New Long Beach Police Department contract goes to vote

The Long Beach Police Department was expected to vote on a proposed contract on Wednesday, after the Herald went to press.

The city and the local police union, the Long Beach Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, agreed on the terms of a contract last week. While City Manager Charles Theofan declined on Tuesday to provide details about the contract until the PBA votes, he said that it would be a retroactive, two-year agreement that would expire on June 30, since the 80-man force has worked without a contract since June 2008. Theofan said that another new contract would have to be negotiated in the coming months.

"The reality is that the administration has tried very hard to reach an agreement with the PBA," Theofan said. "We were disappointment when the proposed contract, which was a five-year contract, was turned down by them."

Contract negotiations between the city and the PBA hit a wall in December when the union's members voted down a proposed contract that the leadership had agreed to. It included salary increases over five years ranging from 3.5 to 3.85 percent, and givebacks on retroactive pay raises equal to three-fourths of the value of future raises. While union leaders did not say why the contract was rejected, others speculated that the givebacks were the sticking point.

The city responded by retaining counsel for negotiations in February. The City Council voted 3-2 to give Theofan the green light to hire Bee Ready Fishbein Hatter & Donovan, a law firm specializing in police arbitration, at a cost of $24,000. The contract included negotiations with the city's Fire Department later this year.

Theofan and Corporation Counsel Corey Klein said that while they had the necessary labor law know-how to oversee the negotiations, they simply wanted to hire a specialist for the job.

PBA President Michael Bulick did not return a call requesting comment.

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