Fun in the sun
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WEEKEND | 25
GENERAL EXCELLENCE
California Newspaper Publishers Association
JUNE 17, 2016 VOLUME 24, NO. 21
www.MountainViewOnline.com
650.964.6300
MOVIES | 27
Tentative agreement reached on teacher salaries TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS COULD END EARLY FOR THE MOUNTAIN VIEW WHISMAN SCHOOL DISTRICT By Kevin Forestieri
T MICHELLE LE
Volunteers Joan MaDonald stands with boxes of signtures for a proposed rent-cap measure for the November ballot.
Rent-control measure expected to go to voters in November TENANT ADVOCATES DELIVER SIGNATURES TO CITY By Mark Noack
C
ertain to be a lightning rod in city politics, a ballot measure to restrict Mountain View’s apartment rents is expected to go before voters in November.
Members of the Mountain View Tenants Coalition on Tuesday morning delivered more than 7,300 signatures to City Hall. That number should give the measure’s advocates a sizable cushion to secure a spot on the ballot. To qualify
their measure, the group says, they needed to submit 4,761 signatures from registered Mountain View voters. The rental measure is certain to be a hot-button issue for the See RENT, page 9
Construction boom brings revene, and problems, for city’s projects By Mark Noack
W
ith construction cranes and work crews ubiquitous across town, Mountain View is experiencing a surging development market like never before, bringing a wave of public improvements and filling the city’s coffers with fees. But at least one aspect of the construction boom is actually a
INSIDE
bust for Mountain View — city staff say that some public projects are stalling due to wildly inflated construction costs stemming from the high demand. In recent weeks, city officials say they had little choice but to reject two projects — including a package of school safety improvements — because submitted contractor bids were way over budget. “The city’s revenues are up due
to the economy, but sometimes the costs go up too,” said Public Works Director Mike Fuller. “Sometimes that’s just the way it is, and we have to go back and ask for more money.” The problem came to head last month when the Mountain View City Council reviewed a request for proposals for a See CONSTRUCTION, page 11
VIEWPOINT 22 | GOINGS ON 29 | MARKETPLACE 30 | REAL ESTATE 34
he Mountain View Whisman School District has announced that it has reached a tentative agreement with its teachers’ union, following stalls and tough negotiations on teacher pay that threatened to extend bargaining meetings into the fall. The agreement would bump teacher salaries by 8 percent, according to the union’s president. Superintendent Ayinde Rudolph announced in a newsletter Tuesday that the district’s negotiation team reached an agreement with the Mountain View Educators Association (MVEA) during a negotiation meeting on June 7, ending disputes on all of the contract terms for the coming school year. Prior to the meeting, teacher union representatives indicated that little progress had been made towards reaching an agreement, and that negotiations would likely need to be discontinued into September. Jonathan Pharazyn, who served as the MVEA president during negotiations and is now retired, told the Voice in an email that district administrators have agreed to an 8 percent increase in teacher pay across the entire salary schedule, which was one of the primary sticking points for both parties. District administrators agreed to also reduce class sizes to 24 to one for kindergarten through third grade, maintain the current health care benefit contributions for the coming school year, and provide stipends for music teachers who attend overnight music performance trips approved by the board, Pharazyn said. The MVEA does not have a meeting until school resumes in
August, which means the teaching staff will not have an opportunity to vote to ratify the agreement for more than a month. Teacher union representatives clashed with district administrators earlier this year during negotiations, claiming that the district’s “Negotiations News” newsletter was biased and indicated that all the teachers’ union cares about is money. A proposal to work together on a joint news release after each meeting was rejected by district staff at the March 28 negotiation meeting. Teachers flooded the May 19 school board meeting wearing MVEA shirts to support the push for higher pay, and Graham teacher Derek Mulkey told board members that to see the district communicate to the public that teachers don’t want to do what’s best for the students dampened morale. The district has yet to release the expected costs of the 8 percent salary increase, and how it will affect the district’s reserve fund in the coming years. At the May 19 board meeting, Chief Business Officer Robert Clark noted that the district’s offer at that time was to increase teacher pay by 4 percent on the salary schedule, as well as a 2 percent increase in one-time pay. The change would have cost the district $1.32 million in the 2016-17 school year, followed by $900,000 the following years. A recent poll of 199 teachers found that two-thirds would only be willing to accept a pay raise of 7 percent or higher going into the next school year. School district officials declined to comment on the tentative agreement, including the terms of the contract. Email Kevin Forestieri at kforestieri@mv-voice.com V