Lynwood's Employee Union Files Grievance After City Hires Employee Amid Recent Layoffs

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Union representatives for Lynwood's city employees have been waiting patiently since July for the city's new hire, a public information officer (PIO), to begin working. 

After the city drastically cut over one million dollars and eliminated 19 city positions to balance the budget, employees were outraged to hear that only a few weeks after, the city council approved the creation and hire of a (PIO). 

When the new PIO, Marisela Santana, an at-will employee, began working about two weeks ago, Lee Wax, a representative from ADSCME, (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) filed a grievance shortly thereafter.

Wax believed that the position of a PIO should be in ADSCME's bargaining group, rather than an at-will employee whose contract, which includes health benefits, and can be terminated at any time.

Santana’s contract had proposed an annual salary of $38,000 in addition to $68,000 worth of benefits.

According to city documents, Santana was a senior editor for the Los Angeles Wave and covered the city of Lynwood as part of her job.

Furthermore, Wax contended that this move violated the spirit of the agreement with the city of Lynwood and felt that the city's current public relations director was capable of performing the same job.

"The whole reason why we took the position of accepting layoffs was to save money," said Wax. "So this is certainly not doing that."

According to the city's contract, the job of a PIO includes bilingual translation support, website support, along with media and public relations activities, among other things. 

Though the current public relations director, Deborah Jackson, is also the director of Neighborhood Services, it is not uncommon to see employees hold different positions. 

In South Gate, Nellie Cobos, assistant to the city manager also serves as the city's public information officer, and the interim personnel director - all without extra pay.

"I do not think it's a great burden taking on the role of PIO," said Cobos via email.

She believes that her role as assistant to the city manager allows her to efficiently carry out her PIO duties.

"I actually think I'm at an advantage since I sit in the City Manager's office and have staff and council accessible to me, which means I'm able to gather the facts pretty quickly," Cobos added.

During July's council meeting, some council members expressed support and believed in the need for the new position.

They felt that it would help ensure proper communication with the community. 

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"Here we are laying off individuals...when we did the budget cuts we said a hiring freeze for one year," said Castro.

The creation of this position has caused city employees in non-management positions to feel powerless.

"The employees are intimidated and they feel that management can do whatever they want,” said Wax. “It maybe true that management feels that way, but if that is the case then they are in for a rude awakening."

In the meantime, Wax expects to meet with the city's management group within the next couple of weeks to discuss the issue. 

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