Police Working Without Contract

After months of unsuccessful negotiations, Santa Paula police officers will start working without a contract Tuesday, after the police union’s chief negotiator accused the city of blocking efforts to settle the matter.

While parties on both sides have said they hoped to avoid the acrimony that has plagued bargaining sessions of past years, negotiator Bill Davis of the Santa Paula Police Officers Assn. said no agreement is in sight, despite talks that have been taking place since September.

After rejecting the city’s most recent offer, Davis said he asked for binding arbitration under a state law signed by the governor last year. The city has refused.

“We are not meeting at this point in time,” Davis said. “We have requested that this go to arbitration and they denied that. Unless they cooperate, it leaves us no choice but to pursue whatever it takes to compel them to comply with the law.”

City negotiators could not be reached for comment.

But in a letter to the police officers association, City Manager Peter Cosentini said the city will not move forward with arbitration because it believes the new law is unconstitutional.

“We believe the bargaining dispute between the city and the [union] can and should be resolved through negotiations between the parties,” Cosentini wrote.

In a similar labor dispute, Ventura County sheriff’s deputies also called for arbitration after six months of unsuccessful negotiations. County lawyers have filed a lawsuit challenging the deputies’ right to bring in an arbitration panel.

Labor conflicts between Santa Paula and its police force are nothing new.

Two years ago, at the peak of a long-running labor dispute, the majority of Santa Paula’s police officers signed a document stating that they did not want city leaders to attend their funeral should they be killed in the line of duty.

That came on the heels of a campaign by officers to post signs throughout the city warning drivers that they were entering a high-crime area. The move was intended to underscore the police union’s contention that more officers were needed to help lower Santa Paula’s crime rate.

The council in the fall of 1999 voted for a one-year contract that gave officers a 2% raise--about half of what they were asking.

Last year, the two sides were able to reach agreement on another one-year contract months before the existing one expired, giving officers another 2% raise.

This time, Davis said officers are seeking better retirement benefits and a pay hike of 5% annually over three years. Davis said the boost in pay and benefits is meant to close a salary gap between Santa Paula officers and other peace officers in Ventura County.

City negotiators responded in late May with a 13% salary increase over fours years plus a boost in retirement benefits.