Readers concerned with City Hall raises and information
regarding the policy?
Candidate Would Nix City Policy on Raises for Top-Tier Employees
Dear Editor,
As a candidate in the upcoming City Council election, I want you to know exactly where I stand on the city’s recently enacted policy that ensures its top 42 managers always earn 15 percent more than their subordinates, and 10 percent more than their peers in surrounding cities. Simply put, I think it is a remarkably bad idea. In fact, the adoption of this policy last April is what caused me to ponder a Council run in the first place and part of what finally convinced me it is time to take City Hall in a new direction.
While I am a lawyer by profession, as a practical matter I am also a businessperson. For many years I have served on my law firm’s management committee, and during a four-year stint that ended last year I served as the partner in charge of our human resources department. My clients include companies with as many as 10,000 employees, as well as small businesses with only a couple of workers. Never have I heard of such a policy in the private sector. It makes no sense.
First, this policy substantially increases the city’s payroll burden at a time when we can ill afford it. Payroll already accounts for roughly 70 percent of the city’s annual $35 million operating budget. Under this new system, the top 42 managers are entitled to the highest raise negotiated by any of the city’s three labor unions. For example, an 8 percent raise for police officers means a similar pay increase for the city’s planning manager, finance director, human resources director, and other department heads.
This means that lower level raises will cause pay hikes to occur both upward and outward – across all departments – any time the gap between supervisor and subordinate falls under 15 percent. One needs to look no further than the city budget – currently projected to deplete our reserves by $4.7 million this fiscal year – to see that this is a misguided policy.
As one digs deeper though, the flaws in this policy become even more troublesome. In Gilroy, it has long been standard practice for police chiefs, fire division heads and other top managers to represent the city in negotiations with labor unions. Under this new policy, however, if the labor unions receive generous raises, the top-level managers sitting on the city’s side of the negotiating table also receive comparable raises. This is a blatant conflict of interest.
City Administrator Jay Baksa was quoted in this paper in April as saying, “The issue of it being a conflict of interest is offensive, because the management employees that sit in on these talks are of the highest integrity and professionalism.” That simply misses the point. No matter how ethical these department heads may be, linking their pay to that of subordinates necessary compromises their judgment during these negotiations. Further, public officials in my view must not only avoid acting improperly, they must also avoid appearing to act improperly. This policy makes that impossible.
The proper way to deal with compensating the city’s top brass is the way it is done in the private sector. Each individual is assessed based on the value that they bring to the organization. Innovation and efficiency are rewarded, while underperforming managers are not guaranteed anything (let alone guaranteed 10 percent more than their peers in a neighboring city).
If elected, I will do everything in my power to rescind this nonsensical policy. You can reach me at pw*******@*******aw.com.
Perry Woodward, Gilroy
City Claims Misinformation Rampant on Top-tier Raise Policy
Dear Editor,
Recently there have been many questions raised regarding the compensation study and raises planned for some city exempt employees.
Unfortunately, much of this discussion has been based on misinformation which has been circulated, then repeated as fact. In an effort to once again present the actual facts on this matter, a questions and answers fact sheet has been placed on the City of Gilroy website home page at www.ci.gilroy.ca.us.
In addition, a very detailed matrix is included showing classification increases, reasons, percent of increase by pay and classification, future increases, and cost of living increases, all presented by Job Class Title.
For those not able to access this information on the web, hard copies are available at Gilroy City Hall, 7351 Rosanna Street.
Joe Kline, Public Information Officer, City of Gilroy
