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| Eagle Scourts Honored! Congrats are given to the three newest Eagle Scourts here in Cerritos by Mayor Carol Chen. See more below and in today's street edition of the Los Cerritos Community News. RRE Photo |
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Image via Wikipedia.loscerritosnews.com605 Riverbed Bike Path improvement; new Library E-Book Program,
local scouts honored
By Randy Economy
LCCN Staff Reporter
In a dramatic request, Cerritos City Councilman Bruce Barrows called for a comprehensive study on the feasibility of contracting out dozens of hourly employees, including the elimination of some city employee pension plans.
Barrows is calling his proposal an “effort to trim the cities growing budget problem.”
The veteran city councilman is a strong vocal critic of the Cerritos Employees Association (AFSCME Local 619), and made his study request at the end of Monday’s meeting under city council reports.
A spokesperson for the employees union called Barrow’s proposal a “clear violation of the California Open Meeting Law” and charged him with “blindsiding” the rank and file city employees.
An “impasse” in contract negotiations for 2011 was declared during the April 28th Cerritos City Council meeting.
Image via WikipediaTalks for a new contract for the 2012 fiscal year will begin in earnest at the end of May.Barrows suggested that a study by management to “possibly go out to bid to contract many line-item employees only makes sense due to the sagging economy and poor business climate.”
“Now is the time to look at how we operate our service departments, and how we hire staff for the future,” Barrows said. When asked about what employees he was referencing, Barrows specifically mentioned hourly employees within departments such as the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts Center, the Cerritos Library, city maintenance yard and other “line item” workers.
“We need to cut skyrocketing pension costs, and we need to study every option possible. Nothing should be left on the table,” said Barrows.
The request for the review was supported by Mayor Carol Chen and Vice Mayor Jim Edwards. Councilmen Mark Pulido and Joseph Cho voted against the item.
UNION SAYS THEY WERE “BLINDSIDED”
UNION SAYS THEY WERE “BLINDSIDED”
Image via WikipediaErica Zeitlin, spokesperson for AFSCME Local #619, who represents the Cerritos Employees Association, said that they were “blindsided” by Councilman Barrows.Zeitlin said that the union would be “absolutely opposed” to “any proposal” to contract out jobs and that Barrows was now “picking a political fight.” She also said that Barrows was continuing his “ill-conceived attempt to under mind the hard working employees who are the backbone of the City of Cerritos.”
Zeitlin, also believes that Barrows may have violated the California Open Meeting Law for bringing the item forward in the matter in which it was raised. She said that the employee union will review their options and will even consider legal action against Barrows and the City for discussing the item publicly.
“If the vast majority of city jobs are indeed contracted out, one has to wonder what the actual fiscal savings will amount to,” she said. Asked if Zeitlin or any member of the union negotiating teams plans to contact Barrows about his request or concept, she said she has “no intention whatsoever in calling Mr. Barrows, about anything, period.”
“He has picked a fight with the wrong people,” she responded.
MAYOR RESPONDS TO CRITICS
Cerritos Mayor Carol Chen defended how she conducted the April 28th city council meeting by lambasting critics who spoke out against her and the city council during the past two weeks. “As the Mayor, I made a conscious decision not to change the order of the agenda,” said Chen. During that meeting, which lasted till 2:11 a.m., several residents and union members, including Rep. Sanchez were vocally critically of having to wait “nearly 3 1/2 hours” before the labor agenda item was addressed.
Sanchez chastised Chen and the City Council for “making her wait, along with other fellow Cerritos residents” for hours while the city council dealt with “non essential agenda items.” Chen said on Monday that she would ever “tell Congress how to conduct their business in Washington, DC” and said it was “inappropriate” for Rep. Sanchez to comment on how she, as Mayor, oversaw a Cerritos City Council meeting.
Mayor Chen also said that she took exception to critics who called the vote for the Union-City impasse as being based on political party lines. “It was about saving money for the taxpayers, not politics.”
605 RIVER BIKE PATH IMPROVEMENTS
The Council also reviewed a capital improvement project of the San Gabriel River Bicycle Trail located adjacent to the 605 Freeway.
When completed by the end of this summer, the popular bike path will be redesigned; widened and new lighting will be installed inside the “underpass” at 183rd Street.
The project is being overseen by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works and the office of Supervisor Don Knabe. Councilman Cho, an avid bike enthusiast, said he “welcomes” the improvements to the popular path. “This is really going to help everyone’s safety. I am excited to finally see this take place,” Cho said. Councilman Mark Pulido said that “bike safety” has to be a top priority, and looks forward to completion of this project.
NEW E-BOOK COLLECTION APPROVED FOR LIBRARY
The City Council also approved on a 5-0 vote an agreement with Overdrive Media that will allow Cerritos Library member’s access to almost 500,000 titles of books, periodicals and other publications on electronic tablets, Nooks, Think Pads, Kindles and I Books.
The agreement with Overdrive will result in a multi-year agreement at $25,000 per year for the next three years. Councilman Barrows said that the time has come for the Library to expand their services to keep up with technology.
The cities new agreement with Overdrive will result in a “unique partnership” between the two entities. Other local municipalities such as the City of Los Angeles are also using these types of “E-Book” services within their library facilities.
Resident Ken Cha said that this was “great news” that the city was going in this “direction” and welcomed the advancement of technology at the Library. Jim Yee, another longtime Cerritos resident said that it was great to see Cerritos at the forefront of technology but with the current budget “crisis” the city should “reevaluate” this project due to the cost involvement.
SCOUTS HONORED
The Cerritos City Council also honored four outstanding young people on achieving the rank of Eagle Scout and Gold Star. Both awards are the highest ranking one can achieve in the Boy and Girl Scouts of America. Those given Proclamations for their accomplishments were Esther Wu (Gold Star) and Jegun Ahn, Ronak Joshi, and Mitchell Kim (Eagle Scouts with Troop #1005).
