Costs and timing of contract are discussed
The City Council this week unanimously established the annual fee for Los Angeles County law enforcement services to Avalon. The contract was for more than $1.8 million.
This was originally a Consent Calendar item but was pulled at the request of Councilmember Yesenia De La Rosa.
Resident Carl Johnson said he was deeply concerned about the reoccurring contract. “Year after year, this contract was brought before us in the final meeting of June, just days before the start of our busiest time, in the beginning of the city’s budgeted year,” Johnson said.
(This was not the first time Johnson had raised the issue. In 2020, the Islander reported that Johnson said the city needed to look at every contract. Johnson ran for City Council in 2020, but Michael Ponce won the seat.)
“This timing leaves little room for community input and discussion or exploration of alternatives,” Johnson said.
“It is disheartening to see such a crucial decision made without adequate time for analysis and evaluation,” he said.
According to Johnson, the cost of the contract has been increasing by double digits annually while the city does not see “a corresponding increase in service or inflation.”
Johnson said the city should demand an explanation for the increased costs. “Where is the evidence of the increased level of service or the outline of the cost increases that warrant such a staggering financial burden?” Johnson asked.
“The 1% for the addition of a half of a deputy doesn’t justify this double-digit annual narrative,” Johnson said.
He said his intention was not to defund the police or the Fire Department, but rather to hold the city’s largest contracts accountable.
He urged the council to examine the contract.
Councilmember De La Rosa said she had noticed that over the years the liability had increased, and she wondered what that was covered by that. She said it had gone up by 11%.
City Manager David Maistros said liability had increased by 1% to 12% year over year.
According to Finance Director Matthew Baker, there’s a fixed rate per deputy and on top of that there’s an additional overhead charge for insurance.
According to Baker, legal issues involving the deputies would be covered by the liability insurance. “
So, a portion of the contract goes to cover those increased costs,” Baker said.
Finance Director Baker said that if you look at the city’s other insurance the trend has been in double digits and that is just a trend in the market.
“I can say we do evaluate the cost of the Sheriff’s contract and I can confidently say we could not provide the level of service they provide for the amount they are charging,” Baker said.
According to De La Rosa, there had been concerns in the community for many years on matters such as domestic violence and mental health.
“Although I know that they have been in life-threatening situations on the island already,” De La Rosa said, “I just want to make sure that when they do deal with those type of situations, that they have the proper verbiage on how to deal with victims.”
De La Rosa said she wanted to make sure that concern was covered in this contract.
Maistros said city staff evaluates not just the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department contract but all outside contracts routinely.
Johnson returned to the podium and said as far as he was concerned the contract partners don’t even come to the Island.
Johnson said he knew the council would vote yes on the contract because Avalon has to have the sheriff’s deputies here. He said the point was that it was coming to the council right before the contract is due.
“So, there’s no discussion ever made,” Johnson said.
He argued that if the city partnered with other people on the Island who have contracts as well, Avalon could save a lot of money.
“I can tell you how it could be done, and I’ve talked to people in the courtrooms and in law enforcement that say it can be done,” Johnson said.
He said Avalon does not have to be beholden to this contract anymore and that every year this comes up and the city feels beholden and has no other option.
Mayor Anni Marshall said that if something like that happened, there would be some big changes.
Johnson said he would like to sit down with the two women who run Avalon.
Maistros said the city was not bringing the contract at the last minute. He said contracts have start dates and end dates.
Maistros said the city did have an incident in the last year in which Avalon had to lean on the county’s resources. “And it resolved itself without any injuries to anybody, okay?” Maistros said.
Marshall said she understood that Avalon gets all these additional services.
“I just want us to continue to have conversations with the captain about some of the needs that aren’t being met that we hear about all the time,” Marshall said.
She acknowledged that some changes had been made and she said she appreciated that, but she still thought there was more work to be done.
Councilmember Lisa Lavelle said she also thought it would be beneficial to discuss the contract sooner.
