Opportunity knocks, but will the City Council listen and give
the voters of Gilroy the right to review their decision to write
binding arbitration for fire and police employees into the City of
Gilroy’s charter?
1. Binding arbitration steals local control away from elected officials
Opportunity knocks, but will the City Council listen and give the voters of Gilroy the right to review their decision to write binding arbitration for fire and police employees into the City of Gilroy’s charter?
It’s an open question. Going against the union muscle and campaign money takes more guts than most elected officials have.
But binding arbitration steals local control of city finances from residents and puts it in the hands of a single, faceless, unaccountable-to-residents attorney who has no regard for what’s best for Gilroy.
That, the city’s current financial meltdown and the Chamber of Commerce’s leadership in formally asking the City Council to place the issue on the ballot should be more than enough for any reasonable Council member to allow residents to decide.
2. The lavish salaries and benefits have to be kept in firm check
If the choice is to leave it in the city charter, so be it. But times have changed and the the public is aware that public sector employees are showered with rich benefit and pay packages to the detriment of all else in our community.
Facts like these punctuate the problem:
In 2006-07 the three Gilroy Fire Department Division Chiefs took home the following amounts:
-$131,508 plus $2,504 in OT
-$136,624
-$136,624
In 2007-08 the three Gilroy Fire Department Batallion Chiefs took home the following amounts;
-$162,948
-$191,290
-$188,666
Is it all due to binding arbitration? No, but the fire and police unions have that hammer in reserve and every time it’s been used, the unions have won.
3. Unfortunately, it’s a battle that must be fought before Gilroy is bankrupt
Gilroy’s city administration and City Council have to be much more hard-nosed and realistic in negotiations than in the past. But they can hardly take the necessary stance with the threat and cost of binding arbitration looming.
The city is in a long-term mess, a fiscal spiral that will only be halted by reversing the unsustainable march of salary and benefit increases. That begins with the repeal of binding arbitration.
No longer can Gilroy afford to pay the entire retirement benefit – no employee match required – for firefighters, nearly all of whom make in excess of $100,000 per year. No longer can sick leave be accumulated without limit, paid off in a lump sum and then be calculated into a highest-year’s earnings retirement pay calculation.
The unions are out of control. While we sincerely respect the jobs our public safety employees do, a new reality is upon this community. Gilroy – and many other cities in our state – can’t afford it. Nor should we afford lavish salaries and benefits at the expense of all else in our community. Let the voters decide. Repeal binding arbitration ASAP.
