CLEARLAKE – After two years of being open to the public only four days a week, Clearlake's City Hall is back on a five-day-a-week schedule, following lengthy negotiations between the city and its employees union.

As of July 30, city hall is open 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, said City Administrator Dale Neiman.

In 2005, city hall was closed to the public on Fridays “so that the staff could be more productive – that was the theory,” Neiman said. “But the staff still worked five days a week.”

Then, last June, city hall staff went on four-day, 10-hour shifts, with everyone taking Friday off, Neiman explained.

But when Neiman arrived earlier this year, he said it quickly became apparent to him that the four-day schedule had created a customer service issue for the city's residents.

So for the past three months Neiman and city administration negotiated with the city's employee associations to adjust schedules so city hall would once again be open on Fridays.

In the agreement worked out, Neiman said some people will continue working the 4-10 schedules, with others working five-day, eight-hour shifts.

Under the current memorandum of understanding between the city and its employees union, Neiman said he can grant different shifts or flex time to certain employees. Keeping the 4-10 schedules in the mix will allow city hall's opening hours to be open 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., he added.

“It's worked out and I think we're providing better service to the public,” he said.

One of the sticking points in negotiations with the employees, said Neiman, was that when holiday hours were accrued, staffers on the 4-10 schedules would receive 10 hours versus eight for each holiday.

At 12 holidays a year, that came out to 120 hours of holiday pay for the 4-10 schedule, rather than 96 hours on a regular five-day, eight-hour shift structure, Neiman explained.

Employees didn't want to give that up, said Neiman. “That's why it took so long.”

He said the employees union received no concession on the holiday pay issue, because the City Council never formally approved the four-day work week that gave rise to it. Because the council didn't approve the work schedule, the extra holiday hours can't be given, Neiman said.

Mike Minton is the representative for the Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3, which represents about 50 city employees, including police, Public Works and City Hall staff.

Minton said the employees agreed with the city that City Hall should be open five days a week, and had no issues with that change.

The sticking point in the negotiations, said Minton, was Neiman's insistence that they also resolve the holiday hours and changing the hours of Public Works employees as part of that discussion, rather than taking up those issues at negotiations for the new memorandum of understanding between the city and union.

In the case of Public Works employees, Neiman said he was concerned about them being on a four-day schedule because of safety concerns in the winter months, where their longer work days could put them out in the streets after dark.

“It's not us that's holding this process up,” said Minton.

Neiman said that he did want those issues worked out before discussing the successor memorandum of understanding.

The Public Works scheduling issue hasn't been entirely resolved, said Minton.

Neiman concurred, saying the union and city need to discuss it further. “I think a reasonable solution can be worked out.”

However, in the mean time, Public Works staff will stay on the four-day schedule through the summer, and on Oct. 15 will go back to the five-day work week.

Minton said the old memorandum expired June 30. “We were ready to sit down at the table prior to that.”

If Neiman had continued pushing on the Public Works and holiday pay issues outside of negotiations, Minton said he was prepared to go the legal route. “We would have been in court probably getting an injunction to stop him.

“We still may, depending on what he does,” said Minton, who said the union also might file an unfair labor practice complaint for the city's failure to negotiate.

Neiman said dates are now being set up to discuss the memorandum of understanding with the union, but it won't be immediate.

“I told them I wouldn't be in a position to start negotiations until after the budget was adopted,” he said, adding that he also wants to have a better understanding of the city's finances before entering talks with the union.

With budget hearings scheduled later this month, beginning Aug. 16, that likely pushes negotiations into September.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

{mos_sb_discuss:2}