Members will examine mediation, grants, land use, sidewalk
repairs at retreat
Gilroy – The future of deadlocked labor negotiations between the city and Fire Local #2805 could hinge on questions councilmen will tackle at a Friday retreat.
The most important question in the short term is whether the elimination of binding arbitration – or any other ballot measure affecting third party mediation – would impact current negotiations, which reached impasse in early spring.
Council members have an Aug. 12 deadline to get a measure on the November ballot, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar’s Office.
Even if they approve it in time, it remains unclear if a successful vote eliminating binding arbitration, originally approved by voters in the late ’80s, would remove the process from the hands of a third-party mediator and force the city and fire union back to the negotiating table.
City Attorney Linda Callon has been instructed by City Administrator Jay Baksa to look into that question. The answer could have a major impact on the November election if incumbent councilmen Bob Dillon, Craig Gartman and Charles Morales find their names on the same ballot with such a controversial proposal.
No official action can be taken at the informal council retreats, but the meetings are used as a chance for “straw polls” on various issues facing the city. Mayor Al Pinheiro, who has led the fight against binding arbitration, plans to gauge fellow council members’ inclination for a resolution asking voters to reconsider arbitration. The resolution would have to be approved on Aug. 1, the regular City Council meeting before the registrar’s deadline.
“We are going to provide information to the council to give us enough of a feel for where we’re at with this binding arbitration, as far as what this is doing to our city,” Pinheiro said. “It’s a matter of making sure we’re all carrying the same information and see if there’s will among council to put this to a vote in the community. This is something that was on the table many years ago under different circumstances. We’ve certainly now had a taste of what binding arbitration is all about.”
During the last binding arbitration process five years ago, the fire union won eight-person staffing minimums. As the city’s fire department grew, the mandate was modified to require four firefighters per engine. Today, the city and fire union are at odds over a series of contractual requests, including an expensive retirement package already granted to police officers.
It remains unclear if any ballot measure related to binding arbitration would affect the current labor deadlock, but it is now certain that voters will reach the polls at least once before the process is complete. City officials announced in recent weeks that labor negotiations were bumped from September to the beginning of 2006, due to the unavailability of certain witnesses for the fire union.
While the binding arbitration discussion promises to be among the most controversial at the Friday retreat city officials will tackle a number of other major policy issues, including:
• Grant allocation – The distribution of federal Community Development Block Grants has become a sore point with some councilmen, who would like to see more of the money go toward food and shelter programs for the needy. Officials will discuss possible changes to return authority over grant awards to City Council.
• Land use – City Council will discuss the possibility of shifting some of its authority over the fate of routine development projects to the Planning Commission, an appointed body, as well as creating a Zoning Administrator position to take on some of the commission’s responsibilities. City leaders will also discuss the future of the Gilroy’s growth control measure, the Residential Development Ordinance, and ways to update it to maintain the momentum of downtown revitalization.
• Sidewalk repairs and trees – City leaders will consider the possibility of a time schedule for repairing the city’s sidewalks, including the possibility of a bond measure for city-wide repairs. They also are considering an ordinance to shift greater legal liability on homeowners for “trip and fall” sidewalk injuries – the leading source of lawsuits against the city.
