Salinas City Council imposes final offer for police officers

The Salinas City Council imposed a final offer for Salinas Police Officers.

Council members voted 6-1 to approve the resolution with Councilmember Steve McShane as the only opposing member.

The vote on Tuesday night comes after back and forth negotiations between the city and the Salinas Police Officers Association after an impasse in early April.

The old agreement between the city and the SPOA ended in 2018.

The two sides have been negotiating over officer pay raises, benefits, contracts and health care coverage for police officers.

The final offer included no increase in wages and the officers will have to share the cost of health coverage by having to pay five percent of their premiums.

According to a spokesperson with the Salinas Police Officers Association, the council imposed the terms and conditions of this contract. According to Dustin DeRollo, the SPOA doesn’t have the ability to approve or disapprove of the contract.

The contract will be in effect until June 2020.

The SPOA responded to the deal with the following statement:

“We are deeply disappointed that the Mayor and City Council voted to cut
police officer pay during the middle of a staffing crisis. Make no mistake,
we are losing officers and we will lose even more officers because of their
decision. This will mean longer response times and putting our crime
reduction efforts at risk.”

Jim Knowlton

President

Salinas Police Officers Association