Santa Ana Police Cut Pay Demands; No Pact in Sight

The Santa Ana Police Benevolent Assn. has reduced its demands for pay increases but resolution of the eight-month old contract dispute with the city remains distant, a spokesman for the association said.

Sgt. Donald Blankenship, PBA president, said the association is asking for 7.5% pay increases in fiscal years 1987-88 and 1988-89, plus an additional 4% raise each year for sergeants. The association represents police officers through the rank of sergeant and some non-sworn personnel.

The police union’s original demand was for a one-year raise of 11.9% for officers and 24.9% for sergeants. Union negotiators had said the increases would make Santa Ana police the highest-paid in Orange County, surpassing Irvine police, who are currently the county’s top-paid officers.

Blankenship said the union delivered the new offer to City Manager David N. Ream on Feb. 12 in response to the city’s Jan. 26 offer of 4.5% and 5% increases over the next two fiscal years. Under the city’s latest proposal, sergeants would receive two additional 2% raises.

Ream said Monday he would not comment on the ongoing negotiations. But Blankenship said the city effectively rejected the union’s latest offer last week, when it resubmitted the January offer and said it was their “last, best and final offer.”

“They want an answer back by this Friday,” Blankenship said. “I would imagine it would be rejected by the wage (negotiating) team.”

Blankenship said he expects the city to “impose” its offer on the association by granting the first 4.5% raise, retroactive to July, whether the PBA accepts it or not.

“They’ve made it pretty clear they don’t want us to be equal to the No. 1 (police department) in the county,” Blankenship said, in explaining why the PBA had reduced its demands.