11:00am Wednesday | The Long Beach City Council last night approved a budget that features the loss of dozens of Police positions as well as rolling brownouts at Fire stations across the city, in order to balance an $18.5 million deficit.

The City is still attempting to negotiate with several employee unions to either forego scheduled pay raises or contribute more to their pensions plans so the City will not shoulder that financial responsibility, but on Tuesday the Council took action based on the assumption that those discussions will not bear fruit.

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster said that union reform needs to happen immediately, or else the future outlook is very bleak.

“If anybody thinks it’s going to be better next year, good luck to you,” he said. “It’s not.”

Long Beach will lose about 18 Fire Department positions and also experience rolling brownouts at several fire stations across the city. Hours will be reduced and one fire truck will be removed from the Department fleet. Firefighters Association President Rich Brandt told City officials that the brownouts strategy is “like Russian roulette” because the station closures will bounce around the city and affect all Council districts. He also said that San Diego is currently experiencing brownouts and is suffering because of it.

On the Police Department side, more than 60 positions are estimated to be lost under the approved budget, with about one dozen saved because Police Chief Jim McDonnell agreed to support the elimination if the Academy program for the next year. “We can’t in good faith run an academy knowing that the potential for layoffs is still there,” he said, noting that he hopes to reopen the academy next year.

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8:30pm Tuesday | During Tuesday night’s regular City Council meeting, Mayor Bob Foster noted that the Council directed City Manager Pat West to initiate a “meet and confer process” with the International Association of Machinists (IAM), the only City employee union that has been unreceptive to some kind of agreement to relinquish pay raises or apply said raises to their pension costs.

In order to meet targeted budget goals, Foster said, West should discuss with the IAM the potential of instituting not only layoffs but also furlough days. Foster said the decision was unanimous among the City Councilmembers.

Mayor Foster said this was the only news of note to emerge from the the earlier closed session during which West provided the City Council with an update on City employee negotiations.

During public comment to begin the City Council meeting, one person who identified himself as a rank-and-file member of the IAM said that his group has given enough and the City should not ask for any more from the union. Mayor Foster replied by calling his speech “remarkably irresponsible testimony.”

The Mayor said that he has been supportive of the union in the past. “But in this case,” he said, “The problems are so steep and so bad that if we don’t address them now it will get much worse.”

Foster thanked several other City employee unions that have been receptive to negotiations as Long Beach attempts to balance a budget with an $18.5 million deficit. After several weeks of reports that the Police Officers Association would not participate in any plans to delay or forego scheduled pay raises, Mayor Foster said that he had a “great and good, professional conversation” with POA President Steve James over the weekend. While no agreement has been made with the POA, which represents the largest portion of expenditures among City employee unions, Foster said that the two now agree on the problems at hand and he cited this as a major breakthrough in conducting future negotiations.

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4:00pm Tuesday | Opening a public Budget Hearing this afternoon, Mayor Bob Foster said that he is “disappointed” in some City employee groups that have refused to negotiate plans that would ease both the immediate and long term financial burden on cash-strapped Long Beach.

“There are some groups that have provided substantial disappointment in terms of their conduct,” Mayor Foster said. “What needs to get fixed at the top of the list are public pensions.”

The City has been engaged in important negotiations with all City employee groups to possibly forego scheduled raises or contribute more to their own pensions plans, as Long Beach seeks to balance an $18.5 million deficit in the budget that must soon be finalized.

Several employee groups agreed to concessions, Foster said, while the Fire and Police Department unions have shown they are willing to discuss some kind of agreement. However, the Mayor expressed strong disappointment with the International Association of Machinists.

“In terms of the Machinists, I’ve been very disappointed because they’ve just said no,” Mayor Foster said, nothing that the union will accept a 4-percent pay raise this year, as scheduled.

“I think that’s clearly inappropriate and out of line.”

Foster said that without continued help from City employees, there will be “a future of layoffs, program elimination and/or substantial salary reductions because there’s no other way to fix this.”

In a closed session beginning at 4:30pm, the City Council will hear updates on vital union negotiations. The regular weekly Council meeting will begin at 5:00pm.

This article will be updated as the Long Beach City Council progresses with its Budget Hearing and scheduled City Council meeting this evening.