City Council - Regular Meeting

Call to order the special meeting for August 18, 2026. City Clerk, roll call, please.

Council Members Brighton-Booker?

Here.

Alford?

Here.

Morowitz?

Here.

Vice Mayor Lackey? Here. Mayorson?

Here. Agenda reviews and supplemental reports.

There are no supplemental reports or changes to the agenda. All right.

Disclosure of ex parte communications. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and move on to public comments.

Public comment is limited to only items listed on this agenda per government code section 54954.3 subsection A. All public comment speakers shall have only three minutes per person to speak on all items regardless of the number of items listed on the closed session agenda. Mayor, at this time you may call for public comment via Zoom webinar or in person.

All right, let's start with public comment on zoom first.

I have attendees, but no hands raised for public comment on zoom.

Okay. Do you have any comment cards?

I do. I have three cards. The first card is Jennifer.

employee of more than 21 years, and the president of the Manteca Technical Support and Services Association, or known as MTSSA. I am here this afternoon as a spokesperson for our membership, not on behalf of myself, I am one vote just like every other member. MTSSA represents a wide range of positions in every department in the city. Our jobs may be different, but our members are united in their concerns about wages, recruitment, retention, and the future of our workforce. Before negotiations began, we asked our membership to submit their priorities. They were more than vocal than they had been in the last several years, and from that process came 19 proposals. Getting our membership heard was a priority. MTSSA voted down the city's proposal back in May. The primary concern was that the proposed 2% to 7% increases do not provide a COLA equally across the board. Some positions would receive 2% per year. Most positions would be brought up to median market over three years. but without a COLA and seven positions currently representing four employees would still not reach full median. That means three years from now, we could be right back where we started, falling behind the market without a true cost of living adjustment. Inflation is currently approximately 3.8%, while many of the cities we compete with for employees are providing a three to 4% COLA increase. The Gallagher report itself recognized that its market data would no longer accurately reflect those changes as of July 1, 2026. I also want to clarify our total compensation. We do not receive certification pay or an annual stipend, and we do not get a reduction in percentage of what we contribute to our PERS retirement. We do receive wellness hours, which were provided in lieu of an additional PERSable income in the past. We are grateful to be in the upper echelon when it comes to benefits, but those benefits were factored into the compensation offer from the city. It was recently reported that five of the seven bargaining units have signed. The other side of the story is that the two units that have not signed represent more than 200 employees, over 40% of the city's full-time workforce. And I think we need to be honest about the larger picture, and I'm quoting. You cannot substantially increase compensation at the top, build out administration, and repeatedly ask residents to pay more than suddenly preach fiscal restraint when the employees keeping the city running ask to be valued. MTSSA is not asking for the proverbial key to the municipal cash box. Our current counter proposal is simple, a 1% COLA each year, totaling 3% over three years, equally for our membership and bringing those seven positions to full median, which frankly I don't believe 1% is enough, but we believe it is a fair compromise and a reasonable step towards reaching an agreement. We are asking for a fair contract that recognizes our employees keeps Manteca competitive, and allows us to recruit and retain the people who keep the city running. Thank you.

Our next public comment card is Mike.

Good afternoon, Mike DeAnda, Operating Engineers. This year's classification and comp study identified many classifications well below market due to the subpar wages given in the past and the takeaways the city's asked the employees to sacrifice during the city's poor fiscal positions in the past. In comparison to other similar cities, the city needs to bring their wages up to market and structure these increases so that they don't fall behind during the duration of this contract. Without a fair increase, Many of our members' salaries will fall behind market this year, mainly because the proposed three-year increase structure does not account for wage increases already being paid to comparable agencies and the current inflation numbers. Again, the current offer has a structure that would ensure these workers' salaries will fall behind as they have in the last 10 years due to the COLAs that were well below the CPI numbers. Currently, the city has proposed increases starting at 2%, again, well below the inflation rate. Meanwhile, management received raises up to or above 20%. We want the same method of wage increases management recently received. Increase the low end wages being offered to at least match the current inflation rate. No percentage cap in each year and front load the first year of the contract. If no changes are made, our members and your employees will be performing their same essential duties with less spending power than before. This will or may force the skilled workforce out of their job, which will reflect negatively upon the city. I was asked to let you know that since some of you were not sitting council members back in 2008 and the years to follow, I want to make you aware of the current negotiations is not about just the current negotiations. It's about the past increases that were well below market, and there were no rate increases given at times. During the 2008 recession, after year one of their then contract of 4% a year, the employees were asked by the city to sacrifice three years of wage increases totaling 12%. Then they were asked to take on furloughs. This history... is a large portion of the current negotiations. The city stated they would make up for these cuts, but it never panned out. They were forgotten. The employees stepped up in the past and made the sacrifices the city asked of them. Now it's time for the city to step up and do the right thing. The employees request to catch up and stay caught up during the duration of this proposed contract. You have an opportunity today to make sure these workers who have been pushed aside for too long to receive the respect they deserve. These workers have done their part to create a stronger future for the city and its citizens, and now we respectfully request that you do the same. Thank you. Thank you.

The last public comment card I have is Chad, and that is the last card.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilman, senior leadership team. Thanks for hearing us out. I'll be real short and to the sweet. Everything's pretty much been said. I'm a senior construction inspector in the engineering department. I really like my job. the camaraderie, the morale that our department has. And I would like to keep that going. So we're asking for a small modest increase. We don't feel like we're asking for the moon. We want to bring just a few members up to full market and an additional 1% a year. So please take that in consideration and thank you for your time.

All right, anybody else would like to speak on an item that's on the agenda? Okay, seeing no one else, then we will go ahead and go to closed session. And we will go ahead and go to our city attorney, Andy.

There's no reportable action.

All right. Thank you. With that, we will go ahead and adjourn the special meeting for August 18, 2026.