NEWPORT BEACH : Retirement Package Offered to 33 by City

In an effort to drastically cut staff and salaries, the city has offered a package of retirement incentives to 33 of its employees, officials said Tuesday.

The city is saddled with a projected $6-million shortfall in its projected$65-million budget for next year. City Manager Kevin J. Murphy has a list of at least 50 employees who may be pink-slipped before the start of the 1993-94 fiscal year in July. But each employee who voluntarily retires now may translate to one less who is laid off later.

Thus far, two have accepted the retirement enhancement, Murphy said. The others have until the end of April to decide.

“This a good-faith attempt to reduce the size and scope of city staff through voluntary retirement,” Murphy said. The offers went out last month to employees who are in positions that could be left vacant or filled by someone who would otherwise be laid off.

The move comes not without controversy.

“There are a lot of people who are eligible for retirement but have not been offered the package and wish it had been offered to them,” said Jimmy Larson, 61, a traffic technician who has worked for the city for 33 years and was offered early retirement.

Larson, whose annual salary is about $47,000, was offered a choice of a lump sum payment to retire, which would be about $35,000, or incremental payments of about $275 per month for a decade or more. Instead, he will remain with the city for at least 18 months to further enhance his retirement package from the state Public Employee Retirement System.

Jim McAfee, president of the Newport Beach Employees League representing 180 blue collar field workers, said the city drew up a package without discussing it with the employees’ bargaining units.

“We are the exclusive bargaining agents for the employees,” McAfee said. “The city chose 33 to negotiate a package with. They should negotiate with (the league).”

The city’s action constitutes a violation of state labor laws, McAfee said, though the union has yet to decide if it will contest the plan. “We are more than willing to sit down and negotiate this,” he said.