A deeply buried item on Monday night’s City Council agenda arrested the attention of member Andy Weissman:
Setting aside $30,000 to hire back former Human Resources Director Jack Hoffman, on a consulting basis, to serve as chief labor negotiator later in the fiscal year with 3 of the city’s 6 employee unions — Fire, Fire Management and the Police Officers Assn.
Mr. Hoffman, then in his early 60s, curved into semi-retirement when he left City Hall, but he never has been away for too long.
Since there is “a capable staff of people” on the payroll already in City Hall, Mr. Weissman wanted to know why it was necessary to bring back the affable Civil War buff, who navigated and negotiated the last round of city employee contracts.
The answers seemed as elusive as they were artful.
“There is value in having an outside labor negotiator, and a veteran, especially when complicated multi-million-dollar contracts are at stake,” said Serena Wright, Mr. Hoffman’s successor as head of Human Resources. “It is advisable to have at the table all of the expertise that is available.”
Nice to Have an Expert
It will be a strong advantage for the city, said Jerry Fulwood, the City Manager, to have “the expertise of a negotiator with many years of experience at the bargaining table.”
Councilman Weissman said later that the most disappointing answer from either Ms. Wright or her boss regarded prospects for the future.
Do you foresee a time when it no longer will be necessary to hire Mr. Hoffman or someone of his calibre to deal with the city’s unions? Mr. Weissman asked Mr. Fulwood.
The response appeared to blossom into a scenic tour. However, the tour could be truncated into a single stark term:
“No.”
Mr. Hoffman apparently will be able to count on this Culver City payday as long as he is active or willing.
“It would be my assessment,” said Mr. Weissman, “that at some point we will need to eliminate the role of lead negotiator and utilize our own staff.”
The “only justification” that the Councilman finds in bringing back Mr. Hoffman for handsome encores is that if/when contract talks sour, Mr. Hoffman can be a buffer between union leaders and city staff. As an outside player, he can play his strongest hand without criticism or soured feelings raining down on city personnel.
