The Clayton City Council next week will discuss a request from the city’s police union for COVID-19-related “hero pay” for officers, funded by the city’s share of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
The idea came up during the council’s Dec. 7 meeting, when councilmembers expressed interest in the police union’s idea and about possibly expanding it to other city employees.
A staff report for Tuesday’s meeting says “One of the identified categories of spending for ARPA funding is premium pay for essential workers defined as those working in critical infrastructure areas. In the case of local government, since all of our employees are considered disaster service workers and thus are essential workers, premium pay would be an eligible expense for all city employees.
“Further, most of the city’s employees were providing some or all services in person sooner than many in other jurisdictions as Clayton was ahead of many other cities in the county in terms of opening to the public,” the report says.
The report suggests, if the council decides to move forward, they make one-time payments for employees employed by the city before March 3, 2021. There could be up to 18 full-time employees and two part-time employees eligible.
Clayton has received $1.45 million of ARPA funds, with less than $200,000 already spent, most of it on “Clayton Cares” grants for households, nonprofits and small businesses impacted by the pandemic.
A letter from Rich Enea, the president of the Clayton Police Officers Association, dated Dec. 2, asked for “hero pay” for police officers.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, every police officer stayed the course and continued to come to work to protect this wonderful city,” Enea wrote. “While other city employees were able to work from home, our police officers did not have that choice. During the pandemic, nobody knew what it could bring. Just like everyone else in the country, our police officers were worried about getting sick or worse yet bringing the sickness home to our loved ones. Unfortunately, one of our police officers was infected with COVID last year.”
Enea pointed out that other cities, including Concord, are compensating first-responders as well.
The Clayton City Council meets virtually at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
To join the meeting, people can go to https://bit.ly/3Juxa5Z.
I say grab it!
While we may not all agree on the excesses of the costly government covid bills ….. the money is there and I say that we locally grab as much as it as we can, before the Democrats pour it down some drain.
@ Badge 1104, this IS Democrats pouring your money down some drain. Like it or not, police unions operate hand and glove with the Democrat machine, consistently pushing for, and often winning, sales tax increases to keep union members on the gravy train. Have you noticed that local sales tax is about TWICE what it used to be? And perhaps you recall the argument every time the POA/Democrat machine wants us to vote to tax ourselves more? More money for police. Always more money for police. Well, they GOT more money for police. And the police always support the politicians that will get then the most money. I’m not even necessarily saying that’s a bad thing, but you may want to ask yourself, do you feel you’re getting a good value these high taxes you’re paying?
What a slap in the face to every person who had a on they had to go to because it was critical to keep those businesses open. Police officers couldn’t do they’re jobs without putting gas in there cars. What about mechanics? Public Utility workers? Grocery store employees? Bank clerks? Fast food employees? There were literally thousands of people who never stopped working so that “we” could keep living. It’s shameful to only consider a small percentage of workers that went to work with the public in a time where we didn’t know much about Covid except that it was super contagious and killing people. Sure police officers were not the only workers worried about they’re health.
Give it to the EMTs ,Firefighters and Teachers in the District. They are the Real Hero’s!
Do you mean the teachers couldn’t be bothered to go to work for over a year while a generation of children languished academically and spiraled emotionally? THOSE “heros?” (Not “hero’s,” BTW!)
Are you bloody mad, mate?
We are all heroes and I appreciate what the public does to keep us safe. But enough is enough give back to everyone.All of us are paying through the nose for everyday needs.Just look at what it cost you to keep warm PGE!This is all tax dollars you are giving away.The public doesn’t pay for my medical and retirement.They get very good salaries and benefits already.
We live in Clayton and this is a big NO!
Hero pay my azz they are doing their jobs just like they’re supposed to be doing!
The word “hero” is used so loosely in these times it’s absolutely ridiculous who considers themselves heroes.
Everyone wants to be a hero, I guess it’s the trash pickup people are going to be the next heroes then after that it’s going to be plumbers electricians, landscapers I think it would be easier just to single out who is not a hero..
I agree, “hero” is an overused word. A true heroic act is an extraordinary, and selfless act performed by courageous individuals that do more than what’s expected of them, they go above and beyond the call of duty. Anybody that’s doing the job they were hired to do, no matter how hazardous, is not a hero, they are simply doing the job they are paid to do.
Everyone get’s a Hero medal. Que Oprah,,,,,,,,,,, “YOU GET A HERO!
how about just a hero sandwich instead.
So did a lot of other essential workers. Grocery workers, pharmacy workers etc. If you can not do this for all, let’s just say thank you and move on.
How about returning the funds that were not needed by the city?
Would “hero pay” be used for calculation of future retirement liability? If so this is a gift for which we will all continue to pay.
If Clayton can not honor all its first responders with one time payments, ie. hospital employees, pharmacy employees, grocery store employees, then let’s just say thank you for your service. Honoring one group over another is just not right…
I agree. if you weren’t involved in “smash and grab looting” or “BLM protests and rioting,” you were doing the right thing and deserve credit.
We should also do this for all the daycare and preschool workers who never took time off. Who took care of all the essential workers’ kids while putting themselves and their families at the highest risk. There is never just one hero- there are several that help lift the hero up.
Unbelievable.
So, the Clayton City Council says all city employees are eligible for “Hero Pay,” since they are all essential workers, not just the police.
That’s one way to buy votes.
Yet more proof some people are more equal than others.
That “essential workers” designation went straight to their heads. They were manipulated psychologically in the Covid propaganda blitz to serve a purpose just like the rest of us. Without “essential clients” “essential customers,” whatever you want to call them, “essential workers” would have nothing to do, and that’s exactly what Clayton City offices looked like. The whole building was locked down, closed, it looked like Clayton City government had become nonexistent.
wondering…
$$$$$ to front line peeps is nice. Is there any updated equipment or such that isn’t budgeted that will make the job task easier or maybe more enjoyable?
Either would be nice.
They deserve it! Not much to discuss…spend more time on the up zoning for the state mandated 570 housing units and preserving the downtown lot for recreational use.
This site from the LA Times gives a pretty good rundown of the states virus operation. You can enter a county name and see where covid patients are being treated.
https://www.latimes.com/projects/california-coronavirus-cases-tracking-outbreak/hospitals/#nt=0000016a-0782-dd88-a96b-b7c3896b0001-liP1promoButton-above
I would also include, an additional 15% bonus, for the ones who did the tik-tok dancing nurse videos.
Absolutely. They should receive the unemployment pay that unvaxxed nurses don’t qualify for
What happened to all the road median funds for landscaping from a few years ago?
Everyone is a “hero.”
Break out the participation trophies. I’ll bet the city council will be first in line for their handout…..
What? The Clayton Police Department was locked up tighter than a drum. You couldn’t even get in the building. The whole building was deserted, as a matter of fact.
Kind of like a Participation Trophy. Total B.S.
Government employees giving taxpayer revenue to their fellow government employees. There are numerous private sector employees that were required to work during the pandemic that are not receiving this “Hero” pay. Why do government employees feel they can give away our community funds at their discretion to fellow government workers? The best thing for the police to do is say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
If we’re all in this together do City employees deserve more compensation?
No.
A good City Council would be looking at how to lower taxes for the taxpayers.
Yes, lower taxes. Per ARPA regulations: “The rule that would prohibit tax decreases is a restriction only on states. The local government section of the bill contains no prohibition on lowering taxes.”
https://www.nlc.org/covid-19-pandemic-response/american-rescue-plan-act/arpa-local-relief-frequently-asked-questions#tax-decrease