HUNTINGTON BEACH : Officers Back Union Effort for Pay Hike

Scores of Huntington Beach police officers attended Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to show support for their union’s effort to get a new contract and pay raise.

Monty Mauney, president of the 222-member Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn., said the union is asking for a one-year contract and a 10% pay raise. Mayor Peter M. Green said the city is offering a three-year contract, with a 4% pay raise the first year, 8% the second and another 8% the third year.

Green said the city prefers to have a three-year contract “because otherwise we would be right back starting negotiations again if there is only a one-year contract.”

The city’s last contract with its police officers expired in October, Mauney said. “We’ve been negotiating with the city ever since last summer,” he said.

Green said the City Council wants to give police as much of a pay increase as possible, but he noted that earlier this month budget analysts said the city faces up to a $4-million deficit this year, mainly because of a deteriorating national economy.

“I don’t see how we could meet what the Police Officers Assn. is asking when we’re facing a $4-million deficit,” Green said. “The city is trying to keep our police the third highest paid in the county, which is in keeping with the city’s being the third most populous in the county.”

Mauney said the union would like to see more police officers hired to keep up with the city’s growth in new residents. However, Green said the budget’s red ink makes hiring new police officers unlikely in the near future.