Supervisors consider demoting five CALWORKS employees instead of
instituting layoffs
In an effort to save the jobs of county social workers, the
Board of Supervisors is looking to demote some employees into
vacant
– but lower paid – positions in the health services
department.
Supervisors consider demoting five CALWORKS employees instead of instituting layoffs
In an effort to save the jobs of county social workers, the Board of Supervisors is looking to demote some employees into vacant – but lower paid – positions in the health services department.
Sacramento’s biggest budget shortfall since World War II, say county officials, is the reason for cuts in Human Services departments statewide. For San Benito, which resides at the bottom of the 58-county list for state tax reimbursement, it could be just the beginning of more belt-tightening for county services.
“This is not the first time or the last time that we deal with this type of issue,” said union representative John Vellardita to the board on Tuesday, “particularly with the state budget…and how it adversely affects this county.”
The target this go-round is CalWORKS, the state-funded department that helps people find and keep jobs. Vellardita, of the Service Employees International Union, asked supervisors to delay a seniority list that would determine which five workers get bumped into jobs left vacant after the county’s hiring freeze earlier this year.
The supervisors, however, opted to go with County Administrative Officer Gil Solorio’s recommendation to go ahead and make the list just in case, as well as his suggestion to put $464,620 from the reserve fund into the department’s budget. In September, supervisors bailed out Human Services with $738,200 overspent in the foster care program, which Marilyn Coppola said then was unforeseeable because of state cutbacks and a surge of homeless youths.
The services are mandated by law and paid for by the state, but not the administrative costs, which are the responsibility of the county.
“The government is saying you have to do it, ‘but we’re not giving you any money to do it,'” said Supervisor Chair Rita Bowling.
HSD workers who attended the meeting are upset about the looming budget cuts, and while some blame Coppola and some blame the state deficit, others focused their efforts on pleading with the supervisors to find a middle ground in order to avoid both layoffs and demotions.
“We really want some kind of answers to an alternative,” said CalWORKS employee Elsie Villegas. “Things like shared-work jobs, giving up a day a month without pay, returning my COLA (cost of living adjustment) – I’d gladly give up my $200 if I could save someone else’s job.”
After more discussion, Solorio said that perhaps a funding expert should look into the matter. But in the end, the supervisors saw the seniority list – a preparatory precaution — and the injection of money from the General Fund as the best course of action.
“The governor said prior to the election that he wasn’t going to balance the budget on the backs of the counties,” said Ron Rodrigues, attending his last meeting as a supervisor. “But this is no longer true. He’s been re-elected…. I have a lot of sympathy for the employees involved here.”
