Pay, Benefit Study Says Brea Comparable : Evaluation: Municipal employees’ compensation commensurate with larger cities, private sector, committee finds.

BREA — City employees are receiving salaries and benefits comparable to those some of the biggest cities in Orange County and private companies in Southern California are giving to their employees, according to a committee that reviewed and evaluated Brea’s compensation program.

Created by the City Council in May, the eight-member blue ribbon committee gave the city high marks in linking pay raises with performance, maintaining a good working relationship with employee unions and paying employees within the city’s means.

“The existing compensation works well and should not be significantly altered,” the committee said in its report, submitted to the City Council on Wednesday.

The committee was composed of two company vice presidents, three personnel managers, a Claremont assistant city manager and two Brea residents, including a former mayor.

It conducted surveys, met with employee representatives and completed the five-month study with the help of a consultant hired by the city.

“This was not just a bunch of people playing experts,” said Brea resident Joe Dupuy, a Pacific Telephone district manager, who acted as committee chairman. “Everyone spoke candidly and freely. We had no intention to please or displease anyone.”

The report was generally flattering. However, the committee suggested some changes. It recommended that Brea officials focus on Orange County cities in comparing employee benefit packages and do periodic salary surveys in private companies to be more sensitive to changes in the economy.

The committee also suggested officials use salaries and benefits to measure the city’s ability to attract quality workers rather than rely simply on base salary, as is the current practice.

In evaluating future employee benefits, the committee recommended officials use for comparison the benefits paid in Orange County’s seven “exemplary” cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Irvine, Newport Beach, Orange and Santa Ana.

“We are pleased with the recommendation to compare Brea with the big boys in Orange County,” said John Adams, a labor relations consultant for two Brea employees associations.

He said this will help in the associations’ negotiations with the city next spring.

However, there have been community concerns that the city employs too many people whose wages are too high for a city of Brea’s size.

With a population of 34,000, the city has 358 employees.

“We don’t need one city employee for every 100 people,” said Sid Greaves, a resident, at a recent council meeting.

City officials, however, said that Brea has a daytime population of more than 100,000 and that a big staff is needed to meet their needs. As a regional commercial center, it faces the same issues as Irvine and Anaheim, they said.

In its report, the committee said the city pays 3% to 6% more than the median in private companies. For example, a city administrative secretary receives $3,083 monthly while a senior secretary in a private company performing comparable duties receives an average of $2,877.

“This is consistent with the city’s policy to pay higher than the median in the labor market,” the report said.