OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Stamford Board of Representatives Personnel Committee Meeting – February 17, 2026

Board of Representatives — Tuesday, February 17, 2026
BodyStamford, Connecticut
SessionBoard of Representatives
DateTuesday, February 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:28:32

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Okay.

0:03

So I hereby call to order the meeting of the 30 second Board of Representatives Personnel Committee.

0:11

The time is 7 12 p.m.

0:17

Apologies for the late start.

0:22

I will uh go ahead.

0:23

Angie, do you want to go ahead and call the role?

0:26

Sure.

0:29

De La Cruz.

0:34

Gross.

0:35

Here.

0:37

Hill.

0:38

I'm not sure if he's in the room.

0:41

No.

0:42

He's not here in the room.

0:43

No.

0:44

Okay.

0:45

Pavia.

0:46

I'm here, Angie.

0:47

Okay.

0:49

Pollock.

0:50

Pollock is excused.

0:52

Excuse.

0:52

Okay.

0:54

Sally.

0:55

Present.

0:56

Okay.

0:57

And Weinberg.

0:59

Here.

1:00

Thank you.

1:00

Present.

1:01

Thank you.

1:01

Thank you.

1:04

We have two items on our agenda.

1:07

The first is a rejection item for the assisted corporate.

1:12

The assistant it's P32.008.

1:18

It's a rejection item of the assistant corporation council union labor settlement for 2026.

1:27

And with that, I'm going to uh ask uh HR Director Russell to um walk us through the proposed collective bargaining agreement, and then I'll open it up to uh questions from the committee.

1:44

Dr.

1:44

Russell, the floor is yours.

1:47

Thank you, Representative Weinberg.

1:49

Good evening, board.

1:50

So the summary of the TA agreement for Stanford's Assistant Corporation Council Union is as follows.

1:57

The term is July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2029.

2:03

The general wage increases are July 1st, 2025, 3% retroactive.

2:09

July 1st, 2026, it would be 3.25.

2:13

July 1st, 2027, a 3%.

2:16

And then July 1st, 2028, it would be a 3%.

2:21

In terms of health insurance employee contributions, the course share increases are as follows.

2:26

July 1st, 2025, 17%.

2:29

And then for July 1st, 2026 through July 1st, 2028, it would remain steady at 18.5%.

2:39

In terms of the pension six and vacation leave exchange upon ratification, the city may at its discretion.

2:47

It would offer eligible employees the following retirement options.

2:51

They have one option, option A, they can exchange up to 100 combined vacation and or sick leave days for an additional pension credit calculated at 1% per 25 days and capped at 4% with a maximum pension of 70%.

3:07

The second option, option B, is a one-time lump sum pension bonus equal to accrued vacation and or sick leave days multiplied by the employees' daily rate at retirement.

3:18

Any costs associated with this particular provision are borne entirely by the SERF plan, otherwise known as the classified employees retirement fund.

3:30

In terms of deferred compensation and surf eligibilities, all employees hired after August 5th, 2013 remain ineligible for SERF, but they may participate in a 457 deferred compensation plan, and the city will match 50% of the employees' contribution up to a maximum of 6% of the annual wages.

3:54

New provision, and that is that the union agreed that the city may implement performance reviews during the term of the agreement, but prior to the implementation, the city will review the will review the proposed performance evaluation documents with the union and negotiate any impacts on terms and conditions of employment.

4:15

And that's the end of the summary.

4:19

Okay, thank you very much.

4:21

And with that, I will uh open the floor to questions.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Labor Relations████████████████████████████████████████████44%
Personnel Matters███████████████████████████████████████39%
Budget Equity Analysis███████7%
Fiscal Sustainability████4%
Procedural███3%
Pension Benefits██2%
Health and Human Services█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Stamford Board of Representatives Personnel Committee Meeting – February 17, 2026

The Personnel Committee of the Board of Representatives met on February 17, 2026, at 7:12 PM (local time) to consider two agenda items: a rejection vote on the tentative collective bargaining agreement for the Assistant Corporation Counsel Union, and an educational presentation on the city's pay plan and classification system for non-union appointed and elected officials. The meeting was chaired by Representative Weinberg, with HR Director Dr. Russell presenting.

