1/27/2012 - City announces Police contract MOU.  Public comment meeting on 1/31/2012.  See announcement http://www.ci.pleasanton.ca.us/WEBLINK8/DocView.aspx?id=244685.

5/19/2011 - Update:  City approved re-negotiated Misc worker's contract.  See update here.  That's a baby step forward, Police and Fire contracts are coming.
3/3/2011 - Update:  No actionable news from the March 3rd council meeting.  See update here.
2/15/2011 - Update:  City council & Unions agree to re-open negotiations.

Pleasanton Entitlements Issue:

Alert Pleasanton Citizens,

Our city government disclosed the newly negotiated contract for regular city workers on January 12th, 201.  Our requirement is for decisive action by our elected leaders to ensure the outcome is equitable for both city workers and Pleasanton citizens.  Our position is as follows:

Background:

• Since 2002, the Pleasanton city budget has grown by 47%, however, the portion of that budget allocated to entitlement obligations has grown by almost 400%.   This growth is projected to continue and is unsustainable.  Action must be taken.
  
• Presently, the city must spend $15.3M annually on entitlements...and this number is expected to continue to increase.
• Today's city budget on entitlements is $14.7M more than in 2002.
• Today's entitlement expenses consumes approximately 18% of the entire general budget of Pleasanton.  In 2002 this was approximately 1%.
  
• Employer contribution costs for entitlements are expected to go up 31% over the next 3 years.  This problem is only getting worse.
• Pension and medical plans for Pleasanton workers have now reached severely underfunded levels....well below the 80% critical funding levels needed to be considered healthy.  Again, this foretells severe increases in future expenses for the city.
  

The Present Situation:

• See the video and presentation of the Pension Budget Workshop here.
  
• City council vote on the contract is expected on the Feb 15th council meeting.
• The general city worker contract has been negotiated between the city and the unions.  -- See the details of the contract here.
  
• The new contract does not appear to take meaningful step to address the fiscal stress on the city. 
  

Recommended Actions:

• Review the city's information on the contract and employee cost here.  Send your questions to the city before the budget workshop.  Or post them at our comment blog here.
  
• Send email to the mayor/council and express your concern and urge them to fairly represent you, the voting tax payer of Pleasanton.  Contact them at this email address:  citycouncil@ci.pleasanton.ca.us
  
• Attend the Pleasanton City Council's budget workshop on Feb 1st.  7pm in the city council chambers.
  

Worst Case Contengencies:

• Potential citizens ballot initiative depending on contract outcome.  We do not want this path.  We urge our city leaders to take this issue seriously, and so far they appear to be responding.  If the city approved a contract that is bad for the citizens of Pleasanton, our only recourse will be a citizen's initiative mandating the will of the voter/citizen be respected.
• This issue and how our elected officials responded will be a key campaign issue in 2012 (and 2014).  We will ensure this situation is not forgotten.  If necessary we will identify, recruit, and support candidates who will represent the citizen's expectation of careful fiscal stewardship.
  

References:

• View a summary of the situation here.
• View a post in Pleasanton Weekly describing the situation in plain language here.
• View the original Pleasanton Weekly article that alerted citizens to this issue here.

Thank you for taking action in your community!

Sincerely,
Citizens of Pleasanton for Fiscal Responsibility & TriValley Patriots.

Questions?  email us at info@ptowncitizens.com or Join our Mailing List!