TO: ADAM PIRRIE, CITY MANAGER
FROM: JAMIE EARL, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
DATE: JUNE 24, 2025
Reviewed by:
City Manager: AP
SUBJECT:
Title
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY OF CLAREMONT AND CLAREMONT POLICE OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION (FUNDING SOURCE: GENERAL FUND)
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SUMMARY
Members of the City’s Negotiating Team (the “CNT”) and representatives of the Claremont Police Officers’ Association (CPOA) have been meeting and conferring in good faith since March 2025 regarding wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment. CPOA has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expiring June 30, 2025, and the CNT has reached a tentative agreement with CPOA on a successor MOU, the term of which is July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027.
In addition to ratification of the MOU by the City Council, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) requires the pay rate for each job classification (“Salary Schedule”) be available on a publicly available pay schedule, duly approved and adopted by the governing body. Accordingly, a Salary Schedule is included in the MOU and can be found in the Attachment to this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
Staff recommends the City Council adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY OF CLAREMONT AND CLAREMONT POLICE OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO IMPLEMENT WAGES, HOURS, AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT THROUGH JUNE 30, 2027.
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ALTERNATIVES TO RECOMMENDATION
In addition to the recommendation, there are the following alternatives:
A. Take no action.
B. Request additional information.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The additional costs related to the approval of the MOU between the City and CPOA are approximately $879,924 in 2025-26 and $1,266,071 in 2026-27. Funding for the 2025-26 costs are included in the adopted 2024-26 Budget. Costs associated with 2026-27 will be included in the 2026-28 operating budget.
The staff and legal costs to conduct employee negotiations, draft necessary documentation, and prepare this report is estimated at $54,471 and is included in the operating budgets of the Administrative and Financial Services Departments.
ANALYSIS
Members of the CNT and representatives of CPOA have been meeting and conferring in good faith since March 2025 regarding wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment. Members of the CNT consist of the following management employees: Jamie Earl, Assistant City Manager; Jeremy Starkey, Finance Director; Katie Wand, Deputy City Manager; and Christi Giannone, Human Resources Manager.
The CNT has reached a tentative agreement with CPOA, which has a Memorandum of Understanding expiring on June 30, 2025.
Background
In July 2021, the City entered into a MOU with CPOA with a term of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2025, which included the following negotiated salary increases: a 3 percent salary increase effective July 1, 2021; a 2 percent salary increase effective July 1, 2022; a 2 percent salary increase effective July 1, 2023; and a 2 percent salary increase effective July 1, 2024.
Since the City Council approved the MOU in July 2021, shifts in labor, workforce, and economic trends have created staffing challenges for many public sector agencies. The City of Claremont is not immune from such challenges, which has directly impacted City employees and the City’s ability to provide public service without operational challenges or delays. While in years past the City would receive several qualified applicants for most job openings, in the past few years it is not uncommon for the City to post job openings on an “open until filled” basis due to a limited pool of qualified/interested applicants. The City has also lost skilled employees to other municipalities, with employees primarily citing higher compensation, more competitive benefits, and/or greater promotional opportunities offered at other agencies as reasons for leaving Claremont.
2025 Negotiations
With CPOA’s MOU expiring on June 30, 2025, members of the CNT began the “meet and confer” process in March 2025. The Meyers-Millian-Brown Act (MMBA), which governs the labor-management relations in California local government, including cities, counties, and most special districts, provides that the governing body of a public agency shall meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with representatives of recognized employee organizations (e.g., unions or bargaining units). The MMBA defines meeting and conferring in good faith as having the mutual obligation to personally meet and confer promptly upon request by either party and continue for a reasonable period of time to exchange freely information, opinions, and proposals and to endeavor to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation.
During the meet and confer process, members of the CNT held several meetings with representatives from CPOA. Bargaining unit representatives primarily expressed concerns with their members’ salary and benefit packages being “below market” when compared to other municipalities whose population and agency size are similar to those of Claremont.
A summary of the items that have been tentatively agreed upon can be found in the subsequent sections. Items tentatively agreed upon are reflected in the bargaining unit’s propose MOU, which can be found as an Exhibit to the Attachment.
As evidenced during the 2024-26 City Council Priorities setting process, City Councilmembers and community members have high standards regarding the level of service that City staff is expected to provide. Accordingly, the City Council adopted a 2024-26 Budget that reflected increased employee training/professional development opportunities, in hopes of retaining talented employees and developing effective succession plans to ensure successful continuity in City programs and services for the foreseeable future. This same philosophy is reflected in the tentative agreement that the City has reached with CPOA.
Term of the Memorandum of Understanding
The proposed MOU has a term of July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027.
Negotiated Salary Increases (NSIs)
Representatives for CPOA have tentatively agreed to the following negotiated base salary increases:
• 8 percent effective July 1, 2025; and
• 5 percent effective July 1, 2026.
Flexible Benefit Plan
The City currently provides a monthly allowance of $1,294 to CPOA members toward the City’s Flexible Benefit Plan, which consists of medical, dental, and vision insurance plans and supplemental benefit options. The allowance has remained unchanged for several years and now falls below the average of comparable cities’ respective allowances. Further, the average renewal cost increases of the City’s health insurance plans between 2021 and 2025 have ranged between 3 percent and 13.39 percent each year, making the total average cumulative increases between 27.25 percent and 30.84 percent.
In recognition of these rising healthcare costs and the lack of prior adjustments, the City and CPOA have tentatively agreed to increase the monthly health allowance to $1,500 for all bargaining unit members.
Other Negotiated Items
During the meet and confer process, the CPOA proposed increasing existing incentive pay for certificates. The City and CPOA have agreed to the following tentative agreement for certificate pay:
• Sworn Officers:
o Increase of $500 per month for POST Intermediate Certificate
o Increase of $500 per month for POST Advanced Certificate
• Communications Officers:
o Increase of $400 per month for POST Basic Certificate
o Increase of $400 per month for POST Intermediate Certificate
o Increase of $400 per month for POST Advanced Certificate
• Jailers:
o Increase of $300 per month for STC Training
Additionally, the City and CPOA have tentatively agreed to the following Longevity Pay provisions, which would be a new benefit to CPOA:
|
Years of Service |
Longevity Pay |
|
5 Years |
2 percent of base salary |
|
10 Years |
3 percent of base salary |
|
15 Years |
4 percent of base salary |
Lastly, the City and CPOA have tentatively agreed to additional MOU language changes to reduce the years of service requirement for a Communications Officer I to be eligible to be reclassified as a Communications Officer II from five years to three years and other clean-up language to reflect current City practice/policies.
LEGAL REVIEW
The resolution being considered by the City Council has been reviewed and approved as to form by the City Attorney.
RELATIONSHIP TO CITY PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Staff has evaluated the agenda item in relationship to the City’s strategic and visioning documents and finds that it applies to the following City Planning Documents: Council Priorities and the 2024-26 Budget.
CEQA REVIEW
This item is not subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
The agenda and staff report for this item have been posted on the City website and distributed to interested parties. If you desire a copy, please contact the City Clerk’s Office.
Submitted by: Prepared by:
Jamie Earl Christi Giannone
Assistant City Manager Human Resources Manager
Attachment:
Resolution Approving the MOU between the City of Claremont and CPOA