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The Pleasanton City Council unanimously approved a number of labor contract agreements during the consent calendar portion of its Dec. 16 regular meeting, which included 3.5% raises for both the city manager and city attorney as well as separate salary increases for city management, confidential employee groups and unionized city employees.
While there wasn’t much discussion on the three compensation items included in the consent calendar — which are items considered routine in nature and are typically approved by a single vote — Mayor Jack Balch took some time during last Tuesday’s meeting to recognize some of the comments he received from community members regarding the labor matters.
“Our labor contracts do not align or expire at the same time,” Balch said. “While these actions that we’re taking tonight may appear synchronized because they appear before us at the same time, they are not.”
He added that the effective dates and timelines for the three labor contracts are all different and that discussing the various agreements at the same time improves transparency between the community and the city’s actions concerning compensation.
“Like my fellow council members we are trying to increase transparency and accountability,” Balch said. “I believe by the council hearing these contracts tonight, at the same meeting, we’re actually increasing accountability and transparency so that the public can see them in full context and better understanding of the differences between the three contracts we’re evaluating.”
Balch said the city would commonly see these agreements spread throughout the year, which he said could burden the public to “recall historical context for comparability.”
“At least, that’s been my experience,” he said.
The first two labor agreements that the council amended were the contracts for City Manager Gerry Beaudin and City Attorney Dan Sodergren.
The contracts were amended to provide 3.5% raises to the two city executives, which are retroactive to Sept. 1, as part of the their annual review process. Beaudin’s annual salary will now be $343,512 while Sodergren’s will go up to $301,905, according to the respective contract amendments.
Both Beaudin and Sodergren did not receive any pay raises in 2024 due to budget constraints; however, Beaudin did get an extra six months of severance assurance after a positive review last year.
The council also voted yes on updating the Purchasing Procedures Manual which, in part, effectively increases Beaudin’s approval authority for “General Goods and Services (e.g., Equipment, Office Supplies and Repair Services) and Professional Services (e.g., Consultation and Engineering) from $100,000 to $200,000.”
Council member Craig Eicher pulled the item from consent to have further discussion for the sake of transparency on the policy decision to raise Beaudin’s signing authority.
“My concern is the transparency for council and the community on that gap that’s in there,” Eicher said.
Beaudin then explained that the intent for the increase in his office’s signing authority was to improve efficiency.
“There’s about 50 agenda reports per year, on average, that come forward with between $100,000 and $200,000,” Beaudin said. “Those are very rarely … discussed in any detail — they’re usually on consent — and so the goal here was to be a little bit more efficient. Especially with our finance department’s limited staff resource time.”
Finance Director Susan Hsieh also explained that neighboring cities have a similar $200,000 signing authority for their city manager offices.
Following an individual meeting with Eicher beforehand, Beaudin said the city will plan on producing regular reports to the council on any contracts his office signs off on that are between $100,000 and $200,000.
In addition to Beaudin and Sodergren’s approved raises, the council also voted as part of the consent calendar to increase the pay schedule for city management and confidential employee groups by 3% this fiscal year. According to staff, those employees also did not receive a cost-of-living increase in 2024 because of budget issues.
“The most recent wage adjustment for the management and confidential group took effect on Sept. 2, 2023,” the Dec. 16 staff report stated. “Staff’s recommendation of a three percent (3%) increase is consistent with market data, (Consumer Price Index), and the city’s internal equity with labor.”
However, staff noted that this increase does not mean each manager or confidential employee will immediately see a raise in their salaries.
“An adjustment to the range does not automatically result in an adjustment to individual employees’ salaries,” staff stated in the Dec. 16 agenda report. “Salary placement is determined separately, and based on factors such as qualifications, performance, internal equity, and compaction.”
The last item that the council approved in regards to employee compensation was the tentative agreement between the city and the labor union that represents over 200 employees across various departments.
The agreement between the city and Pleasanton City Employees Association (PCEA), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 955, which the council previously reviewed during its Dec. 2 meeting, will now replace the previous memorandum of understanding between both parties, which expired on March 31.
The PCEA represents about 204 employees across a range of positions at the city including clerical positions, police dispatchers, recreation employees, planners, engineers, and maintenance employees.
Under the new agreement, salary ranges will go up by 3% once after April 1 of 2026 and once again in 2027 during the same month.
The new contract also stipulates that the city will provide $1,000 in longevity pay annually to bargaining unit employees who have been with the city for 10 consecutive years, with payments distributed bi-weekly. That total payout will also be raised to $1,100 in 2027.
Police Dispatchers and Police Dispatch Supervisors who obtain a Peace Officer Standard Training (POST) certificate will also now receive a certain percentage of certification pay depending on the level of training they obtain.
Other key terms for the contract include an increase to the amount for bilingual pay from $50 to $100; a slight increase to the meal pay for employees required to work more than 12 hours consecutively without a dinner break; an increase to allowances for safety boots; and increase to both the call back and standby time policies.
“I would like to say, for each of the groups under those labor agreements, I appreciate the hard work, dedication and contributions that each of these groups are bringing to Pleasanton,” Balch said. “Thank you very much, on behalf of the community.”
