Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor GLENDORA - 10 months without a new contract, the Glendora Police Department is finding it difficult to maintain proper staffing levels as officers leave for better-paying departments.
The Glendora Police Officers Association and City leaders have been at odds over a new police contract for more than a year. City leaders refuse to provide the funding for competitive salaries and benefits for its rank and file officers, singing a similar tune that financial realities prevent the city from investing more in its police force, the GPOA said. Three of the primary increases police officers want is a raise in salary, medical allowance and a retroactive increase. The GPOA is also looking for an increase in motor pay and an incentive for officers who acquire intermediate or advanced certification with the Peace Officers Standards and Training Council, a Bachelor or Master’s degree. How has a lack in total compensation affected the department? Cpl. Bill Lee, a roughly 15-year-veteran of the Glendora Police Department, began his new career at the Ontario Police Department April 30. Before Cpl. Lee, Officer Scott Salvage, a 7-year-veteran, left for greener pastures in Bend, Oregon. Salvage happened to be the departments’ K9 officer, rendering Glendora Police without K9 Bo. Eric Weber and Adam Pettinger, both with about a decade of experience, left and are now serving the city of Irvine. The department’s motor unit (motorcycle officers) will be forced to close for an undetermined time, putting a dent in traffic enforcement while three more Glendora officers are in the hiring process at other departments. The GPOA foreshadowed this exact scenario to the Glendora City Council throughout the negotiations process. The foreshadowing was seen as a bluff; a negotiation tactic, said Josh Price, president of the Glendora Police Officers Association. “It’s not an easy move. It’s not an easy decision to just up and leave the department. It takes a lot, because you’re starting all over,” Josh Price said. While he declined to share the exact numbers brought to the bargaining table, Price said the GPOA’s offers have been countered with much lower ones. All supervisors from sergeant to the chief will see retirement in the next five to seven years. The GPOA has a difficult task ahead of replacing those losses from within the department’s ranks, Price said. Some in the community see this tactic by the Glendora City Council as a maneuver to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Glendora Officer Jake Swann said that the San Dimas Sheriff’s Station, already stretched thin, would find it difficult to add the city to its patrol area. San Dimas deputies patrol unincorporated areas of Azusa, Covina, Glendora, La Verne, Claremont and Pomona, in addition to the city of San Dimas, the Los Angeles County portion of Mt. Baldy, a large portion of the Angeles National Forest and portions of Angeles Crest Highway: approximately 276 square miles. At any given time during the day or night, about four police officers max patrol the streets of Glendora, Price said. “It’s a very strange dynamic going on right now. We’re not competitive, which is why officers are choosing to uproot their families, uproot their long-term career. When you’re at the bottom of your comparison agencies, that’s what spurs someone to start looking at uprooting their long-term prospects here,” Swann said. City leaders use 12 other police agencies in the area that are similar in size and resources to compare against: Azusa, La Verne, Brea, Ontario, Monrovia, West Covina, Chino, Covina, Arcadia, Claremont, Upland and Montclair. Adding Glendora Police into the mix, the department is second to last in total compensation. The department wants to rank at least six to be lucrative to top talent, Price said. “Until very recently, the city has enjoyed being near the top of those salary surveys. The officers leaving now are the ‘A players.’ They’re the ones that came here because Glendora was near the top of the table,” Swann said. Fed up with the City Council’s ability to see eye-to-eye, the GPOA made an unprecedented move and formed the Glendora Police Officer’s Association PAC. The PAC, which officially began operation two weeks ago, seeks to provide donations to pro law enforcement candidates who place a high value on public safety, Price said. The GPOA publicly chided Glendora City Manager Chris Jeffers in months past, stating he spent years overestimating expenditures and underestimating revenue, projecting a dire financial scenario while simultaneously accumulating a funding surplus for the city. Glendora’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2017-18 specifically statedthat “the general fund is structurally balanced. Revenues exceed expenditures. The budgetary surplus/contingency of $251,797 is just short of 1 percent of the operating budget (less debt service). The Budget surplus policy goal is between 1 to 2 percent, Jeffers said. Glendora’s general fund revenues were projected for 2017-18 to be $28.8 million, with expenditures at $28.5 million. According to the 2017-18 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, Glendora Police account for 25 percent of expenditures -- the largest expenditure out of the nine functional departments. Glendora Police also accounted for the biggest increase in pension costs at 54 percent. “Adjustments at some level are expected over the next three to five years to keep the City’s salary structure within the City’s ability to pay,” Jeffers said in the city’s Fiscal Year 2017-18 Adopted Budget. In the 2018 February/March edition of Glendora Report, Jeffers said rising pension costs are a crisis hitting Glendora and other cities across the state. “The argument from Employee Associations/Unions was that in order to retain or attract employees, the city/special district needed to provide pension plans competitive with the State. It also was an easy sell to employers as CALPERS eagerly forecasted that the new formulas would not cost anymore to the employer,” Jeffers said, adding that “CALPERS rate projections for the City of Glendora are expected to be … 70.005 percent for Sworn Safety by 2023.” Jeffers went on to note that for a sworn police officer making $70,000 per year, the City of Glendora is sending a check of $29,757 ($70,000 x 42.510%) to their retirement account with CALPERS. The GPOA, wanting an independent look into the city’s finances,hired a forensic expert to conduct a thorough analysis of the city’s accountsand found what it called “surprises.”What the forensic analysis revealed may not be made public in the near future, Price said. “We’ve offered the information to the Council. One commenter told to us was no matter what this [forensic expert] says, it would not sway their opinion,” Price said. On the flip side, the GPOA does understand the Council’s position, given that Jeffers is the city manager; the CEO and administrative manager of the city and that hard decisions must be made, but still believe the city has adequate funding to meet their salary demands. In December 2017, amidst the very public disapproval the GPOA has with Jeffers at the negotiation table, the city manager announced his departure, effective this July. The announcement was made internally through an email, said Sonja Jones, of the City Manager’s Office. “Officers leaving doesn’t seem to be a concern for the city manager at least. It seems like he’s OK with the changeover that’s happening,” Swann said. The city has two offers for the GPOA to consider: a short-term 1-year contract and a two-year contract. Members will consider each contract for a vote that will take place within the next two weeks. |
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