Quick Question of the Day

I think there might be some confusion over what’s going on with the mayor’s ballot measures. So let’s attempt to clear that up.

The precise language for Propositions B and C is already done and ready for the November ballot. Why then are the Mayor’s Office and unions involved in negotiations on something that has already been written and will be decided by voters?

Here’s how it was explained to me: ballot measures create the law within the City Charter. However, the measures, if passed by voters, need specific structures in order to be practically implemented if passed. And, because these issues involve wages, hours and working conditions, details must be worked out in labor negotiations. Those structures, I was told, can be worked out either before after the election – and that it would be rare, perhaps even a first, if the city got them worked out before the election.

So, for the time being, those negotiations are being worked on based on an “if.” (If the measure passes, it would be implemented this way.)

One more thing that caught my eye. Mayor Jerry Sanders has been very careful to be kind and diplomatic with the council in his tenure. A little bit of that went out the window yesterday. From the U-T article today:

Sanders called both issues smoke screens yesterday, saying “desperate” city unions and “their sympathizers on the council” were “throwing everything against the wall that they can to see what will stick in people’s minds.”

– ANDREW DONOHUE