees at companies and corporations do not get a bonus (yes – the bank of hours is a bonus) for working additional hours to do their jobs.
What is the status of the Sandy Lipitz dispute? Anyone?
The whole perk should be eliminated, not just cut back.