California City Taking Steps to Keep Its Insurance

La Puente, Calif. may be on the road to keeping its insurance, according to a statewide insurance authority.

The Southern California city was recently told that it could lose its insurance if city officials and staff don’t start getting their act together. The California Joint Powers Insurance Authority had issued a warning to the city, with a caution that it may face a similar situation that another Southern California city found itself in. In 2009, after failing to heed a warning from the CJPIA, Maywood was forced to disband its police department and lay off most employees because the authority pulled its insurance.

La Puente is faced with loosing liability and workers compensation.

The CJPIA told La Puente that it must meet certain conditions by the end of 2012 or it could lose its insurance. Among the conditions, the city of 40,000 must hire a permanent city manager, give notice of any harassment and retaliation complaints, and send council members to etiquette classes to learn how to get along.

Step No. 1 is complete.

“I think the progress is now they’ve hired a city manager,” said Bob May, senior risk consultant with CJPIA.

The city has hired Bret Plumlee, a former assistant city manager for La Quinta. Plumlee and CPJIA are meeting today to lay the groundwork that may allow the city to keep its insurance, May said.

“He’s been around a while,” May said, adding, “A lot of his background’s been in finance.”

Plumlee has also served as director of administrative services in El Segundo and assistant finance director in La Mirada.

CJPIA is meeting with Plumlee to set benchmarks and timetables to accomplish the goals laid out in CJPIA’s performance improvement plan for La Puente. A meeting between the two entities is step No. 2 in the seven-point plain.

According to May, the warning to La Puente is part the authority’s “healthy members program” criteria, which outlines what members of the authority should be doing to stay within risk management guidelines.

“To be a member of our pool you have to do certain things to maintain sound risk management practices and principals,” May said.