Six police officers slated for layoff
The City Council Tuesday night approved a budget that closes a $7.2 million shortfall. But the adopted budget is balanced in part by laying off six police officers and demoting two others.
Six of the seven city employee unions accepted a six percent pay cut proposed by City Manager Bill Workman as a means of trimming $3.5 million from a city budget that has suffered severe hits to tax revenue streams due to the prolonged economic downturn. One of the unions, the Teamsters, agreed at 5 p.m. Tuesday, only an hour before the City Council met to adopt a budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
But the Redondo Beach Police Officers Association has not yet come to an agreement with the city, and so Workman resorted to what he has called “Plan B” – proposed layoffs that achieve the same cost savings as the requested wage concession. The budget, which by law must be enacted by June 30, will require layoff notices to be sent to six officers in early July, while two sergeants would also be demoted.
The total savings realized through the layoffs and demotions would be $796,000. The six officers’ salaries range from $110,000 to $141,000; the demotions each include $33,000 downgrades in pay. The police department accounts for $33 million of the city’s total $99 million budget.
Workman expressed optimism the POA and the city would come to an agreement before any layoff notices are sent.
“I am very confident that we will be able, in the coming days, to successfully negotiate the six percent [concession], negotiating on a level playing field with the other employee groups,” Workman said. “And we would hopefully not have to issue layoff notices to these officers on July 1.”
The police department has undergone repeated downsizing from its high of 109 sworn personnel roughly a decade ago. This year’s budget originally funded 92 police officers, prior to the proposed layoffs.
Councilman Pat Aust, a former firefighter and fire chief for the city, said he sympathized with city employees who must find a way to meet mortgage payments and other bills with declining wages.
“All of our employees are good, dedicated employees, and they are doing a wonderful job,” Aust said. “They are having to make concessions. Are they making concessions because we are money misers polishing our gold every night? No. We don’t have the money. That is why they are making concessions.”
Aust said he understood police officers face a difficult decision.
“We have to decide how we can disperse our money and get the biggest bang for the buck and treat our employees right and also treat our citizens right,” Aust added. “I’d love to say we can give them the money. But every other bargaining unit in this city has made those concessions….They have to just go back and do their own soul searching and make the decision they want to make.”
POA vice president Scot Martin, in an interview, said officers are doing just that. He said the association is confident a solution can be brokered. Martin noted that many of the positions slated for layoffs are manned by officers early in their careers.
“Ultimately, we don’t want to see anyone lose their jobs,” Martin said. “The list is black and white, but there are names behind it, and these are people supporting families and trying to start new lives as police officers.”
This is the second year in a row employees have been asked to voluntarily accept six percent wage rollbacks as well as forgo four percent scheduled cost of living increases.
The remaining $3.7 million of the city’s budget shortfall is met with cuts to every city department, a transfer of $1.3 million in capital improvement funds back into the city’s general fund and the elimination of nine full time positions, all but two of which are currently vacant. The two layoffs are the harbor facilities manager and a business systems analyst.
Mayor Mike Gin said that negations with the police association were likely to eliminate further layoffs.
“I don’t think anyone up here is taking any decisions we may make lightly at all,” said Mayor Mike Gin. “As a matter of fact, some of you here tonight are on that list, from the police department, and it’s not something we take lightly at all. It’s a matter of what our general fund can support…I feel confident that the layoffs won’t have to occur, but you know it is a scary thing, because you see your name on that list and you don’t know what may or may not happen.” ER