January 8th 2023: The City of Laguna Beach and the police union have come to terms on a new contract. The new contract will make Laguna Beach police officers the second highest paid in Orange County; The contract itself be considered by the city council at its next meeting which is Tuesday.
During the pandemic Laguna Beach like many cities had a drop in police officers with some also deciding to retire. Negotiating police and fire contracts is always tough for cities because these are people that risk their lives to save others. The problem is a city is using tax payer dollars to pay the employees so you want to get the best value for available funds so these negotiations are always going to be tough.