City to let 55 employees go

Jenny Marder

A dark cloud is setting over City Hall. To ease the budget crunch,

city officials are proposing a massive reorganization of Surf City’s

budget, which could result in job losses for almost 10% of the city’s

employees.

The cutbacks, which would trim $11.5 million from the city’s

$135-million budget, would also result in the elimination of the

city’s local TV station, two library closures and the restructuring

of five departments.

The city does not bring in as much revenue as it once did because

of the combined effect of the sluggish economy, ever-increasing state

and federal mandates and new state and federal legislation, City

Administrator Ray Silver said. The slow economy and the lack of need

for air conditioning or heating has caused the city’s sales taxes and

utility taxes, two of the General Fund’s largest revenue sources, to

plummet.

Silver is proposing to eliminate 95 positions, 45 of which are

already vacant because of retirement and hiring freezes, and 16

positions will altered, but not lost. Nearly 10% of the existing

942-person workforce will be affected. Cutting back on salaries

alone, which make up 70% to 80% of the General Fund, will save the

city $8 million.

Public Works is taking the brunt of the blow. It will be losing 34

positions, 11 of which are already vacant.

Department heads have already notified the employees who may lose

their positions.

Clay Martin, the city’s administrative services director, said

that since the city has a policy of cuts based on seniority, some

employees will have alternatives beside losing their job altogether.

In a process known as “bumping,” an employee can choose to take a

voluntary demotion and displace someone with less seniority or

request to be transferred to a different division for which he or she

is qualified.

“There are a number of people in this first group who will have

someplace else that they can go,” Martin said.

And for those who do lose their jobs, Mayor Connie Boardman said

that the city will provide a variety of job placement services to

help ease the blow, such as financial and emotional counseling and

resume writing workshops.

“We’re making sure that they have the opportunity to attend

workshops to help them polish up their resume,” Boardman said.

All departments except building and safety would be affected under

the plan.

Three fire captain’s, three firefighters, two sergeants, 10 police

officers and the city’s pesticide crews are among the casualties. All

HBTV-3 programming, except for City Council and Planning Commission

meetings, would be cut. The library would shut down its branches on

Main Street and Banning Avenue, eliminate two staff positions and

reduce the budget for magazines and books. The city would also cut

funding to the Sister City Program and the Concert Band.

Funding to engineering services, safety programs, education

programs and the senior outreach program would be reduced.

While Huntington Beach is not the only city to suffer in the face

of the state budget crisis -- the city of Santa Ana has a $15-million

deficit in its general fund -- its neighbors to the south, Newport

Beach and Costa Mesa, have so far managed to escape the state budget

cuts with barely a scrape.

Costa Mesa is looking at almost no change from the previous fiscal

year, a “flat” budget, said aMarc Puckett, city director of finance.

In Newport Beach, city officials have proposed a $112-million

budget for the coming fiscal year, which nearly $10 million larger

than this year’s approved budget.

But in Santa Ana, a city closer in size to Huntington Beach,

problems are similar, Santa Ana Asst. City Manager Debra Kurita said.

Of 1,700 positions on he city staff, 18 will be eliminated and 95

held vacant in the city of Santa Ana.

“We are all feeling the impact of the economy as well as the

method by which state balances its budget,” Kurita said. “Over the

past 13 years, the cumulative impact of budget cuts is that we’ve

lost about $85 million.”

The Huntington Beach City Council will study the recommended

changes at two study sessions, scheduled for June 23 and June 30. The

vote is set for July 7.

“This is a very complex problem, and the solutions are difficult

to arrive at mainly because they involve real people and real

services,” Martin said. “The effort that we’re undertaking right now

is not done lightly.”

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at jenny.marder@latimes.com.