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Home My WebLink AboutCC Resolution 14010 (Grand Jury Response; Labor Negotiations)RESOLUTION NO. 14010 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE CITY'S RESPONSE TO THE 2014-2015 MARIN COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT ENTITLED "THE NEED FOR LABOR NEGOTIATION TRANSPARENCY" WHEREAS, pursuant to Penal Code section 933, a public agency which receives a Grand Jury Report addressing aspects of the public agency's operations must, within ninety (90) days, provide a written response to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court with a copy to the Foreperson of the Grand Jury, responding to the Report's findings and recommendations; and WHEREAS, City staff requested a 30 -day extension of the September 4, 2015 deadline to provide the City's response to the Grand Jury, and the Grand Jury on August 5, 2015 granted the City's request and extended the deadline for submission of the City's response to October 2, 2015; and WHEREAS, Penal Code section 933 specifically requires that the "governing body" of the public agency provide said response and, in order to lawfully comply, the governing body must consider and adopt the response at a noticed public meeting pursuant to the Brown Act; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of San Rafael has received and reviewed the 2014-2015 Marin County Grand Jury Report, dated June 1, 2015, entitled "The Need for Labor Negotiation Transparency", and has agendized it at this meeting for a response. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of San Rafael hereby: 1. Approves and authorizes the Mayor to execute the City's response to the Marin County Grand Jury's June 1, 2015 Report entitled "The Need for Labor Negotiation Transparency," a copy of which response is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. 2. Directs the City Clerk to forward the City's response forthwith to the Presiding Judge of the Marin County Superior Court and to the Foreperson of the Marin County Grand Jury. I, Esther Beirne, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the San Rafael City Council held on the 8th day of September, 2015, by the following vote to wit: AYES: Councilmembers: Bushey, Colin, Gamblin, McCullough & Mayor Phillips NOES: Councilmembers: None ABSENT: Councilmembers: None �S-f4: -,,� 9 9: f - • j 2, e- t Z,,. r _ ESTHER C. BEIRNE, City Clerk FORM FOR RESPONDING TO GRAND JURY REPORT Report Title: Report Date: Public Release Date: Response by: The Need for Labor Negotiation Transparency June 1, 2015 June 4, 2015 Mayor Gary Phillips and City Council FINDINGS ■ 1 (we) agree with the findings numbered: F3 ■ I (we) disagree wholly or partially with the findings numbered: F1, F2 RECOMMENDATIONS ■ Recommendations numbered R2 have been Jpartiallvl implemented. ■ Recommendations numbered n/a have not yet been implemented, but will be implemented in the future. ■ Recommendations numbered n/a require further analysis. ■ Recommendations numbered R1 will not be implemented because they are not warranted or are not reasonable. h /"l Date: 9 1 1 0/' 1 / Signed: Number of pages attached: 3 ei- y Lukt-L c if 4BRt . ATTACHMENT B RESPONSE OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL TO THE GRAND JURY REPORT "THE NEED FOR LABOR NEGOTIATION TRANSPARENCY" FINDINGS: F1. The residents of Marin County pay taxes to support decisions made by the Board of Supervisors and City and Town Councils; however these residents have minimal opportunity to provide input into labor negotiations. Response: Disagree. The residents of Marin County certainly pay taxes that support decisions made by the Board of Supervisors and City and Town Councils, but residents do have sufficient opportunity to provide input into labor negotiations. The City of San Rafael values inclusive and transparent labor relations and the City already engages in measures such as the below to ensure equity and transparency in negotiations: • Adhering to the Ralph M. Brown Act, California's open meeting law, and the Meyers- Milias-Brown Act (MMBA), which governs labor-management relationships within California local governments; • Hiring an outside negotiator who serves as the City's lead to conduct negotiations on the City's behalf; • Hiring an outside actuarial firm to conduct an independent economic analysis of the fiscal impacts of any contract provision that has long term actuarial impacts; • Including a "Fiscal Impact" section in the staff reports provided to the City Council for labor agreements that details the fiscal impact of the proposal compared to the past agreements; • The City Attorney always publicly reports on any reportable actions from City Council closed sessions; • Staff reports regarding proposed MOUs are placed on a public agenda on regularly scheduled City Council meetings; and • The basic terms of the agreement are found in every MOU, which are all posted on- line, and the public can provide feedback to the City Council at any time, in any