Raises for Some Employees Will Be Considered on Council Consent Calendar

The City Council this week will vote on a 14-item consent calendar that includes a 1-percent pay increase for Pasadena’s 161 firefighters represented by the Pasadena Fire Fighters Association (PFFA). 

“The prior three-year memorandum of understanding between the City and the PFFA expired on June 30, 2020,” according to a city staff report. “Negotiations for a successor contract with the PFFA began in February 2020, and discussions on economic items were suspended in March 2020 due to the immediate and significant impact the COVID-19 pandemic was projected to have on the City’s budget along with the ongoing uncertainty including long term impact. The parties continued to communicate for several months primarily to discuss non-economic items, and agreed to extend the existing contract for three months to September 30, 2020.”

The firefighters will also receive a one-time, lump-sum payment equal to the value of 1 percent of base pay for the period July 6 through Feb. 28.

A separate item on the consent calendar also grants the seven members of the Pasadena Fire Management Association the same pay raise and one-time payment.

Separate items in the consent calendar provide pay raises for engineers working in the city’s Water and Power Department. 

Other nonrepresented city employees would also receive increases.

The pay raises and the other items can be passed with a sweep motion and single vote. Councilmembers can also pull items for further discussion.

The sweep motion would also pass a maximum of $325,000 with a maximum term of five years between the city and Matheson Tri-Gas Inc. to furnish and deliver calibration and industrial gases for the Water and Power Department. The City Council could also accept a Jan. 19 bid submitted by Henkels & McCoy, Inc., for Fiber Optic Installation. The contract would be  for a period not to exceed five years, or until $2,000,000 has been expended, whichever comes first.

The City Council could authorize City Manager Steve Mermell to enter into a $179,520 with KLDiscovery Ontrack, LLC for planning and migration services of archive email data to Microsoft Exchange Online cloud services.

A sweep motion would also allow Mermell to authorize the city manager to extend the term of the city’s contract with CentralSquare Technologies LLC, OBA: Superion LLC from Feb. 25 to June 30 for false fire alarm billing and collections services. The contract would be increased from $74,999 to $124,999.

A $380.000 contract with Comet Electric Inc. would provide video detection system and fiber optic communication for intelligent transportation system phase I.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the city and the International Union of Operating Engineers would provide a  1% salary increase effective March 1 and a one-time, lump-sum payment equal to the value of 1% of base pay for the period July 6, through Feb. 28. 

The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) represents 19 full-time employees who work at the Power Plant in the Water and Power Department. 

A sweep vote would also provide 1% pay increases for the sworn safety classifications of police chief, deputy police chief, fire chief, and deputy fire chief and all non-sworn classifications except the following: Classifications with a minimum hourly rate tied to the minimum wage. 

The hourly rates for the classifications of city service worker- lead ambassador and lifeguard will be increased by $1 per hour, from $15.50 to $16.50 and $15 to $16, respectively, in order to reduce compaction with lower classifications created by increases to the minimum wage. 

The step schedule for community service specialists will be adjusted by approximately $2.50 per hour to reduce compaction with lower classifications created by increases to the minimum wage as well as provide internal alignment in the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. 

A contract with Batza and Associates would be increased by  $25,000 for a revised not-to-exceed amount of $99,999. The company would continue to provide personnel-related investigative services.

The city manager could enter into a contract with Titan Disposal Co. not-to-exceed $721,552 for an initial period of one year with an option for three additional one-year terms at $721,552 per year subject to the approval of the city manager. If the three additional one-year terms are exercised, the total contract amount will be $2,986,208.

The city is also seeking the extension of a Bank America Letter of Credit related to the variable rate demand refunding certificates of participation.

Finally, the quarterly cleanup of the budget would amend the fiscal year (FY) 2021 adopted operating budget by a net amount of $288,512 and increase the citywide total full-time equivalents (FTE) by four limited-term FTEs; and authorize the city manager to enter into a contract with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health (MCAH) Division, California Home Visiting Program (CHVP) to accept and administer grant funds on behalf of the city of Pasadena.