MANTECA – Faced with an unknown city budget deficit for 2009-10, the Manteca Budget Advisory Committee on Thursday proposed that city officials should aim high with proposed employee salary cuts.
“The cuts have to be more than 10 percent,” committee member Bruce Bentz said. “Three to 10 percent is not going to solve the problem.”
He proposed a minimum of 20 percent in salary cuts after noting the city has to make big cuts to meet its financial needs, in addition to the proposed furloughs.
Finance Director Suzanne Mallory said the city has yet to meet with employee union bargaining groups because it’s waiting for solid numbers from the state budget.
When committee member Steve Timothy Keegan asked if the city was prepared to lay off people, Mallory said it plans to do everything it can to avoid that alternative. Ultimately, she said, the decision would rest with the city manager and City Council.
She said the city has challenging times ahead and noted the state’s fiscal numbers keep changing. She said the city has no idea what the final cost will be but suggested it will be significant.
“The writing is on the wall,” Keegan said. “The good times are over.”
Some reasons why the city is facing fiscal difficulties are the prediction of a 9.2 percent decrease in sales tax revenue and a 14.7 percent drop in property tax, Mallory said.
Since the advisory committee told city officials it was opposed to a utility tax, city officials said they’ve been trying to address the committee’s cut recommendations. The city has since organized different study groups to review possible cost-savings measures while trying to keep city services intact.
Other ways the city is considering to save money is turning to volunteer groups similar to those helping the police and fire departments. Mallory said they’re now considering such a group to help with landscape maintenance.
Keegan said he watched what appeared to be a city worker on Thursday spend more than an hour cleaning up graffiti using a small paintbrush. He suggested they use bigger brushes to cover more walls. Police Chief David Bricker told Keegan graffiti typically is removed by police volunteers and not city workers.
To help with some of the budget problems, Mallory said the city plans not to fill any open jobs, freeze department budgets at 2008-09 levels, and 14 employees have agreed to take the city’s early retirement incentive.
When committee member Joanna Jamerson asked how much the city saved with the early retirements, Mallory said $2 million, but only $800,000 would be saved in the general fund. The remainder would be seen in other city budget areas.
As for the citizen impact, Mallory said Manteca residents would feel the changes in city services due to the cuts. She said her department and the city clerk’s don’t have enough people to answer the phones, and the wait to respond to citizen inquiries is longer.
“All the departments are feeling the strain,” she said.
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It is ironic that this will be the second time the
city Manager want's to negoiate cuts for city workers, while he sets on his can making 199k and
the city pays for his gas and his perks.It is my contention that the city has an expensive do nothing City Manager. This city should reconsider
the signing of a contract with any city employee.
They s/b in the same category of considerations
for cuts for the deficit, as any one else.You can't do this to pinkerton, for he is under contract.The question is,is the union workers the only victims of the budget deficit?This inability
to alter his pay, s/b a guideline in future hiring of City Managers.It would appear that this council is the sole creators of the deficit.Living within the parameter of a budget, has never been something they have engaged in.A
typical example is the low priority tree project
Councilman Hernandez put back on the agenda, after it was voted down.This was a project the Mayor wanted and it apppears like he was successsful in convincing Hernandez to change his vote.It appears like Hernandez and the Mayor made sure that one councilman was sent out of town by the Mayor. Debrum said he wouldn't change his vote, even if he was not going out of town.I had my doubts as to why Weatherford sent Debrum to the league of cities meeting in San Jose in his place.
Derbrum gave the Mayor a startled look when he did the switch.With Debrum out of town and Hernandez switching his vote, they can vote the
tree project in at at a three to one vote. I imagine it might be a 4.0 vote for Debby's might change hers as well.You see if Weatherford doesn't get his way, he does an end around and brow beats the weakest council members to change their vote. It is my guesss that Debrum is the strongest on his vote, so the Mayor conveniently sent him out of Dodge, so a recall project can be
voted in. It would appear that Hernandez has no backbone, in being consistant with his vote.It appears like the council is taking orders from the church on recalling this project. The real issue was the maintenance costs that prompted the
three memebers to vote agains't this project.
If you look at the Editorial on the City Manager
asking city workers to take more cuts to address
their extravagent spending, then you will recognize the need to shoot this project down.
It seems as though the City Manager doesn't have any feelings about revisiting the city workers, to ask them to take another 10% cut in pay.This is while this suckers wages are protected by a contract the city signed with him.He sets across
the table negoiating cuts in workers pay while he
makes 199k and almost 200k with his gas allowance and perks.Is he going to cut his pay, perhaps when hell freezes over.I sent a suggestion to the council to consider reducing the Management staff
and diversifying their coverage over a broader spectrum of Management. So far not one Manager has
had to worry, for the council and city want's hourly workers to take all the hits, in bridging the deficit.I see a very weak organization that leaches off workers pay, while agreeing to more concesstions and pay cuts for their workers. Where
is their demands on the city, for uniformity in cuts throughout the city organization.The city workers it appears could save money by voting this
weak organization down. If i was in this organization I would tell my representative that we want budge on makinfg concessions unless the city agrees to a uniformity across the board in cuts.It is a sick organization that picks on the workers exclusively that keeps our city clean and
functional.Tell me please what part Managers have
in cleaning our city and keeps it going.All the hell they do is delegate work assignments to employees.I write because someone has to tell it like it is, or the council will run roughshod over the people.Another reason is I don't have the luxury of being a guest writer, for they are not restricted by word or frequency limits.
I personally praise the Bulletin and Dennis for the Bulletin has gave me more opportunities to write and have my editorials published.I truly believe the staff at the Bulletin is the best.
I remind you I didn't say the paper was the best.
Fleener Richards,
Manteca Ca,