City hall’s hours will change as a result of the city’s recent agreement with the California Teamsters Local 911 union, which represents 117 of the city’s employees.
City hall will be closed every other Friday and open for an extra 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening Monday through Thursday, or 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m, starting on March 21. The first Friday it will be closed is April 1.
However, public works and community development staff will still be available all Fridays to respond to emergencies like utility line breaks and fallen trees.
The agreement was approved 3-2 by the city council at the January 5 meeting. Human Resources Director Teresia Zadroga-Haase said that the new schedule would improve efficiency by making sure all employees were working the same days.
“Right now we only have all employees three days a week, Tuesday through Thursday,” said Zadroga-Haase.
However, Councilmembers Wayne Powell and David Lesser said that while they supported city employees, they disliked the change.
“I’m deeply troubled by the closing of city hall on alternating Fridays,” said Lesser. “It’s great that it will open half an hour early and close half an hour later. Closures are going to impact businesses and residents.”
The city had been operating under a “9/80” compressed work schedule, meaning employees worked eight nine-hour days and one eight-hour day during a two-week period and had one day off. However, there wasn’t an uniform day off.
Mayor Mark Burton said the 9/80 schedule as it had been implemented had caused a “loss of service.”
“Either get rid of the 9/80 or do it right,” said Burton. “I don’t think we have any other choice if we want to have a full-service city.” ER
