Union plans more active role in council campaign Union plans more active role in council campaign (July 27, 2005)

Police officers consider similar move

by Bill D'Agostino

The city's largest union plans to take an unusually active role in Palo Alto's upcoming council race, another sign of its ongoing frustration with city leaders.

Maya Spector, the chair of the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union, Local 715, said workers want to help elect candidates friendlier to its causes because members are dissatisfied with some of the current City Council members. The SEIU represents more than half of the city's 1,100 employees from librarians to park maintenance workers.

"Although they listen to us, we don't feel they often hear us," said Spector, a senior librarian.

SEIU workers plan to organize and walk precincts in favor of preferred candidates, according to Spector.

The police officers union, meanwhile, is considering a similar move, based on officers' frustrations regarding recent controversial events.

Most notably is the trial against two officers, Michael Kan and Craig Lee, who were accused of unlawfully beating a black resident in July 2003. A jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict earlier this year and the district attorney decided not to retry them. Prior to the trial, the council agreed to pay victim Albert Hopkins $250,000 to settle a claim he filed against the city, and stave off a lawsuit.

"I think that was a little hasty;" said Agent Dan Ryan, the president of the union.

However, the news that incumbent Councilwoman Hillary Freeman, one of the police department's most outspoken critics on the council, will not be seeking re-election might have lessened the need for the union to get involved in the race.

"That announcement makes it easier for us," Ryan said.

Both the police officers' union and SEIU have traditionally been quiet, often nonexistent, voices in the council campaign.

Two years ago, though, the firefighters union endorsed council candidates and drew the ire of some with its campaign tactics. Its members handed out inflammatory fliers and crashed one candidate's public event. Some thought the union's methods backfired; one candidate it favored, Nancy Lytle, was defeated and another it opposed, Dena Mossar, won re-election. However, another candidate it supported, LaDoris Cordell, won.

The firefighters union has not yet decided what role it will take in this year's campaign.

"We haven't sat down and talked yet," said union president Tony Spitaleri, who is running for a spot on the City Council in Sunnyvale, where he lives.

The city's hourly employees joined the union in November, and have been negotiating with managers for a contract since then. Last week, the union held a rally outside City Hall to protest the city's current offer.

Last year, the SEIU workers threatened to strike, until a last-minute contract offer settled the matter.

During the spring's budget hearings, SEIU officials frequently protested many of the city manager's 18 proposed layoffs. The council cut two of those jobs from the budget.

The city was facing a $5.2 million projected shortfall, which it blamed on stagnant revenues and the exploding cost of health care and other benefits. The city has increasingly been issuing warnings about those expenses and their potential impact on city services. Some candidates have already begun advocating for layoffs as a way of reducing the burden.

Candidate Yoriko Kishimoto, one of only two incumbents in the five-seat race, welcomed the union's presence. She said it would spark "a good community discussion." She pointed out that many of the retirement benefits offered by the city are no longer given by private industry.

"There's that tension between wanting to be a good employer and wanting to have the best employees, but we have to balance that against our constituents," Kishimoto said.

Palo Alto candidates have until Aug. 17 to file paperwork to announce their candidacy. Two incumbents have announced they are not running -- Mayor Jim Burch and Councilwoman Hillary Freeman -- and a third, Councilman Vic Ojakian, can't due to term limits.

About 10 locals have announced they are running for the five spots. Election day is Nov. 8.

Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com.

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