Clayton Metropolis Council to Focus on Hero Pay Program for First Responders – CBS San Francisco

CLAYTON (CBS SF) – Clayton City Council will discuss next week a motion from the city police union for a COVID-19-related “hero payment” for officials funded by the city’s share of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding will.

The idea came about during the council meeting on December 7th when council members expressed interest in the police union idea and possible expansion to other city employees.

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An employee report for Tuesday’s meeting said, “One of the identified spending categories for ARPA funding is the premium payment for key workers, defined as those who work in critical infrastructure areas. In the case of local governments, since all of our employees are considered disaster relief workers and therefore essential employees, the premium payment would be a reimbursable expense for all employees in the city.

“In addition, most of the city’s employees offered some or all of the services in person earlier than many others in other jurisdictions, as Clayton was ahead of many other cities in the county in terms of opening up to the public,” the report said.

The report suggests that if the council decides to move forward, lump-sum payments be made to staff employed by the city before March 3, 2021. Up to 18 full-time employees and two part-time employees could be eligible.

Clayton has received $ 1.45 million in ARPA funding, less than $ 200,000 of which has been spent, the majority of which has been spent on Clayton Cares grants for pandemic-hit households, nonprofits, and small businesses.

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In a December 2 letter, Rich Enea, president of the Clayton Police Officers Association, called for “hero pay” for police officers.

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, every police officer stayed on track and kept coming to work to protect this wonderful city,” wrote Enea. “While other city workers could work from home, our police officers didn’t have that choice. During the pandemic, nobody knew what it could bring. Like everyone else in the country, our police officers were concerned about getting sick or worse, but bringing the disease to loved ones. Unfortunately, one of our police officers got infected with COVID last year. “

Enea pointed out that other cities, including Concord, are also compensating first responders.

Clayton City Council meets practically at 7 p.m. Tuesday. To join the meeting, people can go to https://bit.ly/3Juxa5Z.

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