Laguna Niguel OCEA Update: Feb. 17, 2023

OCEA member,

As you may have seen, there is an item on the Feb. 21 Closed Session Agenda regarding the dismissal of the City Manager. The OCEA Leadership committee met on Friday to discuss the item and the implications on our MOU negotiations.

OCEA’s primary concern is that the potential dismissal of the City Manager will unnecessarily delay our MOU Negotiations. OCEA understands that the relationship between the union and the City Manager is often complicated. We also understand that having consistency, continuity, and institutional perspective is critical for OCEA members in Laguna Niguel as we negotiate an MOU. Further, any dismissal of a public servant (including a City Manager) should be done for cause and without any hint of capriciousness. For these reasons, OCEA opposes the sudden removal of the Laguna Niguel City Manager.

The OCEA leadership committee has been preparing for negotiations for the last four months. The team has identified negotiations topics, worked on a bargaining survey, conducted research on the public sector market, and explored other workplace benefits. We are only a few weeks away from commencing negotiations for a successor agreement. A turnover at the City Manager level would adversely impact our ability to negotiate a new MOU. The potential negative impacts include delaying the start of negotiations by several weeks and/or hiring a chief executive who holds anti-worker beliefs.

The most important thing the union does is negotiate an MOU for its members. Removing the City Manager in the middle of her contract term would have negative implications on our ability to negotiate a new MOU in a timely manner. For those reasons, we will be on record opposing this agenda item.

If you need any more information about this topic and its impact on our MOU negotiations, please speak to a member of the OCEA Leadership Committee at Laguna Niguel.

In Solidarity,

OCEA Leadership Committee
Tina Dittmar
Steven Antisdel
Kelli Fitzgerald
Edgar Abrenica
Katie Crockett
John Pham

Publication Date: February 17, 2023