Discussion Items

1. Rejection of Assistant Corporation Counsel Union Labor Settlement (P32.008)

Dr. Russell presented the terms of the tentative agreement (TA) for the Assistant Corporation Counsel Union, covering July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2029. The proposed general wage increases were: 3% retroactive July 1, 2025; 3.25% July 1, 2026; 3% July 1, 2027; and 3% July 1, 2028. Health insurance employee contributions would increase to 17% on July 1, 2025, then 18.5% for the remainder of the term. The agreement included two pension options for exchanging unused sick and vacation days at retirement (Option A: additional pension credit capped at 4%; Option B: one-time lump sum payout), with costs borne by the SERF plan. The union also agreed to permit the city to implement performance reviews after negotiation of impacts.

Committee members expressed concerns about the wage increases being higher than some peer settlements, the precedent for future negotiations, the lack of an outside attorney on the city's negotiating team, and the negative opinion from the Board of Finance. Representative Pavia (also referred to as Virgil) moved to reject the agreement, citing fiscal concerns and the Board of Finance's negative opinion. The motion was seconded.

2. Review of City HR Policies and Pay Plan (P32.003)

Dr. Russell delivered a presentation on the city's pay plan for non-union appointed and elected officials. The plan is designed to maintain internal equity, market competitiveness, and transparency. It applies to non-union positions, assigns salary grades with four steps, and includes guardrails for appointments, promotions, step increases, and reallocations. Annual market adjustments are based on the World at Work executive compensation index (2.2% for July 1, 2025). A recent compensation study (January 2026) found that many pay plan roles fall below the municipal market average (around 33rd percentile) and identified salary compression. The study did not replace the pay plan but informed policy discussions. Compensation for elected officials is formula-driven, tied to Step 3 of Grade 8, with the mayor at 115%, town clerk at 80%, and registrars at 60% of that grade. The city is developing a formal performance management system expected within six months, which will strengthen the link between step increases and performance.

Key Outcomes

  • Rejection of Assistant Corporation Counsel Union Labor Settlement: The committee voted on the rejection item (P32.008). A yes vote was a vote to reject the agreement. The roll call resulted in 5 yes votes (Weinberg, Pavia, De La Cruz, Gross, Sally) and 0 no votes. The motion to reject passed, and the matter will proceed to the full Board of Representatives for a final decision. If the board rejects the TA, the city and union may either reach a new settlement or proceed to arbitration.

  • No action taken on the HR policies presentation (P32.003): The presentation was informational; no vote was required.

Meeting Transcript

Okay. So I hereby call to order the meeting of the 30 second Board of Representatives Personnel Committee. The time is 7 12 p.m. Apologies for the late start. I will uh go ahead. Angie, do you want to go ahead and call the role? Sure. De La Cruz. Gross. Here. Hill. I'm not sure if he's in the room. No. He's not here in the room. No. Okay. Pavia. I'm here, Angie. Okay. Pollock. Pollock is excused. Excuse. Okay. Sally. Present. Okay. And Weinberg. Here. Thank you. Present. Thank you. Thank you. We have two items on our agenda. The first is a rejection item for the assisted corporate. The assistant it's P32.008. It's a rejection item of the assistant corporation council union labor settlement for 2026. And with that, I'm going to uh ask uh HR Director Russell to um walk us through the proposed collective bargaining agreement, and then I'll open it up to uh questions from the committee. Dr. Russell, the floor is yours. Thank you, Representative Weinberg. Good evening, board. So the summary of the TA agreement for Stanford's Assistant Corporation Council Union is as follows. The term is July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2029. The general wage increases are July 1st, 2025, 3% retroactive. July 1st, 2026, it would be 3.25. July 1st, 2027, a 3%. And then July 1st, 2028, it would be a 3%. In terms of health insurance employee contributions, the course share increases are as follows. July 1st, 2025, 17%. And then for July 1st, 2026 through July 1st, 2028, it would remain steady at 18.5%.

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