Minutes from the June 26th Civil Service Commission meeting
LINK
Item #8. GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT
The Personnel Department reviewed over 35,000 employment work histories. Department staff conducted a mock layoff exercise and although a consideration number of employees have been placed in vacant positions, it appears there will be a small number of employees laid off, probably effective July 15, 2008.
LINK
Item #8. GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT
The Personnel Department reviewed over 35,000 employment work histories. Department staff conducted a mock layoff exercise and although a consideration number of employees have been placed in vacant positions, it appears there will be a small number of employees laid off, probably effective July 15, 2008.
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It will be interesting to see how Mark Wolf and Ruben "the ITA Time Keeper" Vasquez spin it next Thursday. All Hands agenda item # 4 - Managed Hiring & Temporary Layoff.
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Agenda for the July 10th Civil Service Commission meeting (same day as All Hands): LINK
Item #10b. The General Manager recommends that the Board approve the following - Classification actions: In connection with the 2008-2009 budget, effective July 1, 2008: 1) allocate the following positions:
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AGENCY
08/09-021 3 Programmer Analyst, 1431
08/09-022 4 Communications Electrician, 3686
08/09-023 2 Telecommunications Planner, 7642
08/09-024 3 Programmer Analyst, 1431
08/09-021 3 Programmer Analyst, 1431
08/09-022 4 Communications Electrician, 3686
08/09-023 2 Telecommunications Planner, 7642
08/09-024 3 Programmer Analyst, 1431
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AGENCY
08/09-025 1 Senior Management Analyst,
08/09-025 1 Senior Management Analyst,
9171 Senior Personnel Analyst, 9167
14 new positions?
1 comment:
Daily News 7/2
Layoff threat empty for L.A. city employees
By Kerry Cavanaugh, Staff Writer
Despite dire warnings that Los Angeles city workers would face layoffs to balance a severe budget deficit, just four workers could potentially lose their jobs.
In March, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held a press conference to say he was going to eliminate 767 city jobs - more than 1 percent of the nearly 50,000 citywide work force - and warned that layoffs were almost certain.
But while city officials did cut funding in the budget for nearly 700 city jobs, virtually all of the displaced workers have been able to move into vacant positions.
Only four workers have not been placed - but officials are still hopeful they can find open jobs for them as well.
And that has some watchdogs questioning whether Villaraigosa dramatized the city's financial woes as a cover to raise fees, including a 30 percent trash fee hike.
"Government officials have perfected the art of crying wolf. We hear all the time that people are going to be laid off, and rarely do layoffs occur," said Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
"They're simply trying to scare the citizenry into either sympathizing with the government or laying the groundwork for future tax increases."
But Villaraigosa's office said the city's financial problems - and the possibility of layoffs - are real.
"The objective was never to lay off workers," said Villaraigosa spokesman Matt Szabo. "The objective was to balance the budget, which we did by eliminating nearly 700 positions and making government more efficient."
Workers shuffled
Most of the job cuts targeted administrative workers, such as clerk typists and management analysts. The city also eliminated maintenance, public relations and engineering positions.
By erasing nearly 700 jobs, money was cut from department budgets and diverted to other uses, including helping fund the buildup of the Los Angeles Police Department.
"The end result is that the city is dedicating more resources than ever before to public safety ... while the nonpublic safety departments sustained all the position cuts," Szabo said.
Still, observers question how much efficiency and streamlining of bureaucracy was actually accomplished.
"The idea of eliminating vacant positions, that is praiseworthy. I'd like to see the city doing a better job of living within its means and taking the idea of reform seriously," said George Passantino, a senior fellow at the Reason Foundation, a libertarian nonprofit group that promotes limited government.
"We see taxpayers continuing to shoulder the burden, and the question is whether or not real reform is going to happen."
But City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who is on the council's budget committee, said while no layoffs may have occurred so far, the budget process forced city leaders to prioritize spending.
"We made choices in the budget. What are those positions that are important and what are those positions that we can do without?" Greuel said. "(We're) filling the jobs that we said are important to the city."
Initially, when the mayor released his budget in April, he proposed cutting 760 jobs - of which 363 were filled. Some 397 were vacant positions.
The City Council restored funding for 77 positions, leaving 286 occupied jobs targeted for elimination.
The majority of those employees were moved into vacant jobs in their current departments. Some 78 workers moved to jobs in the Water and Power, Harbor and Airports departments, which are not part of the city's $7 billion budget.
Funding extended
Ultimately, 46 workers needed to be placed into new jobs. Of those, 31 were animal-care technicians in the Department of Animal Services, which got extra funding from the City Council to keep those jobs filled through September. Those workers still could face layoffs later this year.
That left 15 workers in need of a job. Ten interviewed for jobs in other city departments and were hired. One worker can move into a lower classification to avoid a layoff.
The Personnel Department is still working with four employees to place them in new city jobs.
"We did a really good job of placing people," said Personnel Department General Manager Margaret Whelan. "That's the advantage of having a large work force. When you do have trouble financially, you can move them into vacant positions."
The city also has a broad job-classification system. There are thousands of clerk typists and management analysts who can move among jobs or departments with little problem.
Workers in more specialized jobs - such as upholsterer or environmental specialist - have a harder time when their positions are eliminated because there are so few of those jobs in city government.
Still, Whelan said, her department is bracing for possible layoffs.
"I think next year is going to be bad," she said, referring to the 2009-10 budget year. "Unless someone has a serious pocket of money somewhere, we're going to have serious problems."
General managers have to manage a 5 percent cut in their payroll this current year. And department budgets assume that all nonpublic safety workers will take six days' unpaid leave to save $23 million citywide.
But employee unions have questioned the legality of the so-called temporary layoffs. If workers don't take unpaid leave, city departments will have to cut millions of dollars in expenses elsewhere.
"It's good that nearly all those targeted for layoffs will be able to find a place in the city," said Cheryl Parisi, chairwoman of the Coalition of L.A. City Unions, which represents 22,000 workers.
"Conversations are still going on with city management about ways to mitigate service cuts, including addressing the mandatory furloughs."
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