Cathedral City Public Safety Management Association v. City of
Cathedral City (June 3, 1999)
* Court: State Appellate
* Public Employer: City of Cathedral City
* Plaintiffs' Job Classes: Public safety mid-management
* Trial Court Decision: In favor of city
* Appellate Court Decision: In favor of city
* Attorney for Plaintiffs: Gerald Lennon
* Issue Areas: MOU, meet and confer, impasse, last and best offer
Cathedral City Facts
* Plaintiff association represented police sergeants and above and
fire captains and above.
* The association entered into an MOU with the city for 1994-1995.
* After negotiating for nine months, the association and the city
could not agree on a successor MOU.
* The city's employer-employee relations ordinance provided for
mediation. Mediation was tried for one day in August 1996, but it was
unsuccessful.
* The city's employer-employee relations ordinance also provided for
imposition of a contract by the city council after hearing.
* The council ' after one day of hearing in August 1997 imposed the
city's last and best contract offer upon the association. The now MOU
was for July 1997 through December 1999.
* The association filed a petition for writ of mandate; the trial
court denied the writ; the appellate court affirmed the trial court.
Analysis of Cathedral City Public Safety Management Association
* The association argued that the city had engaged in had faith
bargaining; the court concluded that the parties' lengthy efforts to
reach a settlement do not support the association's argument.
* The court also concludes that the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act does not
prohibit the imposition after impasse of an MOU with a duration of two
years and six months. The court finds reasonable the city's goal of
having this imposed MOU terminate at the same time as the city's other
public safety MOUs.
