Council Defers Discussion on City Manager Compensation

The Redondo Beach City Council on Tuesday postponed a discussion of a compensation increase for City Manager Bill Workman until 2014.

The council was scheduled to consider a 3 percent pay increase for Workman, who took a 6 percent pay reduction in 2009 along with other city employees. Last week, the council approved a 3 percent pay increase for city management and confidential employees, which include people who work in the city attorney's, city treasurer's and city clerk's offices.

"Since 2009, I have declined compensation adjustments as we have navigated the worst financial times the city has seen in 80 years," Workman wrote in a memo to the mayor and council. "It is my request that the City Council's action on the contractual compensation adjustment be pulled from the agenda and deferred until 2014 so to allow additional time for resolution of compensation matters with employee bargaining units."

In the past, Workman's memos declining the compensation increase noted that he would like his contract extended one year; this memo did not include a similar phrase.

Workman's contract was extended to 2016 at the beginning of this year.

The city manager has come under fire from employee groups; the unions allege that Workman and his bargaining unit have not been entirely honest with employees, even though the employees agreed to the 6 percent wage reduction in 2009.

"The city has refused to negotiate in good faith with the same labor groups that rushed to the city's aid" when asked to take a compensation reduction, the Coalition of Redondo Employees wrote in a news release. "Morale among city employees is at an historic low."

According to CORE, Redondo Beach city employees have the lowest overall compensation of cities in the South Bay.

The employee groups held a no-confidence vote last month. Of the approximately 410 employees under Workman's purview, 297 returned ballots. About 98 percent of the ballots received expressed no confidence in the job Workman has been doing.

It wasn't immediately clear when the council would reconsider the 3 percent pay restoration for Workman.