Police Break Off Wage Negotiations

Santa Paula’s police union has broken off negotiations with the city over a new one-year labor agreement.

Det. Sgt. Gary Marshall, president of the Santa Paula Police Officers Assn., is accusing municipal negotiators of stalling tactics and bargaining in bad faith.

The union, which represents 33 department employees ranging from dispatchers to beat cops, plans informational picketing beginning at Monday’s City Council meeting.

“We’re not going to strike, we’re not going to do anything that would compromise public safety,” Marshall said. “We’re asking for the backing of our citizens.”

City Administrator Arnold Dowdy declined comment Saturday.

The union is seeking a 12% raise for its members, Marshall said. The city has offered a 1 1/2% pay increase, he said.

“That was such a meager offer as to be actually insulting, given the disparity in pay with other agencies,” Marshall said. “An Oxnard sergeant makes just over 47% more than I do. . . . Even with a 12% raise, that would leave us with the lowest pay rate in the county.”

City police enjoyed salary parity with their counterparts at other county agencies until about 10 years ago, Marshall said. Santa Paula has grown since then, but the department’s size and wages have not kept pace, he said.

“Whereas the population has risen by 10,000 to 15,000, they’ve only added one police officer in the last 15 years,” he said. “Almost half our patrol force has less than five years’ [tenure], and that’s due in large part to the incredible turnover we’ve had due to the pay disparity.”

Santa Paula police have worked without a contract since Sept. 30.

Officers received a 2 1/2% raise under the terms of the previous pact and, before that, worked without a contract for a year, Marshall said.