REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Eric G. Parra, Interim City Manager
VIA: Marissa Sur, Director of Human Resources
PREPARED BY: Marissa Sur, Director of Human Resources
Subject:
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Adopt Resolution No. 2024-44 Amending the Memorandum of Understanding Between the City and Huntington Beach Management Employees’ Organization by Adopting a Side Letter of Agreement
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Statement of Issue:
The current Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Huntington Beach and Management Employees’ Organization (MEO) is effective January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2024. In order to adjust the compensation for the staff attorneys in the City Attorney’s Office to become competitive in the market, the proposed Side Letter of Agreement provides for an Amendment to the MOU between the City and MEO to increase the base pay of the Chief Litigation Counsel and other attorney classifications and add a Special Pay for attorneys when they are permanently assigned to the Litigation Division of the City Attorney’s Office.
Financial Impact:
The cost of the base pay increase is estimated at $175,993, and the special pay at $99,755. No additional funding is requested. Funding is included in the FY 2024-25 budget.
Recommended Action:
recommendation
Adopt Resolution No. 2024-44, “A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach Amending the Memorandum of Understanding Between the City and the Huntington Beach Management Employees’ Organization (MEO) by Adopting a Side Letter of Agreement.”
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Alternative Action(s):
Do not approve the recommended action, and direct staff accordingly.
Analysis:
In April 2024, recurrent and long-term vacancies in the Chief Litigation Counsel and other staff attorney classifications prompted the Human Resources Department to perform a compensation study and identify opportunities to improve the City’s ability to attract and retain attorneys. This study found the classifications were as much as 15% below the market average, which makes it very difficult to recruit and retain the legal expertise on staff to handle the City’s demanding legal matters. In order to enhance the City’s ability to attract and retain attorneys in these classifications, staff recommends increasing the base pay of these classifications to bring them to 5% above the market average. The proposed Side Letter of Agreement allows for base pay increases to attorney classifications.
In addition to the base pay increase, staff recommends offering a Litigation Assignment Pay of ten percent base hourly rate to the attorneys permanently assigned to the Litigation Division of the City Attorney’s Office. This Special Pay is recommended in recognition of the additional workload, including often working outside of normal office hours, nights, and weekends, and the additional responsibility associated with preparation for and appearance in trials; Litigation Assignment Pay will not be reportable to CalPERS. With these two adjustments in place, the City will be more marketable for attorneys looking to try cases in-house.
Environmental Status:
This action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
Strategic Plan Goal:
Goal 3 - High Performing Organization, Strategy B - Fill department director and other key vacancies to lead and provide essential services to the community.
For details, visit www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/strategicplan <http://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/strategicplan>.
Attachment(s):
1. Resolution No. 2024-44 with Exhibit A- MEO Side Letter Agreement