Measure T - Brea Accountability Act Measure
Argument against the "Brea Accountability Act"
The City of Brea is a truly special place to live,work, and raise a family. Beautiful parks,
community events, a vibrant downtown, award winning schools, as well as sound fiscal
policies are what make Brea the City we all love to call home. These things don't happen
by accident. It is due, in large part
, to the City Council's ability to attract top-level talent
to work in our award-winning organization. This measure sets an arbitrary cap on the amount the City Council can pay its upper
management by not allowing any consideration of the free market. It prevents the Council
from offering what we believe to be competitive salaries needed to attract quality
executive-level employees. At the same time it specifically excludes public safety
employees from this cap. This will cause some public safety employees to make more
than those who supervise them. We currently pay at or slightly below Orange County
averages for our top employees. What is this measure really trying to fix? Why change a successful and proven strategy? Let the free
market determine the amount we pay, not an arbitrary, ill-conceived initiative. The City of Brea is a 100 million dollar corporation. Decisions made at the executive
level have daily ramifications of tens of thousands of dollars. We need the skills,
experience, and creativity of cutting-edge leaders. Removing the City Council's authority
to set the amount of compensation necessary would severely limit our ability to remain
one of the best cities in the state. Measure U - Brea Open Governance Act Measure
Argument against the "Brea Open Governance Act"
The City of Brea prides itself on open and transparent government and has always exceeded the requirements of the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act.
• All council meetings are held in open forums; community members are always
given the chance to address the city council,
• All agendas are posted and published on the Internet at least 72 hours before each
council meeting (24 hours for special meetings),
• All regular city council meetings held in the council chambers are video-recorded
and available on the city website,
• All public records requests are promptly addressed in strict compliance with state
law. Why then do we need this measure? The answer is we don't! This measure subjects Brea to different requirements than those applied to every other
City in the State of California and would require Brea taxpayers to pay even higher costs
for Public Information Requests. This measure would not allow the city council to stop speakers from the use of profanity
or any other abusive language during city council meetings. This measure creates a randomly chosen 3-person committee with the power to levy fines
on city employees who allegedly do not comply with the measure. This measure also prevents the elected City Council from meeting in closed session with
the City Attorney to conclude and approve terms of purchasing property or on terms in
employee union labor agreements. This item alone would place the City's limited dollars
at great risk in negotiations. Please vote no on measure U. It is unnecessary and would create additional costs to
Brea taxpayers.
