Surf City lays off 37 employees in cuts

Jenny Marder

Layoff notices were delivered in person to 37 city employees Tuesday.

This came after the City Council unanimously approved $11.1

million in cuts to the 2002-03 budget on Monday night.

Of the 37 employees who will lose their jobs as of July 23, 26

work for the Public Works Department, six for the Police Department,

one for library services, one for the Fire Department, one for

administrative services and three for the city administrator’s

office.

Funding has been pulled from many beloved programs, such as the

city’s cable TV station and the Sister City program. City services

such as fire safety education classes, engineering services, street

repairs and building maintenance will go unfunded next year.

The employees who received notice this week are not without

options. Many will have the choice to take demotions or transferred

to a similar position in a different department and “bump” other

employees with less qualifications or less seniority, who would then

be laid off instead.

The notices were not a surprise to workers, who were given warning

of what was to come.

“All individuals receiving notices have already been notified and

were given a heads up three weeks ago,” said Clay Martin, the city’s

administrative services director. “We are making sure to deliver

notices personally and let them know that resources are available.”

This week, each employee will meet individually with someone from

human resources, where they will be briefed on a list of outplacement

services provided to them by the city. Resources include training on

writing resumes and searching for jobs and emotional and financial

counseling. The city will also provide laid off employees with

equipment they might need for their job search, such as computers and

fax machines, Martin said.

The City Council has met several times over the past couple of

months to study budget options. At a June 30 meeting, they managed to

rescue a fire engine station, two code enforcement officers, a marine

safety officer and two satellite library branches from the chopping

block.

Minutes before they were scheduled to vote on the cuts Monday

night, council members brought HBTV, Surf City’s cable station, to

the fore of the discussion, questioning whether it had been placed on

the cut list without being given a fair chance to generate income.

“I think HBTV provides an incredible service to the community,”

Councilwoman Pam Julien Houchen said.

A motion to pull it from the list of cuts, which was ultimately

denied, inspired anger from Mayor Connie Boardman, who said she hated

being put “in this position at the last minute.”

The discussion came after a presentation by Tim Flanagan, HBTV’s

director.

“It really pains me not to be able to support this, but I can’t

when we’re getting rid of a program where we can replace our

sidewalks, we’re not filling police and fire positions and we’re

getting rid of fire marshals, fire suppression and fire inspection

officials,” Boardman said.

Councilman Dave Sullivan also pointed out that while general

programming will be cut, City Council meetings will continue to be

televised.

“We don’t have the money. .We just can’t do it,” Sullivan added.

“I can see no way of coming up with the money.”

Council members Debbie Cook, Jill Hardy and Houchen favored

eliminating the station, which costs the city $368,000 annually, from

the budget cuts, but the motion failed in a 4 to 3 vote.

The council will next meet on Aug. 1 to discuss the 2003-04

budget. The $11.1 million in cuts made to the 2002-03 budget will be

carried over to next year’s budget.

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

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