County of Sacramento (PERB A408M)

STATE OF CALIFORNIA
DECISION OF THE
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD
COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO,
Employer,
and
ENGINEERING TECHNICIANS & TECHNICAL
INSPECTORS,
Petitioner,
and
UNITED PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1,
Exclusive Representative.
Case No. SA-SV-181-M
Administrative Appeal
PERB Order No. Ad-408-M
April 8, 2014
Appearances: Krista C. Whitman, Assistant County Counsel, for County of Sacramento;
Goyette & Associates, Inc. by Dee Contreras, Consultant, for Engineering Technicians &
Technical Inspectors.
Before Martinez, Chair; Huguenin and Banks, Members.
DECISION
MARTINEZ, Chair: 	This case is before the Public Employment Relations Board
(PERB or Board) on appeal by the Engineering Technicians & Technical Inspectors (ETTI) of
the dismissal by the Office of the General Counsel of ETTI' s petition for severance. The
petition sought to sever the Code Enforcement Officer I/II and Senior Code Enforcement
Officer classes from their current bargaining unit represented by the United Public Employees
Local 1, and add them to the bargaining unit represented by ETTI. 	Given the existenceof local
rules that can accomplish what ETTI is seeking, the Office of the General Counsel dismissed
the petition for lack of jurisdiction on October 15, 2013. 1
1 The County and its employees are subject to the Meyers-Milias Brown Act (MMBA),
codified at Government Code section 3500 et seq. 	Under MMBA section 3507, a public

agency "may adopt reasonable rules and regulations after consultation in good faith with
representatives of a recognized employee organization or organizations for the administration
of employer-employee relations." Under MMBA section 3509, subdivision (a), PERB is vested
with the authority to "adopt rules to apply in areas where a public agency has no rule."
By letter dated October 24, 2013, ETTI filed a timely appeal. By letter dated
November 14, 2013, the County
of
Sacramento (County) requested an extension
of
time by
which to file a response in order to pursue an informal resolution
of
the matter with ETTI. 	The
proposed resolution was to allow ETTI to file a unit modification petition with the County on
or about December
1,
2013. The County's request for an extension oftime was granted and
the new due date for filing the County's response to the appeal was December
6,
2013. No
response was thereafter filed.
By letter
of
January 21, 2014, ETTI and the County jointly requested
t.hat
the case be
placed in abeyance pending resolution
of
the parties' dispute. The Board did not take action on
this request. 	By letter
of
March 12, 2014, ETTI requested that its appeal be withdrawn. 	The
parties amicably resolved their dispute by submitting to an arbitration process, which resulted
in a decision granting the unit modification at issue, i.e., the severance petitioned for by ETTI.
The Board has the discretion to grant or deny requests to withdraw and dismiss cases
pending before the Board itself. (PERB Reg. 32320, subd. (a)(2) ["The Board itself may ...
take such other action as it considers proper."];2 State
of
California (Department
of
Personnel
Administration) (2010) PERB Decision No. 2152-S; Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community
College District (2009) PERB Order No. Ad-380; Oakland Unified School District (1988)
PERB Order No. Ad-l 71a; ABC Unified School District (1991) PERB Decision No. 831 b.)
Based on the Board's review of the parties' request and the entire record in this matter,
the Board finds withdrawal of this case to be in the best interest of the parties and consistent
2 PERB Regulations are codified at California Code of Regulations, title 8,
section 31001 et seq.
2

with the purposes
of
the MMBA to promote harmonious labor relations. 	The Board has a
longstanding policy favoring the voluntary settlement
of
disputes.
ORDER
The request by the Engineering Technicians & Technical Inspectors to withdraw its
appeal in Case No. SA-SV-181-M is hereby GRANTED.
Members Huguenin and Banks joined in this Decision.
3