The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 104, No. 23 - June 4, 2015 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................14 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Film Review..........................4 Legals............................ 12,13 Police Reports...................15 Real Estate.....................7-11 School Spotlight..................3 Sports.............................. 6,14 Weekend Forecast Little League Season Ends; Angels Prevail Over Red Sox The Angels celebrate their Little League championship win. See story and more photos on page 14. Photo by Gregg McMullin. Friday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 67˚/57˚ Saturday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 68˚/59˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 70˚/61˚ Council Adjusts Salaries, Benefits for Non-Union Employees By Brian Simon In order to remain competitive with similar municipalities while also keeping an eye on controlling future costs, the El Segundo City Council on Tuesday night implemented salary and benefit adjustments for non-union employees that included pay raises for most but also givebacks El Segundo Continues Creative Office Push with elevon Opening By Brian Simon Back in the mid-1860s, the esteemed New York Tribune newspaper editor Horace Greeley helped lead the expansion to California with the famous phrase, “Go west, young man.” And so people did head west and then some. Flash forward 150 years and if you’re in the Los Angeles region, the new charge has decidedly become to “go south” if you happen to be a creative media firm. Perhaps the best evidence of this is in El Segundo where developers Mar Ventures and Continental Development Corporation (CDC) are about to put the finishing touches on their nearly sold-out elevon project at Campus El Segundo on the east side of town. “The movement of creative companies settling in the area started in Santa Monica and has moved south,” CDC Director of Real Estate Bob Tarnofsky explained. “Google absorbed all the available space in Playa Vista and the pattern has been to migrate from up north. With elevon, we’re excited that we have some Silicon Beach tenants moving down south to El Segundo.” Vertical construction kicked off not quite a year ago on the 15-acre, 218,000-square foot campus that is one of the largest for-sale commercial office campus developments to break ground between Orange County and the San Fernando Valley in the last decade. The name “elevon” (spelled intentionally in lower case) refers to an aircraft control surface combining the functions of an elevator used to control pitch, and an aileron used to control roll. “Like its namesake, elevon at Campus El Segundo offers the opportunity for ownership and control in See elevon, page 13 in other areas. During a presentation on the item, City Manager Greg Carpenter noted that the Council can set salaries and benefits for the 40 unrepresented employees. Those groups include Executive Management and Management-Confidential job classifications that encompass the department heads, police and fire chiefs, three fire battalion chiefs, and (about three quarters of the total) non-public safety managerial staff. These employees last received wage increases in 2009 (miscellaneous two percent and public safety 3.75 percent), but since that time experienced reductions in both salary and benefits due to the City’s fiscal constraints. The concessions included decreases in the deferred compensation match into 401 (a) plans, and employees also had to pay all or a portion of their retirement share without receiving an offset. Prior to Tuesday, department heads paid the full seven percent of their retirement portion, with public safety chiefs between six and nine percent, miscellaneous Management-Confidential three percent, and battalion chiefs four percent through a combination of PERS member share and employer cost-sharing. Management-Confidential employees also received a permanent reduction in the 401 (a) match from five percent down to four and a drop in their annual vacation buy-back benefit. In order to assess how El Segundo stacks up compared to other municipalities in total compensation packages, the City hired thirdparty consultant Cooperative Personnel Services (CPS) to conduct a study. The survey looked at the combination of salary, retirement, pension, health care, and some special compensation in El Segundo as well as 11 comparable, full-service Westside/South Bay cities to establish a labor market median. CPS’ findings revealed that El Segundo department heads get paid on average 19.5 percent below that median while miscellaneous Management-Confidential personnel run 9.8 percent under. On the other hand, the police and fire chiefs came in 11 percent above the median and the three battalion chiefs were over by 9.6 percent. Concerned about the lower pay numbers for two of the above groups, Carpenter spoke of the City’s need to remain competitive in order to recruit and to maintain a motivated workforce. He identified commensurate salary as one key tool to attract top personnel. With that in mind, he summarized staff recommendations to raise Management-Confidential salaries by six percent retroactive to October 1, 2014 with another two percent increase effective on June 13, 2015. However, these increases will be offset because the City will no longer match the remaining four percent on the 401 (a) and the employees will also kick in an additional two percent towards their retirement. Department heads will receive an eight percent salary hike retroactive to October 1, 2014, but will (starting the next fiscal year) lose their five percent 401 (a) match. Additionally, leave payouts will be calculated on base salary and See City Council, page 12
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