National City council gives closed-session direction to labor negotiators after union members criticize bargaining

At a special National City Council meeting June 30, public commenters representing MEA and the National City Police Department criticized the status of labor negotiations and the role of the city's outside labor counsel, and the council later reported it provided directions to negotiators in closed session.

Stephanie Mendiola, administrative secretary for the National City Police Department and a member of the ME negotiating team, told the council the union has not yet signed a new contract and accused the outside lawyer the city hired of "stalling negotiations." "We want a fair contract," Mendiola said, asking the council to press for bargaining in good faith after the union said it gave the city an extra six months to reach agreement.

James Kim, who said he represents MEA, said the union submitted 21 proposals at the start of bargaining that were rejected and criticized the rehired outside counsel. "We just looked at him like, really?" Kim said, adding that workers who keep the community running deserved better treatment. Kim also called the lawyer "a lazy b s lawyer" in the meeting's public-comment period.

A resident, Duqui Valderrama, urged the council to consider the city's fiscal capacity during negotiations, saying that while council members had referenced a $51 million reserve, only about $4,800,000 of that is unassigned. Valderrama said that unassigned amount equated to roughly two weeks of operating costs and warned of risk to services and repairs if reserves were overstated. Vice Mayor Bush questioned whether the $4.8 million figure was a projection, and the vice mayor clarified that the figure cited was projected and not yet realized.

Following the public-comment period the council entered closed session on six items, including "conference with labor negotiators" involving MEA and multiple employee groups. The City Attorney reported out after closed session that the council had "provided directions to the negotiators" on item 5.1; the attorney said there were reports on the status of mediation for existing litigation but that several items had "no reportable action." The City Attorney did not disclose the content of the directions given in closed session.

The meeting record shows no public vote or ordinance tied to the negotiations; the council adjourned and is scheduled to reconvene at its next regular meeting. NEXT STEPS: Negotiators will continue discussions outside public view; the council has not yet announced any public follow-up or timeline for returning a negotiated agreement to the dais.