San Jose City Council Meets On Fiscal Emergency
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- After nearly 45 people addressed the San Jose City Council on Friday to voice opposition to the mayor's emergency declaration that they say would end collective bargaining, council members went into a closed session to determine the proposal's fate.
A special meeting was held Friday to discuss moving forward in negotiations with employee bargaining units on retirement benefits. City staff gave a presentation on cost analysis on the various retirement reform proposals and the potential savings of each plan.
Before taking a vote on deferring action on Mayor Chuck Reed's declaration of fiscal and public safety emergency and fiscal reform ballot measures until Aug. 2, the council allowed residents and workers to have their say.
Nancy Ostrowski, a chief negotiator for the Association of Engineers and Architects, the Association of Maintenance Supervisory Personnel and the City Association of Management Personnel, was one of the dozens who urged the City Council to use collective bargaining, which many said is a "basic human right," to solve pension problems rather than to declare a fiscal emergency.
"Don't throw away all our hard work by insisting on proposals that will not hold up to legal scrutiny," she said.
Kay Denise McKenzie, president of the City Association of Management Personnel, said the proposal was not "lawful and will not lead to an agreement."
"Please let us do our end and reject the mayor's proposal," McKenzie said.
The council was expected to return from their closed session meeting and make a decision on the proposal sometime Friday evening.
Last week, the city reached an agreement with five of its unions, including the San Jose Police Officers' Association and the firefighters' union, on retirement reform.
As part of that agreement, an Oct. 31 deadline was decided for ending negotiations, which would give the two sides time to negotiate pension reform and reach a resolution in time to achieve savings for the 2012 fiscal year, and consider an election possibly in March 2012.
Reed announced a proposal to declare a fiscal emergency in May, saying it would rein in "skyrocketing" retirement costs and help the city avoid further cuts to services and layoffs of hundreds of workers, including police officers and firefighters.
His proposal calls for setting limits on retirement benefits for employees and retirees, but because the recommendations require changes to the city charter, they would have to win approval by voters.
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