CascadesCascadesThe Monterey Park Volume X, No.XI Citywide News for Business, Community and Education November 2012 City Hall to City Holding Workshop to Close on Fridays Monday through Thursday hours expanded to 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Improve Health and Sustainability Members of the public are invited to a community visioning work- Cities can also promote more sustainable use of natural resources Monterey Park city hall will be closed every shop on Thursday, November 8th to share thoughts and ideas about like energy, land, and water. For instance, they can use policies and Friday effective the week of October 29, 2012. how health and sustainability can be improved in Monterey Park. programs to reduce the amount of trash that goes to landfills, improve New city hall hours will be: the energy efficiency of buildings, and clean up the water that flows The workshop will be held at the following time and location: Monday through Thursday: 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. from streets into local creeks. Friday: Closed. Thursday, November 8, 2012 6:00 – 7:30 pm Langley Senior Center, 400 W. Emerson Ave., Monterey Park Background and Funding The Friday closure was taken in conjunction The City of Monterey Park will use public input from this work- with several city employees groups agreeing to After a presentation about the purpose of the workshop and current shop as it develops a pair of plans to promote health and sustainabili- furloughs through December 2014. To assist the conditions in Monterey Park, workshop participants will be able to ty, in a project funded by a state Sustainable Communities Planning city in addressing a projected budget imbalance, provide input through individual activities and small-group discus- Grant. The plans are intended to become new “elements,” or sections, general employees represented by the Service sions. Interpretation in Spanish and Chinese will be provided. of the City’s General Plan. Employees’ International Union, Local 721 Children and youth are welcome. (SEIU); the Mid-Management Association Promoting Health and Sustainability Participation (MMA); and the Confidential Employees’ Monterey Park will be one of the first cities in California to devel- Public participation is important in this planning process. The City Association (CEA) have agreed to continue 10% op policies that specifically target health and sustainability. The pur- will conduct a number of community workshops and other events to furloughs. pose of this workshop is to find out what issues community members hear from the community. To sign up for email notices about oppor- City hall will be closed every Friday begin- feel should be addressed, and what their visions are for a healthy and tunities to participate, please visit the “Healthy & Sustainable ning the week of October 29, 2012 and ending sustainable Monterey Park. Community” page on the City of Monterey Park Planning Division’s 27 months later on December 30, 2014. During Cities can promote public health in many ways besides ensuring website or use this shortcut: http://tinyurl.com/healthy- this time period, the city hall operating hours access to health care. The physical environment in a city can make it sustainableMPK. will be expanded from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. easier to live a healthy lifestyle or more difficult, depending on factors More Information about Project In addition to the above changes, several hol- like the availability of parks and supermarkets, and whether people Please contact the Planning Division at planning@monterey- iday observances have been adjusted, notably can walk or bike for some of their trips instead of driving. park.ca.gov or by phone at 626-307-1315. that city hall will be open on Monday, November 12, 2012, the traditionally observed Veterans Day holiday. City Reaches Labor Agreements with Three Employee Groups City Manager Paul Talbot stated his appreci- ation to all the city employees’who have demon- Furloughs continue, city hall to close on Fridays • Employees will continue to pay 100% of the 8% employee share strated in a significant way, that they understand The City of Monterey Park has approved Memorandums of of retirement costs the financial challenges the City of Monterey Understanding (MOUs) with three non-sworn employee association • Slight increase for medical premiums for all units Park is facing and that they have chosen to be groups: Service Employees’ International Union, Local 721; the Mid- partners with the city in seeking solutions. • Effective January 1, 2013 the PERS retirement formula 2% @ Management Association; and the Confidential Employees’ Emergency 9-1-1 services such as police and 62 with the average of the three highest years of compensation Association. The MOUs were approved at a City Council Meeting on begins for all miscellaneous new hires. fire will continue to be available on a 24 hour October 17, 2012 and conclude a three month negotiation process. schedule. However other city departments such The new MOUs are effective October 1, 2012 through June 30, 2015. These three labor bargaining units were impacted significantly as the police records counter, fire administration, during these last few fiscally challenging years. Since 2010 the city library and senior center may operate on inde- “The City Council is pleased to announce the successful conclu- has laid off approximately 15% of its miscellaneous members and for pendent schedules. The public is encouraged to sion to negotiations with miscellaneous groups,” City Manager Paul the past year and a half the employees of these units have been fur- contact these departments for more information. Talbot said. loughed 5-10% of their working hours. For individual departmental contact informa- All three agreements contain similar modifications: This furlough agreed to by these three miscellaneous units repre- tion, please visit the city website at www.ci.mon- sented a savings to the city’s funds in excess of a million dollars annu- terey-park.ca.us or call the city’s general infor- • 33 month term. For the term of this agreement there are no salary adjustments ally. This 33 month agreement will slowly phase out these furloughs. mation line at 626-307-1458. The city’s financial circumstances have required significant coop- • Extension of 10% furloughs for 18 months ending eration from all of the employee groups. The Mayor and City Council March 30, 2014 would like to acknowledge and thank the bargaining teams and the • 5% furloughs for 9 months beginning April 1, 2014 and ending individual members of SEIU, the Mid-Management Association December 31, 2014 (MMA) and the Confidential Employees’ Association (CEA) for coming to the table and agreeing to continue to help the City during • City Hall will be open Monday thru Thursday, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. these challenging fiscal times by continuing furloughs for next 27 and will be closed every Friday for 27 months or until months. This is a significant contribution on their part by assisting December 30, 2014 with the difficult but necessary steps to ensure the City’s future finan- • For the last six months of these contracts, from January 1, 2015 cial health. thru the end of the contracts on June 30, 2015, furloughs will City employee MOUs are available for review and download from end, employees will work 40 hours per week and City Hall will the Human Resources page of the city website at www.ci.monterey- K re-open 5 days a week for a minimum of 8 hours park.ca.us. R E 7 D A G S 9 P T A S S # T Y D . T S I I E W T A O R M R R P P E S R C . T E R S E N . Register via the Internet for the P P U O M 5 5 Winter Recreation Classes 7 1 9 - 4 Save time and go online at www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us 5 r 7 e 1 m 9 Why wait in line to register for your favorite Monterey Park Recreation Dept. classes? Sign up via the Internet from the comfort of your o t A s home or work computer. Internet users can visit the city’s webpage to browse and register for the full catalog of fitness, education, art, u C , C music, dance, tennis, martial arts, senior classes, and more available from the Recreation and Community Services Department. k l r a a t s P Registration dates for Winter programming: o y P e r e t Online Walk-In n o 4 5 General Recreation Classes Saturday, December 1, 2012 Monday, December 3, 2012 M 7 . 1 k e r 9 v a A P Online registration for both swim and general recreation classes is available via the City’s website at www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us. A k C y r e Registration can be accessed by clicking on the Recreation Classes/Online Registration button on the front page; or by navigating to the , a r k e r t m the recreation department page; or by searching for “registration information.” For step-by-step instructions please see the online registra- a n w P o e tion article on another page of this issue of the Cascades. y N M e r . f e o t W Walk-in registration is available at the city hall recreation department, 320 W. Newmark Avenue. For more information contact recre- n y 0 t o i 2 ation at 626-307-1388 or visit www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us. M 3 C Page 2 Citywide News for Business, Community and Education November 2012 CITY OF MONTEREY PARK AMNTHONYITCHELL WONG ING,, MAYORMAYOR TERESABBETTYETT REALY TTOMOM SEBASTIAN, CHU, MAMAYORYOR MAYOR PRPROO PROTTEMEM TEM ELECTION NOTICE DDAVIDAVID TT.