Danny Green Quartet
Did Mayor Jerry Sanders side-step state labor law? - David Rolland
While San Diego voters will still see Proposition B—the so-called "Comprehensive Pension Reform" measure—on the June ballot, looming over it is an increasingly complex legal challenge that could keep Prop. B from ever being enacted.
Quick background: In January, the the San Diego Municipal Employees Association (MEA), the city's white-collar labor union, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Public Employment Relations Board—the state agency that has jurisdiction over California's labor laws—arguing that city officials had used "surrogates" to get the Prop. B on the ballot. In doing so, the MEA argued, the city intentionally sidestepped labor negotiations. In February, PERB agreed that the MEA had a valid complaint and set a hearing for April. But on March 27, only a few days before the hearing was to take place, San Diego Superior Court Judge Luis Vargas, without explanation, put a halt to any action by PERB until after the election. MEA appealed, arguing that Vargas didn't have the authority to interfere.
On May 4, the Fourth District Court of Appeals gave the city until May 11 to file an objection as to why the matter shouldn't be heard by the court. In an email today to members, MEA legal counsel Ann Smith described this as a rare action by the appeals court and a "major positive development" for the union.
I'll have more about the ruling—and what came before it—posted later. If you're interested, here are links to the briefs filed with the appeals court by the MEA, PERB and the city.
