David Garcia has a video clip he offers as proof the City of Manteca may be on the verge of reneging on a promise made to more than 400 municipal employees that if they stayed on the job during the early stages of the pandemic there would be a “bucket of money” to reward them with one-time stipends.
Garcia was one of a number of city employees that made their displeasure known Tuesday to the City Council.
They told elected leaders they have yet to hear that some type of stipend has made it onto an internal list being compiled between departments on a recommendation on how to spend $13.7 million in COVID-19 relief funds the city is receiving from the federal government.
One city employee recently died from COVID while a number of others have been sickened by the coronavirus.
The video clip was taken from a citywide virtual call former City Manager Miranda Lutzow conducted with all city employees in March 2020. The “bucket of money” was the COVID relief funds that had not yet been formerly authorized.
A number of cities in the valley paid stipends to essential workers to keep them on the job. Essential workers go beyond just firefighters and police. It included street workers, solid waste truck drivers, finance, IT, parks maintenance, lab workers at the wastewater treatment plant — virtually every worker on the payroll to keep the city up and running.
They were also requested to step forward in the event emergency staffing was needed for situations that might arise.
Garcia, as an example, said Oakdale gave their essential employees two $5,000 stipends each. They weren’t reoccurring expenses nor did they count toward pensions.
Garcia noted a $2,000 one-time stipend for the city’s 470 employees would require just 6 percent of the $13.7 million the city is receiving in relief funds.
Manteca Unified used $6.55 million of their $49 million in federal COVID relief funds for one-time stipends for those who worked during the pandemic. It included $2,350 for teachers and most classified employees. Those classified employees that are noon duty workers received $1,160.
The City Council has yet to receive staff recommendations on how to spend the COVID funds.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