“We have had, I believe now, at least four if not five, budget discussion meetings where different parts of the budget are discussed,” Lavelle said.
According to Lavelle, it would be beneficial for Johnson and anyone who has concerns such as the one he had raised to attend the budget meetings. She said those meetings were generally two months if not a month-and-a-half prior to approval.
Lavelle said looking at the budget and what Avalon receives from the contract, she didn’t see a way to facilitate what the county does for the same amount of money.
“They are not coming to the table,” Johnson said. “They are producing a piece of paper and telling us to sign it every year.”
“If you know people that want to do this, have them submit what they want to do and let’s look at it and see what it is,” Lavell said.
Johnson said people can’t submit proposals if they can’t do it ahead of time.
Lavelle suggested revisiting the issue before next year.
Lavelle suggested that if someone has a better contract, they should present it and let the council look at it.
Johnson argued that there needs to be a discussion before a plan is made.
“That’s fine with me,” Lavelle said. “Let’s look at it this year.”
Councilmember Mary Schickling said that essentially Johnson had a year.
Johnson argued that coming to meetings when the provider wasn’t present would not change the contract.
De La Rosa said if he had ideas, submit them so the city can start the conversation.
Johnson said he felt his ideas would be poorly used if he wasn’t involved.
According to Johnson, he would love to participate in discussions. “But I’ve been a leper in this town since two years ago,” he said.
Marshall said he needed to tell the council who these other players are.
Johnson listed the Island Company and the Catalina Island Conservancy as other players. He said they also have contract services and they have to cover large areas of land.
Marshall said she thought that was where the city needed to start.
Schickling said the council needed a little more information to open talks.
Johnson expressed concern that the execution would go poorly.
However, Lavelle said they need to have the conversation start.
Background
“The estimated cost of services in FY 23-24 totals $1,822,417.52,” according to the staff report by Management Analyst Devin Hart.
“For FY 22-23, the Los Angeles Sheriff Department (LASD) proposed increasing the number of paid deputies from 5 to 5.5,” Hart wrote.
“This change accounted for approximately $135,918 of the overall increase to the contract,” Hart wrote.
“The additional manpower allowed the local Station Commander to have greater flexibility with schedule and more manpower to support the City’s needs,” Hart wrote.
“In FY 22-23 the additional manpower was contracted as a specialized rate identified as a ‘Growth Deputy Generalist.’ In FY 23-24, the rate changes to a standard Catalina Deputy,” Hart wrote.
“LASD works with 46 contract cities. Unlike other cites, the City of Avalon receives a special ‘Catalina Deputy’ rate for services,” Hart wrote.
“From FY 21-22 to FY 22-23 the ‘Catalina Deputy” rate increased from $271,836 to $295,845. The ‘Catalina Deputy’ rate is an approximate $28,371 savings per deputy over other cities,” Hart wrote.
“Additionally, LASD does not charge the City a salary for its Station Commander, six additional deputies, four 911 emergency dispatchers, a portion of a jailer salary, use of various public safety equipment — including all department vehicles and boats — or any other supplemental services,” Hart wrote.
“Per the terms of the contract, the City of Avalon has the option to request additional reserve deputies to provide public safety services on an as needed basis,” Hart wrote.
“The City does not pay these reserve deputies a salary, but the City does cover their travel, hotel accommodations and reimbursements for meals,” Hart wrote.
“Historically, the City has hired reserve deputies on popular weekends throughout the year as well as during cruise ship days. The fees for these reserve deputies are not included in the regular contract,” Hart wrote.
“There are two elements of the contract: cost of services and the liability trust fund allocation. The cost of services increased slightly in converting the 0.5 Growth Deputy Generalist to a Catalina Deputy. The liability trust fund is the Contract Cities self-insurance and is allocated to members by multiplying the total cost of services provided by an approved percentage. The liability trust fund cost allocation percentage increased by 1% from 11% in FY 22-23 to 12% in FY 23-24,” Hart wrote.
