On July 12, the AVCA board of directors unanimously adopted a resolution urging Mayor Reed and the San Jose City Council to address the spiraling employee pay and benefit costs that are principle causes of continuing budget deficits. The adopted resolution calls on the city council to eliminate binding arbitration for sworn safety officers (fire and police) with respect to compensation disputes because the practice is a major contributor to the budget deficit. The resolution also calls for replacing defined benefit retirement plans with defined contribution plans.

In order to impact public policy I sent the resolution to the mayor, all city council members, Almaden Times, Almaden Resident and the San Jose Mercury News. A copy of that letter can be found under “What’s New” on the AVCA home page. It is also available in the July 22 issue of the Almaden Times. The San Jose Mercury News published on July 23 my letter to the editor that gave the essence of the resolution as a first step in bringing employee compensation more in line with that found in the private sector.

I urge my fellow citizens to attend the San Jose City Council Rules Committee meeting on Wednesday, July 2 at 2 PM in Rooms W118/119, which is on the first floor of the building where the council meets, when that committee will recommend to the full city council several November 2, 2010 ballot measures. It is important for all of us who care about maintaining core city services that we ensure the city leaders incorporate the essence of our resolutions in any pension reform ballot measure the Committee proposes for final adoption by the City Council on August 3 for submission to the voters in November.

Jerry Mungai, President jmungai@pacbell.net