manner, including providing public comment at any City Council meeting. In addition to the current practices listed above, the City Council established a "Pension/Other Post -Employment Benefits (OPEB)" Subcommittee in 2012 which currently consists of Mayor Phillips and Vice Mayor McCullough. This Subcommittee began discussions on COIN and labor negotiations transparency in Spring 2015. Staff conducted research, informally talking to other cities, and found that this process has not yet proven to increase transparency in a significant way and has slowed down the negotiation process. Alternatives to the COIN process have been considered by staff and informally discussed with stakeholders, including bargaining units. The following practices have been identified for staff to pursue in future negotiations, in addition to those listed above: R2. Marin County Board of Supervisors and each City Council and Town Council in Marin County adopt and implement a COIN ordinance which includes, but is not limited to the following: 1. Hire an independent, experienced Lead Negotiator to negotiate all labor agreements. 2. Hire an independent auditor to determine the fiscal impact of each provision in the current contact, and make this analysis available for public review. 3. Make public each proposal, after it is accepted or rejected by either Party, and publicly verify the costs of that accepted or rejected proposal by an independent auditor. 4. Make public seven days prior to a Board or Council meeting the negotiated tentative agreement and the fiscal analysis thereof, which are to be independently verified. 5. After seven days, place the final tentative agreement on the following two consecutive Employer's public meeting agendas: the first meeting is for discussion of the tentative agreement; the second meeting is for a vote by the Employer to approve or disapprove the tentative agreement. Response: R2 Has been Partially Implemented. Although the City of San Rafael does not plan to adopt and implement a COIN ordinance at this time, the City believes that its current and planned processes satisfy a number of the Grand Jury -recommended elements as indicated in the response to F1. In short, outside experts are already involved in the process and there will be additional time to review the draft MOUs and Resolutions which will take place on the regular agenda as opposed to the Consent Calendar. The City believes implementation of the element regarding making each proposal public would increase costs to the labor negotiation process without substantially improving transparency. The City is, however, committed to maintaining a transparent labor negotiation process and will continue to work with all bargaining units, employees, and the public to ensure a fair and inclusive process. The City will also continue to track all legal issues surrounding labor negotiations. °'r'' °F�� Agenda Item No: 5. b Meeting Date: September 8, 2015 SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT Department: Human Resources Department Prepared by: Deirdre Dolan, Human Resources City Manager Approval: Director TOPIC: RESPONSE TO GRAND JURY REPORT ON LABOR NEGOTIATIONS TRANSPARENCY SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL RESPONSE TO THE JUNE 1, 2015 MARIN COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT ENTITLED "THE NEED FOR LABOR NEGOTIATION TRANSPARENCY" EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This staff report provides information about the Grand Jury Report entitled "The Need for Labor Negotiation and Transparency" and staffs proposed response. The City of San Rafael values inclusive and transparent labor relations. In addition to adhering to the Ralph M. Brown Act, the City engages in a variety of measures to ensure equity and transparency in negotiations. Staff disagrees with findings 1 and 2 of the Grand Jury Report; agrees with finding 3; and disagrees with the recommendations to adopt and implement a COIN ordinance. BACKGROUND: The 2014-2015 Marin County Grand Jury has issued its report, dated June 1, 2015 and made public on June 4, 2015, entitled "The Need for Labor Negotiation Transparency." In this report, the Grand Jury investigates the labor negotiation process for Marin County and its cities and towns. During its investigation on pension enhancements, the Grand Jury learned about a negotiation process called Civic Openness in Negotiations (COIN) that was implemented by the City of Costa Mesa. Various other cities, as well as Orange County, have subsequently implemented variations of COIN in their respective jurisdictions. The Grand Jury's report describes the origins of COIN as well as the key components of the process. In addition the report includes a section on common misconceptions, appendices showing a summary of COIN requirements adopted by other governing bodies, and a flowchart of the COIN process. The full Grand Jury report is attached as Attachment A. FOR CITY CLERK ONLY File No.: 2613 Council Meeting: 91-9/2oi-6- Disposition: /14o/0 SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Paae: 2 The City of San Rafael has approximately 395 full and part-time staff (regular employees). All regular employees are members of some form of a bargaining group, from the various public safety groups to non -safety positions such as engineers, street maintenance workers, and librarians. Negotiations between the City and these groups determine conditions of employment, such as wages, working hours, overtime, holidays, sick leave, vacation time, retirement benefits, healthcare, and grievance methods. These negotiations result in a City Council approved Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or a Resolution that lasts for a set time period. In San Rafael, there are 11 different bargaining groups, eight of them represented by unions or employee associations. Each group has its own MOU or Resolution. Typically, negotiations between the City and each bargaining group begin about four to six months prior to the end of the current MOU or Resolution. Some examples of factors that are considered through the negotiations process are: the City's financial health, comparability with compensation in similar jurisdictions, the "marketplace" which refers to the City's ability to recruit and retain quality staff, the cost of living including health care costs, and work rules or other factors that would lead to a better working environment for the City and its employees. The labor negotiations consist of a series of meetings, during which information is exchanged to support proposals made by the City and the bargaining unit. For represented bargaining groups, the parties may reach "tentative agreement" during the negotiations on certain proposals that later will become part of a full package of MOU changes. In all cases, the City Council plays a key role in setting the parameters for the City negotiators and reviewing and directing the progress of the negotiations. ANALYSIS: The City of San Rafael values inclusive and transparent labor relations, and already engages in several practices that are akin to the requirements of COIN. These include such practices as: • Adhering to the Ralph M. Brown Act, California's open meeting law, and the Meyers-Milias- Brown Act (MMBA), which governs labor-management relationships within California local governments; • Hiring an outside negotiator who serves as the City's lead to conduct negotiations on the City's behalf; • Hiring an outside actuarial firm to conduct an independent economic analysis of the fiscal impacts of any contract provision that has long term actuarial impacts; • Including a "Fiscal Impact" section in the staff reports provided to the City Council for labor agreements that details the fiscal impact of the proposal compared to the past agreements; • The City Attorney always publicly reports on any reportable actions from City Council closed sessions; • Staff reports regarding proposed MOUs are placed on a public agenda on regularly scheduled City Council meetings; and • The basic terms of the agreement are found in every MOU, which are all posted on-line, and the public can provide feedback to the City Council at any time, in any manner, including providing public comment at any City Council meeting. In addition to the current practices listed above, the City Council established a "Pension/Other Post - Employment Benefits (OPER)" Subcommittee in 2012 which currently consists of Mayor Phillips and Vice Mayor McCullough. This Subcommittee began discussions on COIN and labor negotiations transparency in Spring 2015. Staff conducted research, informally talking to other cities, and found that this process has not yet proven to increase transparency in a significant way and has slowed down the SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Paae: 3 negotiation process. Alternatives to the COIN process have been considered by staff and informally discussed with stakeholders, including bargaining units. The following practices have been identified for staff to pursue in future negotiations, in addition to those listed above: • The City typically hosts a labor negotiations kick-off meeting prior to the start of negotiations, during which the current and projected financial status of the City is discussed along with a broad outline of the issues the City will be addressing during negotiations. The City plans for future negotiations to invite the public to attend the kick-off meeting and include an agenda item for public comment; • Staff would provide a "labor negotiations" webpage at the City website that has information about how the bargaining process works and links to current MOUs and Resolutions. • Staff reports regarding proposed MOUs would be heard as a regular City Council agenda item rather than on the Consent Calendar; and • Draft MOUs and Resolutions could be on a City Council agenda for discussion, and then brought back to the following City Council meeting for final action. This would also allow the draft MOU or Resolution to be on the City's website for