Полицейские в Хантингтон-Бич получат повышение зарплат на 18% на фоне растущего дефицита бюджета

Huntington Beach police officers are set to get a hefty raise over the next three years despite the city’s growing budget deficits. It comes after weeks of questions over the city budget, with several city council members, the city treasurer and city staff highlighting the city is currently on track to face multi-million dollar deficits annually for the next decade.  Councilman Andrew Gruel, who’s currently running for election, asked newly appointed CFO Zack Zithisakthanakul how bad the city’s finances were, comparing it to triage in a hospital emergency room.  “Huntington Beach comes into your emergency room,” Gruel said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “Are you rushing us into surgery?”  “I wouldn’t send them home, but I’d send them to a primary care provider,” Zithisakthanakul said. “It’s something we will need to continue to monitor.”  “At the same time, you’re not looking at immediate fiscal distress.”  Despite those concerns, council members voted 4-3 to give an 18% raise to the police union at Tuesday’s meeting, with Mayor Casey McKeon and Councilmen Don Kennedy and Pat Burns voting against the raise.  Councilman Chad Williams, one of the loudest proponents for a raise, repeatedly called attempts to shut down the raise “procedural sabotage,” adding it was unfair to put the entire weight of a bad budget on the police department’s shoulders.  “To put this on their backs is the wrong thing to do,” Williams said. “They shouldn’t have to be worried about fighting political games in here.”  McKeon and Kennedy repeatedly questioned the claim that the city was in a stable financial position, noting that the growing deficits would only expand faster with the raises.  “This increases the velocity of our deficit,” McKeon said. “It’s not sustainable … at some point, some city has to have strong financial prudence.”  Burns, who is a former Long Beach police officer, said that while overtime pay is “bitching,” they’d already given the police union a strong raise four years ago and seen limited impacts on recruiting.  “When does it stop?” Burns asked. “When does that come to fruition that the pay raise does matter?”  City leaders have not yet approved a new contract with their firefighters union or several other employee groups that have yet to finish bargaining with city leaders.  Councilwoman Gracey Van Der Mark, who lists the police officer’s association as one of her top endorsements on her campaign website for state assembly, said the raise was a necessity despite the financial problems.  “We have to work on our financials some more, but I cannot in good conscience not do this,” Van Der Mark said. “It’s not easy, but I need to put public safety first.”  Kennedy highlighted the city’s budget problems and noted the contract would only accelerate their financial problems in his vote.  “I can’t support the contract,” Kennedy said. “I’m sorry … I can’t put my name on a yes vote.” Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at [email protected].