Vancouver job cuts include 44 layoffs
City officials say latest round will affect services more
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Jobs cuts’ impact on various city services
The loss of 66 positions will impact Vancouver’s level of service to the public, city officials say.
“We’ve managed to soften the blow to the community and still provide services — we’re no longer able to do that,” Vancouver Police Chief Cliff Cook said Wednesday. “Some people would say we’re now cutting bone.”
Among the preliminary expected changes to the level of service, according to the Vancouver Chief Financial Officer Lloyd Tyler:
■ Police: Phone-generated, low-priority police reports will have longer waits for a response. Multifamily housing crime prevention efforts and public and personal safety presentations will end. Child safety programs, such as the bike helmet and car seat programs, will be eliminated or outsourced to nonprofit groups. The East Precinct and police headquarters may close walk-in services to the public.
■ Parking: Longer processing time for parking ticket appeals.
■ Public Works: Less maintenance and watering for medians. Parks may see less maintenance and landscaping; there’s also likely to be less street sweeping.
■ Development Review Services and Fire Marshal: Longer land use application and permit review processing time. Proactive annual land use reviews and code modifications will end.
■ Code enforcement: It will likely take “significantly longer” to respond to requests for code enforcement issues, with priority given to safety-related problems.
The latest round of reductions at the city of Vancouver leaves 44 people out of work and city officials say citizens will feel the loss, too.
“Unlike prior reductions, these have impacted every department in the city and will impact our community,” City Manager Pat McDonnell wrote in a letter to employees.
Acting to stave off a $6 million budget shortfall, a total of 66 positions were cut Tuesday. Those include 44 layoffs and the elimination of 22 previously vacant jobs from its total staff of about 1,100.
Early retirement incentives will also be offered to 30 employees, Vancouver Chief Financial Officer Lloyd Tyler said. Those incentives are expected to save $570,000 this year and $2.6 million in coming years.
Among the departments with the highest number of losses: Eleven people laid off in development review services; nine at the police department; eight in the fire department (no police officers or firefighters were lost); and five in transportation.
The personnel reductions are expected to cover about 75 percent of the 2010 deficit, McDonnell said.
At the police department, nine support staff and five empty positions were lost this week, Chief Cliff Cook said.
As a result, the East Precinct or police headquarters may close for walk-in service, meaning residents would have to travel to the West Precinct to file police reports and conduct other business face-to-face.
“We need to realize what those cuts mean: It isn’t just saving dollars, it’s cutting services, some of which are an essential part of what we do as a police department,” Cook said.
About 53 percent of the city’s $131 million general fund goes toward public safety; Cook said he cut more than $1 million from his department’s budget this spring.
The recession means there is less work for staff in some departments such as planning or development review, and layoffs and position eliminations have been happening there, Tyler said.
But prior cuts — including eliminating 57 positions and freezing 24 vacant jobs last year to fill a $15.5 million hole — has left public services vulnerable, he said.
City staff who were laid off are “real people whose lives have been greatly impacted as a result,” McDonnell wrote employees.
John Manley, a senior planner for Vancouver Community Planning, was among city staff let go Tuesday.
He said his department heard there would be layoffs a few weeks ago. His severance included a month’s pay.
Manley was not part of management or a member of any union and was with the city for 7½ years.
He said he’s mostly sad about the job loss, but is optimistic about the future: he’s just a few years away from retirement, and he thinks he’ll be able to find work consulting. His wife also has a job.
“I’m going to reorganize my life, look for work and enjoy the free time in the meantime,” Manley said from his home, where he was updating his résumé. “The city’s talking about an even bigger deficit next year; it could be even worse.”
Money from the sales tax, brokered natural gas tax and recreation fees continue to fall below projections, pummeling city revenue, McDonnell wrote.
Vancouver is already projecting a $10 million to $12 million gap in the general fund for 2011.
Said Police Chief Cook: “I guess the best words I’ve heard to describe it is: very dire.”
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