Thursday, October 1, 2026
A proposed resolution that would have given non-union employees with 15 years of service with the city and their families the same level of health benefits as civil service employees was removed from the agenda shortly before the March 1 City Council meeting, an initiative that City Council President Thomas Sofield Jr. said was no longer being considered.
The scrapped agenda item was aimed at amending the city’s code of ordinances’ personnel code. Specifically, the resolution stated that after completing 15 years of service to the city, regardless of an employee’s age, an exempt or non-union employee and his or her family would be entitled to receive health benefits immediately after their employment with the city ended, at the same level of benefits as a civil service employee covered by civil service collective bargaining agreement section 7-1.1.
“That was pulled from the agenda tonight and is not for consideration,” Sofield said, after a resident inquired about the resolution. “That’s no longer something the city is considering doing.”
Democratic City Councilman Len Torres said that the proposed resolution came as a surprise, especially during tough economic times. He said he was not told how many non-union employees it would have covered and what the overall cost to the city would have been before it was ultimately removed from the agenda.
“It was pulled of the agenda — of course they published it — and there was a tremendous amount of resentment,” Torres said. “The concern that we have is over the fiscal health of the city and they continue to propose these things. How do you intend to pay for these projects?”
City Manager Charles Theofan confirmed that the initiative has been abandoned. While he would not comment on specific details, Theofan would only say that the resolution was “flawed.”
“There were some good reasons behind that resolution but it was flawed for a number of reasons that I don’t want to go into,” Theofan said. “Maybe one day there may be some reconsideration, but for now it’s a dead issue.”
Theofan cited the general tough economic times as one reason for not moving forward with the resolution. “Now is not a popular time to be tinkering with public employee benefits in any way … being in a financial crisis that we share in,” he said.
