Proposed contract deal includes 9% raise for Costa Mesa police as they step up pension contributions

Costa Mesa police officers would receive raises while paying more toward their pensions under a tentative contract with the city, according to the union that represents the Police Department’s rank and file.

Members of the Costa Mesa Police Assn. overwhelmingly approved the proposal last week, but the City Council also must accept it for the pact to take effect.

The contract is tentatively set for council public hearings Feb. 16 and March 1.

If the council signs off on the deal, which would last through 2018, officers would eventually pay 14% of their salaries toward their retirement benefits. But they also would get a 9% raise, according to Nicole Brown, vice president of the police association.

The pension contribution and pay raise would kick in gradually, with three 3% increases spread over the next 12 months, according to the union.

To round out the 14% pension contribution, the contract would revive a 5% contribution that officers had been paying since 2010 until their agreement to do so lapsed in February. Costa Mesa asked police officers to continue paying the 5%, but the association wouldn’t agree to it without a full contract in place.

As of Friday, the approximately 125 officers and sergeants represented by the association have been without a contract for 578 days.

“This is a new era; ultimately we believe the contract is fair and demonstrates the city’s value of our officers,” David Sevilla, president of the Costa Mesa Police Assn., said in a statement. “If it is approved, it will bring a huge sense of relief for our officers.”

The tentative agreement is similar to a contract the police association proposed in March. But Councilman Gary Monahan said both sides have had to compromise to reach this point.

The agreement, for instance, no longer includes cost-of-living raises for officers and makes adjustments to the amount of leave they can take, according to Monahan and the association.

Amid negotiations last year, some council members accused Monahan of dragging his feet to deliberately extend the process.

Monahan denied that. On Friday, he said negotiations were complicated partly because only three of the five council members were allowed to participate.

“Any one of us has veto power,” he said.

Mayor Steve Mensinger and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer have been excluded from the process because they are suing the police union.

The lawsuit alleges the association was part of a plot to illegally surveil and intimidate them during the 2012 election season. The union denies the allegations.