Compton budget requires dozens of layoffs, union concessions

Compton has avoided a threatened government shutdown with the passage of a budget that calls for laying off dozens of city employees, but now the city faces a new battle in court.

The spending plan includes $1.2 million in concessions that employee unions have not agreed to, a move that the city attorney has raised concerns about and that unions are calling illegal.

After hours of discussion, reversals and occasional confusion, the City Council took its final budget vote early Wednesday. Under the plan, more than 80 employees will be laid off effective Aug. 2.

The budget includes last-minute revisions that were presented to the council by City Manager Willie Norfleet at about 5 p.m. Tuesday and not made available to the public until midway through the meeting. The revisions incorporated some concessions the unions had proposed.

Union representatives had said the concessions were contingent on avoiding layoffs.

Council members “just unilaterally adopted half of a negotiating proposal,” said Tony Segall, an attorney representing the Coalition of Compton Unions. The unions are also threatening to sue over other alleged violations in the process.

Mayor Eric Perrodin said after the meeting that if the unions do not agree to the concessions, the city will have to find other places to cut, possibly including more layoffs.

Perrodin said the budget vote allowed the city to avoid mandatory furloughs and to issue paychecks on time Thursday.

Initially Tuesday, the council approved a series of amendments proposed by Councilwoman Yvonne Arceneaux that would have incorporated the union proposals, including an early retirement incentive program, and would have eliminated all layoffs. Then the council reversed the decision in a second vote.

The panel also voted to retain four department head positions that had been on the chopping block out of concern that eliminating those jobs would violate the city charter.

Employees with jobs on the line, who have been in limbo for weeks while the council remained at an impasse over the budget, expressed shock at the final outcome.

“What happened yesterday was unbelievable — I can’t formulate what happened,” said Percy Brown, deputy director of general services, whose position has been cut.

abby.sewell@latimes.com