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.
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