REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action related to the Elected Police Chief's Benefit Request
Report
BACKGROUND
On March 20, 2018, the Council approved the Police Chief's request for retroactive pay increases (Council Agenda item 18-333). The action was based on the Police Chief's written request for a salary increase and, as a result, Council action was taken on salary and POST pay. The March 20 Council action formalized approval for retroactive payments made without required City Council authority.
While implementing the Council approved salary increase for the Police Chief, it was discovered that staff had adjusted certain benefit increases for the Police Chief in alignment with the Unit 9A - Unclassified Police Management Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that had not been approved by Council. Having learned this, City staff has confirmed with the Police Chief he is also seeking additional benefits commensurate with Unit 9A.
Unfortunately, during the drafting of the March 20, 2018 City Council report, these unauthorized benefit increases had not been disclosed to the City Manager nor explicitly requested by the Police Chief's written request for salary and benefits adjustments (see Attachment 1), resulting in the March 20, 2018 City Council report not including that information. To remedy this issue, the City Manager has conferred with the Police Chief who confirmed in writing an interest in continuing to receive these increased benefits--equal to Unit 9A (Attachment 2). Additional City Council approval is required to consider these increased benefits.
As discussed in the March 20 report, the Chief of Police has historically received the same benefits as provided to Unit 9A. The 2016-18 Unit 9A MOU (Attachment 3) includes the following benefits: retirement, holiday pay, vacation pay, uniform allowance, insurance (life, medical, dental, vision), retiree medical reimbursement, sick leave, family leave, personal leave, bereavement leave, voluntary time ...
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