Union chief cites sour relations

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• Some interesting records requests in SLO County

  Some interesting records requests in SLO County

  County Counsel Warren Jensen and Deputy County Counsel Rita Neal have slogged through thousands of requests for information under the California Public Records Act.

  But when you ask them which one is the most memorable, both of them answer swiftly: the David Edge-Gail Wilcox debacle.

  The squalid county management behavior that came to light through Tribune requests for emails under the CPRA in 2009 struck Neal for “the nature, the volume, the amount of emails, the content.”

• County pension plan getting on track

  County pension plan getting on track

  As other governments around the state struggle with pensions and their frightening fiscal implications, San Luis Obispo County leaders and their employees continue their long, steady march toward making employer-employee financial relations as painless as possible.

  Ninety percent of county employees have now agreed to two-tier pension plans, Human Resources Director Tami Douglas-Schatz told the Board of Supervisors this week, and all county workers have taken a pay cut in one form or another, generally by increasing their contribution to retirement plans.

  The county has 2,314 employees. Of those, 2,083 are now in a bargaining unit that includes a second tier, where new employees receive generally lesser benefits than veteran employees.

• Forum puts focus on public employee pension plan reform

  Forum puts focus on public employee pension plan reform

  Restructuring pension plans offered to public employees came under focus Wednesday as cities and the county grapple with less revenue and escalating costs.

  A panel discussion was held as Gov. Jerry Brown announced his intent to release details today for reforming the public employee pension system at the state level.

  The morning forum, sponsored by the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, included managers from the county and the city of San Luis Obispo, a lobbyist with the League of California Cities and the head of the largest local employee union.

• Records laws an essential news tool

  Records laws an essential news tool

  When the county’s top two administrators, David Edge and Gail Wilcox, were canned in 2009 , the public realized that there were problems at the top levels of county government.

  But they didn’t know the details.

  They might never have found out the scope of the dysfunction had it not been for the California Public Records Act.

• SLO city managers to cut pay, forgo raises

  SLO city managers to cut pay, forgo raises

  Top city managers in San Luis Obispo have taken pay cuts ahead of major union negotiations in the hope of persuading workers to do the same.

  San Luis Obispo’s top managers have agreed to forgo any salary increases for two years and to reduce their compensation by about 8 percent. That will save the city an estimated $807,000 annually.

  The move comes at a critical time as the city works to negotiate about $3.1 million in employee compensation cuts — or 6.8 percent per employee. The proposed savings from management covers about 26 percent of the $3.1 million the city is trying to save.