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Doug Miller felt the Council needs to develop the leadership and unity necessary to resolve the Staples Ranch quickly, said he felt Mr. Norman's comments dishonestly portrays the very soldiers he purports to honor and said a welcoming event for returning soldier Ian Dollard would be held at the Valley Community Church. Karen Marten felt the rights of those who speak under public comment should be one of civility and not name-calling and asked the Council to remain as neutral as possible when listening to public comments. PUBLIC HEARINGS AND OTHER MATTERS 15. Continued to a future meeting -Consider second reading and adoption of Ordinance No. 1957 amending Section 2.04.020 of the Municipal Code concerning salaries for the Mayor and Councilmembers 16. Consider a Resolution approving a Memorandum of Understanding between Livermore- Pleasanton Fire Department Joint Powers Authority and the International Association of Firefighters Local 1974 for the period August 1, 2007 -July 31, 2010 Deputy City Manager Julie Yuan-Miu said the item was presented at the last August 21, 2007 Council meeting, and that staff recommends Council adopt the resolution approving a MOU and discussed points of the request and presentation made at the last Council meeting regarding the matter. She said the Finance Director would address Councilmember Sullivan's question regarding GASB 45. Finance Director Culver said questions raised included the funded status of the benefit, the steps take to date, the strategy the City will follow leading up to the effective date of a new accounting standard that will govern this issue, and how all of it would be publicly reported. He said unlike pension benefits, retiree medical benefits vary widely amongst jurisdictions. For Pleasanton, it is a percentage of the monthly medical premium based upon years of service, assuming the employee has been with the City for a minimum of five years and retires directly from the City. The benefit cannot be changed unilaterally but is subject to the collective bargaining process with each bargaining group. He felt the item became an issue because of the mismatch between the benefit offered by many public agencies and the way the benefit is funded. Many public agencies are using the pay-as- you-go method and pay out of pocket for what it costs the retirees that year rather than funding it like a pension. This is why the new accounting rule will take effect because it will shine the light on the true long-term of the benefit, will apply to states, cities, counties, public schools, public hospitals and public universities. Pleasanton's effective date is June 2009 and the City will pay for the benefit as it is earned over the employee's working years. He noted the City has been pre-funding the benefit over the last 10 years with LPFD ever since consolidation, they have prepared periodic actuarial reports since 2000, made annual contributions to the reserve funds and have negotiated health plan design changes. The contract provides for provisions to reduce overall liability over time, the health plan design changes include co-pays where there were none, co-pays were increased for current and future retirees, employees will share in the cost the City pays, and it ties the benefit to the lowest health plan rather than the Kaiser premium. City Council Minutes 4 September 4, 2007