Commentary: Transparency ordinance is shining a light on negotiations
In late 2007, on the eve of the Great Recession, while Costa Mesa residents were asleep in bed, the Costa Mesa City Council voted to approve a new labor agreement that gave the city’s general employees an additional $1.3 million annually in salary and benefits along with a massive retroactive pension increase that has cost local taxpayers untold millions of dollars and helped drive our unfunded pension liability to more than a quarter-billion dollars.
This fiscally irresponsible labor contract was buried on the consent calendar, garnered no discussion from the public or council members and was quietly approved along with 14 other items in a single vote. There was no mention of the agreement in the Daily Pilot or the Orange County Register.
The result was zero public scrutiny on a labor deal that should have never been signed because of the excessive, unfunded, retroactive pension increases.
Our new Civic Openness In Negotiations (COIN) has put a stop to these backroom-labor talks between untrained city executives and experienced union negotiators. You just have to look at the recent contract we completed this week with our general employees to see how well COIN is working.
Because of COIN, the city:
• Used a professional negotiator to sit across the table from union attorneys, which leveled the playing field.
• Kept the public apprised of each offer and counter offer.
• Made public the cost of each offer and counter offer.
•Posted the final agreement on the city’s website for six weeks before the final vote.
•Held two public hearings on the contract before the City Council approved it.
The results of this unprecedented transparency in negotiations were an excellent labor agreement that saves taxpayers more than $2 million over two fiscal years (about $1 million in salary and benefits and another $1 million for street sweepers that don’t have to be purchased because of outsourcing).
In addition, employees have agreed to a lower pay scale for new hires, and everyone will pick up 60% of any future pension increases.
Like many negotiations, the two sides started out far apart but, through compromise, eventually came to a workable agreement. With the public closely watching, COIN fostered a new spirit of cooperation between the City Council and the general employees’ association, whose members approved the contract.
It’s heartening to see other public agencies take note of Costa Mesa’s success and consider and adopt COIN ordinances. The sunshine is spreading.
STEVE MENSINGER is Costa Mesa’s mayor pro tem.