By BRIAN CALLE
It pays well to wash your motorcycle if you are a cop in Newport Beach, where officers who patrol on motor bikes are paid an additional six hours of overtime every month simply for giving their cycles a wash. The special compensation equates to, on average, about a 5 percent pay hike for motorcycle officers, or about $5,600 a year in additional monies, according to an analysis of city documents and interviews with key city staff.
As alarming as that may seem, this is only one example of special pay that inflates salaries and is often hidden from public view because of the stealth nature of negotiations.
The sweet deal is part of the contract negotiated between the police union and the city – yet another creative example of public employee pay abuses at taxpayer expense.
Sorry Brian, Can’t agree with you on this one. Have you ever cleaned a bike? I have and it take hours. Expecting them to do it during their shift means they are not on the road for those hours.
Plus, you do a safety check while cleaning it. With only two wheels under you everything needs to be checked. Riding down the road at 65 mph or faster and having the rear foot break rod fall off is not fun. Believe me I know.
If you were provided with a vehicle to do your job but told you had to clean and maintain it on your time, would you agree to do it for no pay or compensation at all? I don’t think most of us would.
What ever happened to the motor pool? Wasn’t there a time when these vehicles would get their monthly wash from a team of workers with less education and skill? Or how about this…wouldn’t it be a good job for those nonviolent types doing jail time!
Newport Beach is a pricey town…I guess if they want to pay a premium for vehicular bathtime it’s their business but it seems a bit over the top to me…I wonder how many of the good citizens even know about this?
Peggy, there’s cleaning and there’s cleaning…I know how we take care of our Harley’s, but this is utility vehicle and it doesn’t get the detailing we normally do. For these police bikes It takes maybe 2-3 hours a month to keep it reasonably clean, inspected and checked for fluids. But, here’s the kicker…see they already get 5% bonus for riding motors. If they have a POST advanced cert. that’s another 5%, if they speak Spanish that’s another 5%, if they have an AA that’s 2.5%, if they have a BA thats another 2.5%…geez at some point the guys got to give a little and take care of their bikes without getting 6 hours of OT.
You’re right and I stand corrected. I think Tina’s remark about the motor pool makes sense too. If the cars are being taken care of why not the bikes?
Ps. Sold my Harley, so no more cleaning for me. Sniff, sniff.
The thing is … this is a matter for the citizens of Newport Beach to deal with … isn’t it?
And if they don’t give a flying … and are willing to pay … what’s it to you?
If these were Obama’s bikers, you’d have a beef. But they’re not, are they.
Libby actually the people of Orange County do care and there is a big flap about this and if we support them so much the better. But, what is significant to us (non residents of OC) is this is yet one more example of gov waste at a time when we are being asked to count pennies. This makes the story worthy. One other thing you should realize is that in collective bargaining perks are compared to other similar areas, that means it won’t take long before a perk spreads to other jurisdictions. Maybe Oakland will be next to adopt this one?
It is all tax dollars at work here so it does matter. I have a huge problem with this crap.
so, according to Libby, none of us should read anything beyond the local papers or watch anything beyond ch 12 news. We shouldn’t look at other communities to see what’s going on, we should just sit here assuring ourselves that the government is great and they know what they’re doing and go back to our plate of horse manure?
Am I getting that right Libs?