Employees Speak about Pay Increases

Fire Chief Sherman offers to take pass on Cash

6/19/09

By Marc Garman

Vallejo Fire Chief Russ Sherman, in a recent telephone conversation with VIB, expressed a level of surprise at the sudden public exposure over contract provisions that would grant pay increases for himself and two other city employees. “Nothing was discussed with me at all. Zero.” said Sherman. He continued to add that he is, “more than willing to give back any retroactive payments.”

Sherman, who has not been a member of the CAMP (Confidential Administrative Management Professionals) union since April 1, when he accepted the position as Vallejo's Fire Chief, expressed his disapproval at some employee groups being “targeted for extreme cuts to salary and benefits, while others are not being impacted at all” and continued to add that “It needs to be equally shared across the board.”

It seems Sherman is willing to put his money where his mouth is by offering to give back the one time retroactive payment he is set to receive.

Chief Building Inspector Gary West indicated that he is also willing to discuss the increase, but has not had an opportunity to speak with human resources.

The third employee in line to receive an increase, and CAMP Union President is City Engineer David Kleinschmidt. “The management side didn't ask for this to be changed.” he said referring to the equity adjustment provision in the contract that is driving the wage increases. “we addressed the laundry list of things management had brought to us. Equity adjustments were not brought up.”

Kleinschmidt indicated that the management negotiating team was well aware of the equity adjustments provision in the contract. He described the equity adjustments as a “tool for both sides to make sure salaries are competitive” and added that the adjustments were originally scheduled to take effect July 1, 2008.

Equity adjustments are salary changes outside of the normal salary programs (promotions, reclassifications, merits, etc.) to remedy salary issues such as external pressure in high demand areas, internal salary compression, and/or retention considerations. Equity adjustments are not granted to reward performance. --UC Davis School of Human Resources

Kleinschmidt continued to add that “The issue is between CAMP and the City of Vallejo Management.” and that the union was more than willing to work with management in order to “try to make the best decision for the city.”