Most county offices will close on additional days over the next
two years to accommodate employee furloughs mandated recently to
save money.
ADAM BREEN
Most county offices will close on additional days over the next two years to accommodate employee furloughs mandated recently to save money.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors this week approved a resolution that approves the closure of numerous offices on Columbus Day in October, Lincoln’s birthday in February and Cesar Chavez Day in March – days that until now were workdays. What’s more, many offices will close on certain days during Thanksgiving week and the week between Christmas and the New Year.
Because county employees are required to take up to 15 unpaid furlough days in each of the next two fiscal years as part of a county cost-cutting plan, county management analyst Jacki Credico told supervisors on Tuesday that: “The ability to keep county offices open while scheduling furlough days, vacation days, typical holidays and other paid leave for county employees would be very difficult.”
So, the prudent step, Credico said, is “to close some county offices entirely and have all the affected employees take furlough days during those closures.”
Most offices, including the agriculture commissioner, building and planning, child support services, clerk-elections-recorder, the library, public works and the UC Cooperative Extension – among others – will also be closed on Nov. 25, Dec. 24 and Dec. 28-31, which are typically slow times of the year.
The Health and Human Services offices, including public assistance [welfare] and child and adult protective services, will be closed on fewer days: Nov. 25, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve – in addition to the Columbus, Lincoln and Chavez holidays.
The Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office will close on those three holidays as well, and the D.A. plans to close the third Wednesday of each month beginning in September, following the lead of the San Benito County courts.
See the full story in the Pinnacle on Friday.
