Newport Beach : 3 Meter Men Censured Over Coffee Breaks

Three city workers accused of taking excessively long coffee breaks at a waterfront cafe instead of emptying the city’s parking meters have been disciplined, City Manager Robert Wynn said Wednesday.

Mike Small, Kevin Collins and Bill McCartney could have been fired but were not. Instead, Wynn said, their discipline ranged from three days of suspension without pay to a written reprimand.

“The specific factors and details of the investigation and their comments are contained in each employee’s personnel file and, therefore, are confidential by law,” Wynn added.

McCartney declined any comment on the case or the disciplinary action when reached at his home in Laguna Niguel Wednesday evening. Small and Collins could not be reached for comment.

The workers, who service the city’s 2,550 parking meters, were accused of spending two hours of their eight-hour shift at the cafe on eight of 10 workdays during a two-week period.

Wynn has said the city believes that the employees abused their coffee breaks, but to what extent remained in dispute. On Wednesday, he said he could not elaborate on that issue but added that the employees had accepted the discipline.

“The city believes the discipline imposed is appropriate given the circumstances,” he said.

A city investigation was launched after the Orange County Register brought to the attention of officials that the men, responsible for collecting $1.5 million a year in parking meter revenue, worked fewer hours than their time sheets reflected.

Workers are allowed to take one 15-minute break in the morning and another in the afternoon. The Register story said the men were seen taking breaks of more than an hour at the Coffee Peddler in Lido Marina Village.