Proposed Cuts in City Benefits Fuel Rifts in Pomona

By IRENE CHANG

Aug. 20, 1989 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

POMONA —

It probably won’t come before the City Council for a vote until next month, but a proposal by one council member to reduce, and in some cases eliminate, city employee benefits has caused a stir in City Hall.

Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant says he wants to “trim the fat” off the city’s budget by throwing out the city’s executive leave policy, cutting conference and training spending, reducing the layoff notice period and ending payments of service club dues and tuition for city employees.

Bryant said the changes are in line with a series of cost-saving measures he has proposed, including the possible elimination of some redevelopment staff positions.

Employee Morale

Although the idea has been discussed briefly during one council budget session, some department heads are gearing up for what they perceive to be an impending backlash should such cuts materialize.

“If all of those (benefit reductions) are passed, it is going to have a very negative impact on employee morale,” said Interim City Administrator Tom Fee. “Nobody’s going to leave over losing those types of benefits, but I don’t think they will feel they were treated fairly.”

Allen Maxwell, vice president of the Pomona Police Officers’ Assn., predicted a darker outcome at a time the city is adding 19 more police officers to the force.

“It would be a setback for recruitment,” Maxwell said. “There’s so much competition with other departments, and part of what attracts qualified candidates is (benefits) the city offers to employees.”

What Other Cities Offer

Most of Pomona’s employee perks aren’t out of the ordinary. Some are substantially more generous than several other San Gabriel Valley cities, but others are more limited. For example, although Pomona sets a $500 annual limit for an employee’s college tuition, Pasadena will pay up to 75% of the educational costs, even at private institutions, such as Occidental College and USC.

At the same time, Pomona gives management-level employees 12 additional hours per month worth of paid vacation time, known as executive leave. Pasadena doesn’t offer such leave.

Pomona’s 90-day layoff notice period is longer than what is offered by several other Southern California cities, including Pasadena and Monterey Park, which allow employees to remain on the job two weeks and 30 days, respectively, after their positions have been eliminated. Bryant said it should be no more than 30 days in Pomona.

“I tell you I doubt if any other city’s got 90 days,” he said. (The city is) ripping the people of Pomona off, that’s what they’re doing. We’re talking about public funds.”

Mayor Donna Smith vehemently opposed changing the city’s layoff policy and accused Bryant of waging a “personal vendetta” against two deputy city administrators, Sanford Sorensen and Dayle Keller. Their positions were eliminated May 31 by the council majority of Bryant, Nell Soto, and Tomas Ursua. Because of the layoff policy, Sorensen and Keller will keep their jobs until September.

Because of the 90-day notice, Smith said, “Mr. Bryant’s pride was hurt. He had the power to eliminate the position, yet he didn’t have the power to tell them when to leave.”

Bryant acknowledged that his desire to change the layoff policy was fueled by outrage that the city “was giving someone 90 days to hang around. That’s ridiculous.”

A reduced layoff notice period probably will pass. Ursua has said he will support most of Bryant’s proposed cuts, including that one. Soto has said she backs the layoff policy change but is against cutting tuition reimbursements, executive leave provisions, or conference and training expenditures.

The wide range of council members’ opinions on employee benefits reflects a marked contrast in the philosophies of local government each council member brings to the table.

Although Bryant and Ursua emphasized they didn’t want to waste taxpayer money by running the city like a corporation, Councilman Mark A. T. Nymeyer said the city should model its operations after private companies.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to looking at the private sector and compare,” Nymeyer said. “There may be some disparity because it’s a profit versus a nonprofit industry, but we need to keep (the private sector) in mind because we compete with them for the best employees.”

COMPARISON OF CITY EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Pomona

Layoff Policy

90-day layoff notice to management level employees

Executive Leave

12 hours per month for top-level management positions

Staff Training and Development

Budgeted $35,000 for top-level conferences in 1988-89; budgeted $16,910 for training in 1988-89; offers management $75 for one service club membership; pays for top level management to join 2 professional organizations and pays all others $150 maximum

Tuition Reimbursement

Will pay $500 annually per management-level employee

Arcadia

Layoff Policy

Advance notification of layoff determined on a case-by-case basis

Executive Leave

7 days per year

Staff Training and Development

Budgeted $55,000 for conferences and training in 1988-89, pays professional organization dues

Tuition Reimbursement

Will pay 100 percent of California State University tuition

El Monte