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Mr. Arkin said this is the worst economic time for the electronic industry and many people are out of work. From the perspective of those people, he felt this was not a good time to be presenting this package. Michael O'Callaghan, 3425 Arbor Drive, related a story about visiting a fire station when he was young. The building was very utilitarian looking. He appreciated the work of the firemen. He wondered about the new fire station on Del Valle and said it rivaled any of the custom homes in Ruby Hills. He asked Mr. Campbell what would happen to the country and its form of government when the public employees outnumber those in the private sector. He asked Ms. Ayala how she knew what the other Council votes were on this issue, since she was so certain she would be outvoted on this issue. He asked Mayor Pico how much this change was going to cost the taxpayers of this community? He urged Council to make a decision at this meeting, but he would not have approved this kind of contract in this economy. Mr. Campbell said government employees will never outnumber private sector employees. He said the number of government employees increased during the Johnson Administration with the War on Poverty and the Great Society, but the number decreased during the Clinton Administration. He felt it was a philosophical difference between Democrats and Republicans. Ms. Ayala was perplexed by this system. She strongly believed the public needs information. She deferred the answer about what happens in closed session to the City Attorney. Mr. Roush said during the course of closed session discussions, the labor negotiators present information to the Council on the issues, the costs involved, and get direction from Council on what to present to the employees and what would be acceptable by the Council. When the final package is negotiated, the City Manager asks Council if she can present it to the employee group for voting. At that point, the Manager would want to know if there was Council support to do that. Any manager would be foolish to present a contract to a labor group without authority. When Ms. Ayala says she knows how the vote is going, it is simply because there was consensus reached on this package. The package would not have been taken to the employees association if there was not Council support to do that. Ms. Michelotti asked when this was taken to the employees. Ms. McKeehan replied that the employees voted on this on August 28, 2002. Ms. Michelotti asked when Council had given indication that it was willing to have that OCCUr. Ms. McKeehan said Council had agreed on the package and agreed to submit it to the employees at its meeting on August 20, 2002. Ms. Michelotti said there were seven closed sessions leading up to the final consensus. Pleasanton City Council 15 10/01/02 Minutes