Once again, the Hollister City Council
– or at least the members who actually showed up for Monday
night’s meeting – sure have a bad sense of timing.
Just days earlier, the council members voted unanimously to
likely lay off 36 city workers, including members of the Service
Employees International Union.
Once again, the Hollister City Council – or at least the members who actually showed up for Monday night’s meeting – sure have a bad sense of timing.
Just days earlier, the council members voted unanimously to likely lay off 36 city workers, including members of the Service Employees International Union.
Then on Monday night, it voted to bring in a chief negotiator to talk to the union over the layoffs – at 90 bucks per hour!
Understandably, City Manager Dale Shaddox would not have the time or schedule to fulfill this task alone, even though he is the architect of the Reduction In Force (RIF) plan.
And we understand the money, which at least was capped off at $9,000 before being allowed to go any further, would come out of City Attorney Elaine Cass’ budget.
But why wasn’t there more thought into how it looks to pay someone that kind of money to talk about laying off workers who make just a fraction of that, which will possibly turn into making nothing?
Does that mean no one else on the city payroll, or no City Council members, could do the negotiating, or at least help Shaddox?
Instead, the city looks to someone in Monterey County and carves off a $90-per-hour job to talk about how to cut jobs.
It would almost be funny except that we’re talking about people’s livelihoods here.
The move also shows that Shaddox might be getting weary of the fight with the union, and the thought was to bring in another union supporter to help bring an agreement.
Either way, it sends the wrong sign: spending money foolishly when there could have been a better way.
It smacks of the grant-writing debacle, handing over a lucrative sum when someone already on the city payroll could have handled the assignment.
Or why couldn’t Cass, Shaddox and Mayor Tony Bruscia team up to talk to the union leaders?
What about Pauline Valdivia – or even Tony Lobue or Brian Conroy, both of whom didn’t show up for the Monday City Council meeting after being there for the previous showdowns.
This is not a time to dodge the gritty end of the layoff proposal for anyone.
Or to pay someone an exorbitant amount of money to take someone else’s proper place at the negotiations table.
