Hollister employees plan to punctuate that services will
plummet. The city manager will lay out a daunting financial
future.
And City Council members tonight will decide how many positions
to lay off from an impassioned workforce.
”
I’m so burned over this I could scream,
”
Councilman Robert Scattini said Tuesday.
Hollister employees plan to punctuate that services will plummet. The city manager will lay out a daunting financial future.
And City Council members tonight will decide how many positions to lay off from an impassioned workforce.
“I’m so burned over this I could scream,” Councilman Robert Scattini said Tuesday.
Since the Council on Jan. 12 delayed approval on a “reduction in force” (RIF) plan, nothing about the proposal has changed – 36 jobs are on the chopping block. Only this time, Council members expect an approval of some sort.
Tension has built. While employees have intensified an offensive to show residents that the community will feel the cuts in some way.
This past weekend, workers distributed fliers throughout Hollister stating the layoffs would cause a 65-percent cut in customer service – and to “please demand town hall meetings to discuss alternatives.”
Just before tonight’s 6 p.m. meeting, they plan to hold a candlelight vigil in front of City Hall, according to Joel Hill, spokesman for the local Service Employees Union International (SEIU). He said he hopes more than 50 people, employees and residents, take part.
And SEIU – which includes about 70 Hollister employees – will present an “impact report” on projected service cuts, according to union director John Vellardita.
The city remains firm in its stance to wait until after adoption of the layoffs to examine the residual effects. Scattini said Council members realize service cuts are inevitable.
“There are definitely going to be some cuts to services,” Scattini said. “There’s no questions about it. A chimpanzee could tell you that.”
The city, if financial projections are accurate, has no choice but to cut its payroll, officials say. They hope to trim $1.7 million from Hollister’s General Fund spending next fiscal year.
Even if that happens, City Manager Dale Shaddox projected a considerable gap would remain. And in years after it will grow regardless of layoffs, he contends.
The past two-week lull has allowed officials to refine those budget numbers, Shaddox said.
“I really want them to feel comfortable in making a decision,” Shaddox said.
He went on: “I’m hoping the Council feels comfortable enough now.”
Union heads, meanwhile, have expressed a desire to discuss alternatives with city management in the interim between the two meetings.
Shaddox said SEIU never called. But Vellardita said Mayor Tony Bruscia told him the city manager would not discuss the issue until Jan. 28.
“He’s not far off,” Bruscia said of Vellardita’s contention. “I didn’t tell him not to meet with Dale. I said I wouldn’t, or we as a Council, wouldn’t be meeting with him.”
Meanwhile, Shaddox believes a previously undetected $1.3 million hole in the General Fund reserve discovered last week will “play a part” tonight.
Bruscia, who was out of town until Tuesday, when he heard of the new problem, said the drop in the reserve further illustrates the city’s financial bind.
“I don’t know how someone can say, ‘We don’t need the cuts,’ at this point,” Bruscia said.
Officials said they expect a similar attendance and fiery mood as at the previous meeting. And while Council members expect an approval tonight, it isn’t clear whether the list will change.
Fire Chief Bill Garringer’s role is among three department head positions under consideration.
“Just like anybody else, I’m anxiously awaiting the meeting,” Garringer said.
