City votes to cut jobs, begin monthly furlough

The Scotts Valley City Council voted unanimously to eliminate three positions, cut two full-time jobs down to part time and begin a furlough that will close City Hall the third Friday of each month — all to minimize an annual deficit brought on by the shaky economic climate and impending 2011 expiration of the Measure C sales tax.
The cuts and furlough — which save the city a total of $442,000 — will extend the city’s $2.7 million reserve fund a few more years in hopes that the borrowed time will give room for commercial development or a turnaround in the economy to balance the city’s budget, city staff said.
“In difficult times, you have to make difficult decisions. It comes with laying off and saying goodbye to really good people,” Mayor Randy Johnson said. “I’m proud of the people who work here, and it hurts to have to say goodbye.”
City Manager Steve Ando said he spoke with the employees whose positions were cut and made it clear that the layoffs in no way reflected job performance.
The positions cut include a planning department aide, an economic development specialist and an office assistant at the police department who coordinates Drug Abuse Resistance Education and Red Ribbon Week programs.
Other positions within the departments will have to absorb the extra workload, Ando said.
Also, a full-time building official position will become a 10-hour-a-week building inspector job. Ando said building activity in the city has been low because of the economy.
The public works secretary will also become a part-time job when the present full-time employee retires in April.
Councilwoman Stephany Aguilar suggested that laid-off staff have priority in applying to city jobs as they become available.
The city’s first furlough day will be Sept. 18 and will involve all city employees except police officers, dispatchers and possibly the senior recreation director.
Furloughs will continue until June 30, 2011, which marks the end of the contract period with Management, Mid-Management and SEIU bargaining units, Ando said.
Still, Paul Bach, a local resident, said the furlough and cuts do not solve the budget debacle. He suggested the solution is to extend Measure C, a quarter-cent sales tax that has increased the city’s reserves by millions and will expire in March 2011.
“I don’t believe we can in all honesty blame this mess on the current economy. This is not a new or sudden budget problem for the city,” Bach said, noting that Scotts Valley’s budget has risen by $1 million in three years. “If the city was more careful, we wouldn’t have these massive layoffs we have now.”
Vice Mayor Jim Reed said the city’s budget has gone up largely due to pension and medical costs, which the council has little ability to control.
“We’re running leaner and meaner than we were 10 years ago,” Reed said. “Population is up, inflation has gone up and our staff has gone down.”
He noted that some city employees have taken on more than one position, such as City Manager Ando, who also acts as finance director.
“We are truly swimming against the tide to try and mitigate the losses that we’re facing from the world economy,” Reed said. “The sooner we start making some incremental cuts now, the greater the chance we’re not going to have to make catastrophic cuts later.”