Larry Klein
Mayor
Linda Sell
Vice Mayor
Alysa Cisneros
Councilmember
Richard Mehlinger
Councilmember
Murali Srinivasan
Councilmember
Charlsie Chang
Councilmember
Eileen Le
Councilmember
August 15, 2025
The Honorable Liz Ortega
California State Assembly
1021 O Street, Suite 5120
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 339 (Ortega): Local public employee organizations: notice requirements. (Amended - 7/15/2025) – OPPOSE
Dear Assemblymember Ortega,
On behalf of the City of Sunnyvale, we respectfully submit an opposed position to AB 339, which would amend the Government Code to enhance notice requirements for local public employee organizations. While transparency and fairness are essential in public employment practices, this bill introduces unnecessary burdens that could hinder the efficiency and responsiveness of public agencies.
The City of Sunnyvale appreciates our employees, contractors, and the labor unions that represent them, but the changes in this bill have real world, nearly impossible to meet implications. The requirement of a 60 -day notice before issuing requests for pro posals, contract extensions or renewals, and quotes is excessively rigid and could impede the timely delivery of essential public services. Public agencies operate in dynamic environments where flexibility is vital, and imposing an extended notice period w ould create administrative inefficiencies and delay the implementation of essential services.
This change could dissuade private entities from contracting with public agencies by introducing potential delays and uncertainty, driving up service costs, reduc ing competition, and potentially reducing effectiveness of service delivery to the public.
The City of Sunnyvale’s Council Policies 7.0.B.3 and 7.0.F.4 (Long Term Advocacy Positions – Planning and Management) oppose any legislation that reduces or erodes local control or home -rule authority. AB 339 (Ortega) would reduce local control as it would control the City’s procurement process and require meet -and-confer on matters outside the scope of bargaining of the Meyers -Milias-Brown Act. In addition, the City of Sunnyvale’s Council Policy 7.3.6 (Service Delivery Options) has already established guidelines for considering methods of service delivery with the overall goal of providing Attachment 1
The Honorable Liz Ortega, State Assembly
August 15, 2025
high quality effective and efficient municipal services. AB 339 (Ortega) would significantly hinder local City operations; hence, limiting service delivery flexibility, increasing cost, decreasing efficiency, and lowering quality of service delivery to the public.
AB 339 drastically broadens the law. The Meyers -Milias Brown Act already requires public agencies to “meet and confer in good faith” with any affected bargaining unit prior to making any decision that is within the scope of representation. AB 339 broadens the scope of current law to apply to any contract that is within the scope of work of any job classification represented by a recognized employee organization, including where there is a longstanding past practice of contracting for services or where contr acting out is contemplated in the applicable MOU. The City of Sunnyvale has a long record of working hand in hand with our employees, contractors, and labor groups, but the projects that AB 339 will affect involve multiple phases of design, including site assessments, land surveys, plan check, traffic studies, inspections, and possibly more that cannot be fully known until earlier phases have completed, making it impossible for agencies to complete all of AB 339's notification pauses at the outset of a proj ect. These notices would therefore be compounded, causing projects to be delayed by multiples of the 60 - day pause requirement as the bill applies to any services within any recognized employee organization's scope.
We applaud the spirit of this bill but do need some changes to make this feasible at the local level.
For these reasons, the City of Sunnyvale respectfully opposes AB 339. Thank you for your consideration of our position. Please do not hesitate to contact me or Tina Murphy, Director of Human Resources, at [email protected], if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Larry Klein
Mayor
Attachment 1
The Honorable Liz Ortega, State Assembly
August 15, 2025
cc: Senator Dr. Aisha Wahab
Assembly Member Patrick Ahrens
Sunnyvale City Council
Tim Kirby, City Manager
Sarah Johnson-Rios, Assistant City Manager
Tina Murphy, Director of Human Resources
Attachment 1