LOS ANGELES — The San Bernardino Police Officers Association told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury that it has reached a tentative agreement with the city.
The announcement came during a status hearing held in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Riverside, Calif. Thursday.
The terms of the agreement are confidential and subject to the gag order imposed by Judge Jury, city officials said.
"This has been a long and difficult negotiation to work through and I am extremely pleased this tentative agreement has been reached, as it will bring long-term stability to the city of San Bernardino and the SBPOA," San Bernardino Mayor Carey Davis said in a statement.
The tentative agreement marks a huge step forward toward the negotiation of a plan of adjustment in the bankruptcy, Carey said.
The agreement has to be approved by both the City Council and the police union's members. The council is slated to discuss the agreement in closed session at its meeting Monday.
The city reached an agreement with the California Public Employees' Retirement System in June.
Negotiations with the city's firefighters union have not been as fruitful. That union asked that it be released from the gag order on union negotiations in June saying it was hampering the union's ability to hammer out an agreement.
The firefighters also filed a motion prior to the Aug. 14 status hearing asking that Jury said a January deadline for the city to submit the plan of adjustment needed to exit bankruptcy. The judge rejected the deadline request during the hearing.
The city also participated in an all-day mediation session with Ambac Assurance Company on Aug. 5 regarding the city's $40 million in pension obligation bonds. The next mediation session is scheduled for Sept. 22.
"It is simply not true that the city is not making substantial progress towards proposing a plan," Paul Glassman, a partner with Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth who is representing the city, said in court documents.
Glassman cited the agreement with CalPERS, the police union, and negotiations with attorneys representing the insurance companies among strides the city has made to reach a plan of adjustment.
He added that the city has been negotiating with the firefighters' union. The outcome of those negotiations will be addressed by the court at the Sept. 11 hearing on the city's motion to reject the collective bargaining agreement with the firefighter's union. The city plans to file a motion on Aug. 18 to support its rejection of the collective bargaining agreement, which Glassman said is hampering the city from a needed restructuring of the fire department to lower costs.