a longer period of time before City Council action. The Grand Jury stated that labor negotiations between Marin County, including all cities and towns, and their respective labor groups are "conducted in private, without transparency, and removed from the scrutiny of the Marin community." Staff does not recommend adopting and implementing a COIN ordinance. Staff believes the City's process already satisfies several of the COIN elements recommended by the Grand Jury and that in working with bargaining units and employees, we can continue to be inclusive of the public in a way that ensures equity and transparency. Also, since the inception of COIN in other jurisdictions, challenges have been filed that call into question the legality of certain aspects of COIN from the standpoint of existing labor relations laws. It would be prudent to proceed cautiously with implementation of any COIN principles until the legal issues are resolved. Staff will continue to track all legal issues surrounding labor negotiations. The Grand Jury has requested that San Rafael and other governing bodies, including the County of Marin respond to all findings and recommendations. Staff's recommended response to the Grand Jury report is attached as Attachment B. COMMUNITY OUTREACH: The City's website has webpages dedicated to labor negotiations and pensions. These pages provide information and links to additional resources, such as MOUs and actuarial reports. In addition, information is included in the City Manager's eNewsletter "Snapshot" prior to the City Council considering any new labor agreements. Information about this staff report and proposed response was also included in "Snapshot." FISCAL IMPACT: There is no direct fiscal impact to the recommended action of this report. ACTION REQUIRED: The City is required to respond to the Grand Jury Report. Penal Code section 933(c) states in part: "No later than 90 days after the Grand Jury submits a final report ... the governing body of the public agency shall comment to the presiding Judge of the Superior Court on the findings and recommendations... (contained in the report]." SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Paae: 4 To comply with this statute, the City's response to the Grand Jury report would have been required to be approved by Resolution of the City Council and submitted to the Presiding Judge of the Marin County Superior Court and the Foreperson of the Grand Jury on or before September 4, 2015. However, at the direction of the City Council's Pension/OPER Subcommittee, on August 3, 2015 staff requested a 30 -day extension in order to allow adequate time to thoroughly evaluate the Grand Jury report and discuss it with key stakeholders. On August 5, 2015, the Grand Jury granted the 30 -day extension making the new due date October 2, 2015, which is 120 days from the date of publication. The City Council's Pension/OPEB Subcommittee met with representatives of the City's bargaining units and other community stakeholders. A proposed Resolution is attached that would approve the City's response. OPTIONS: The City is required to respond, however, the City Council has the following options to consider on this matter: 1. Adopt Resolution approving the proposed response; 2. Adopt Resolution with modifications to the proposed response; 3. Direct staff to return with more information on September 21. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution approving the proposed response to the Grand Jury report and authorizing the Mayor to execute the response. ATTACHMENTS: A. Grand Jury Report "The Need for Labor Negotiation Transparency" dated June 1, 2015. B. Proposed Response C. Resolution D. Related Correspondence CITY OF h1AYOR GnRY O. PIIILI IPS VICE M \YOR A\DRLW CL '\ L GAN IVICCULLOLGH COL NCILMI]MBCR MARIBETII BUSHE\' Dilnfim City COL NCILMENIBER KATE COLI\ ar.\laritt '" ' ' "'" COLNCIL\IE\IBER )OLIN G \\1BLI\ CITY CLERK 415-485-3065 September 16, 2015 The Honorable Judge Faye D' Opal Marin County Superior Court P.O. Box 4988 San Rafael, CA 94913-4988 Honorable Judge D'Opal: Mr. Nixon: Jack G. Nixon, Foreperson Marin County Civil Grand Jury 2014/2015 3501 Civic Center Drive, Room #275 San Rafael, CA 94903 RE: Marin County Civil Grand Jury Report: "The Need for Labor Negotiation Transparency" We are forwarding to you the following documents: A certified copy of Resolution No. 14010 adopted by the San Rafael City Council on September 8, 2015, approving and authorizing the Mayor to execute the City's response; • Original of the "Response to Grand Jury Report Form," executed by Mayor Phillips on September 10, 2015; • Copy of the City Council Staff Report dated September 8, 2015 Should you need further assistance, please contact me at (415) 485-3065. Sincerely, ESTHER C. BEIRNE City Clerk cc: Gary O. Phillips, Mayor of the City of San Rafael Jim Schutz, City Manager Robert Epstein, City Attorney Deirdre Dolan, Human Resources Director 1400 Finn► Ab ENI L PO Box 151560 S \N R W \EL„ CA 94915 1560 W WW.CITYOFSANR \FACL.ORG