VENTURA : Officers Stage Sickout Over Salaries

A stalemate between the city of Ventura and its Police Department over raises in salaries and benefits intensified when eight patrol officers staged a sickout during an afternoon shift, an official said Thursday.

Ventura Police Chief Richard F. Thomas said at a news conference that he received a call Wednesday afternoon notifying him that eight of nine officers who were scheduled to work the 4:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. shift called in sick to protest the city’s refusal to grant police officers a salary increase.

But Thomas said that the impact of the sickout was minimal and that the department was able to fill in the absences by keeping officers on overtime from a previous shift.

Thomas did not identify the members of the officers union who called him, but he said they assured him that the protest would not escalate to a point where it would affect public safety.

Mayor Gregory L. Carson said budget cutbacks from the state have forced the city to hold back on salary increases for all its employees.

“It’s a frustrating time,” Carson said. “But (council members) are holding the line as far as salaries with employees.”

Cpl. William Dzuro, president of the Ventura Police Officers Assn., would not confirm or deny that members of the group have participated in any protests.

However, he said that frustration among officers, who have been without a contract for three months, has reached a peak.

“We have just reached a point where we don’t seem to be going anywhere,” Dzuro said.

Dzuro suggested that the city draw the additional police income from the city’s general fund reserve of nearly $22 million.

Dzuro declined to give the amount of the increase the group is seeking. However, the union’s attorney, Charles Goldwasser, said even a 1% increase would amount to a total of only $77,000 a year for the entire 121-member force.

Dzuro said the group’s goal is to at least attain the median of salaries paid by local police departments.

Even with a state mediator at two contract negotiation meetings, the two groups have not been able to come to an agreement, leaving officers with the same benefits and salary set in the previous year’s contract.

On average, Ventura police officers are paid about 4% less than officers in Simi Valley and Oxnard and deputies with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

“If we gave raises to the police officers, it would generate expectations among other groups,” said Terry Adelman, the city’s finance director.

Adelman said the reserve should be tapped only for emergencies and unforeseen expenses.