Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel Benefits And Claims topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves CalPERS survivor benefit and advances workers' compensation authority with quarterly reporting requirement
Summary
Corona City Council voted 5-0 to add CalPERS —959 fourth level survivor benefits for sworn police employees and completed a first-reading amendment to clarify city manager authority on stipulated workers' compensation awards, adding a quarterly reporting requirement from the city attorney.
The Corona City Council on May 21 approved actions to add CalPERS —959 fourth level survivor benefits for sworn police employees and to clarify city manager authority related to workers' compensation permanent disability stipulated awards, taking two separate votes.
Lori Sassoon, chief talent officer, summarized the CalPERS action, explaining the ordinance and an accompanying resolution amendment would add fourth level —959 survivor benefits for sworn police employees and explicitly include the police chief (who is part of the city's executive benefits resolution). The council approved the ordinance's second reading and the related resolution amendment by a 5-0 vote.
On a separate matter, council considered an ordinance amending section 2.04.060(b) of the Corona Municipal Code to clarify that the city manager, following city-attorney review, may approve stipulated awards of permanent disability and related workers' compensation claims where there is no reasonable legal basis to litigate to a lower amount. After a short exchange, Councilmember D'Addario requested an added transparency measure. The council added a sentence directing the city attorney to provide a written quarterly report to council documenting when the city manager exercises that stipulated-award approval authority. The motion to introduce the ordinance by title (first reading) with that added reporting requirement passed 5-0.
Both measures were described by staff as administrative and procedural changes to align benefits and claims-handling practices with CalPERS rules and internal risk-management needs. Staff said the CalPERS amendment required an amended executive resolution (Resolution 2024-118) and a resolution number cited in the staff report (Resolution 2025-039) to place the police chief into the sworn-benefit category.
Council did not receive public comment on either item. Staff will return the workers' compensation ordinance as part of the second-reading adoption process with the added quarterly reporting language reflected in the ordinance text and will implement the CalPERS benefit change following required administrative steps with CalPERS and payroll/benefits administration.
