President's Message: 2013 is proving to be a demanding year, and we expect even more big changes in 2014 By Carlos Clayton, CAPE President

With both our salary and fringe benefits contracts up for negotiations this year, we already have a full plate. Even bigger changes are on the horizon for 2014.

After nearly a year in preparation for negotiations, and what we're certain will be several months at the bargaining table, the best way to end 2013 would be with multi-year salary and fringe benefits contracts in place. CAPE members have gone too long without cost-of-living adjustments, and medical premium increases routinely threaten to take more money out of professional employees' pockets. Progress on both can be achieved at the bargaining table this year. The months of preparation and hard work will give us the best chance at fair contract agreements, so keep your fingers crossed.

We already know that 2014 will be a watershed year for Los Angeles County. Two of the five seats on the County’s Board of Supervisors will be up for re-election with no incumbents running, as First District Supervisor Gloria Molina and Third District Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky term out of office late next year. Nobody can remember the last time there were two open seats on the Board of Supervisors. It's an opportunity for us to educate potential candidates and the public about the vitally important services provided by CAPE members every day. CAPE representatives are already working to make sure the County's professional employees are engaged in the process to make sure our issues of smart and efficient government services are at the forefront of the debate.

Opportunities always come with risks. The campaigns to fill two open seats on the Board of Supervisors could easily deteriorate to a contest of employee-bashing. In the recent Los Angeles City Mayoral election, one candidate started her campaign by touting her efforts to eliminate 'waste, fraud and abuse'. What she actually had were incomplete employee mileage reimbursements forms -- and she was the choice of labor unions. The other candidate's TV ads connected his opponent to the union representing LADWP workers, as if that were a negative.

Early on, it will be our responsibility to tell the potential candidates, and the public, that leading a government can't mean disparaging the people who provide the service. Trained, intelligent and efficient employees should be what everyone wants for good government services, and we don't get good services from employees that are continuously disparaged as a "cost" in government. The County's professional employees are an "asset".

We need government officials who know how to lead and inspire, instead of disparaging their workforce. Next year, 2014, could be a game-changer for Los Angeles County. The opportunities are unlimited, and we're working hard to ensure that the new Board of Supervisors majority can achieve its full potential.