By Clarence Cromwell
The Saratoga City Council has asked Assemblyman Jim Cunneen to support a bill that will allow the city to lay off public employees and replace them with contract workers who could provide their services at a more competitive price.
City Attorney Michael Riback had advised that a previous money-saving plan to privatize some city functions is illegal, because state law forbids privatization if it's done only to save money, as Saratoga officials intended.
The new bill, not yet introduced or even numbered, is being drafted by Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian of Carlsbad. It reportedly would lift restrictions on cities which want to privatize their services.
Cunneen said vital government functions such as police and fire protection shouldn't be privatized, but local governments should look for ways to save money in less critical services, such as building maintenance.
"If we're not willing to try a new approach, we're burying our heads in the sand," Cunneen said. "I would support a permissive law to allow cities to look at these things."
Cunneen said he urges local governments to ask what services citizens need and whether the government or a private firm can best provide them.
"I'm sympathetic to anyone who might be displaced," Cunneen said. "But they might be valuable to a private company."
Although the state can contract private workers purely to save money, counties and cities cannot. State agencies must meet certain requirements before contracting civil service jobs out, including proving that the contract would save state money.
A May 5, 1993 opinion by Attorney General Dan Lungren states that general law counties are allowed to contract services from private firms only if the area of service requires highly skilled workers unavailable elsewhere. State law lists those fields that may be contracted: finance, accounting, engineering, law, economics and administrative matters. All other work must be performed by permanent city employees.
In a Nov. 3, 1995, memo, City Attorney Michael Riback said Lungren's opinion also would apply to general law cities, including Saratoga.
"We'd like to remove that kind of shackle," City Manager Harry Peacock said.
Labor Representative Charles Howard, who speaks for the Saratoga Employees Association, said the city ought to be looking for other ways to save money.
"Everyone wants to economize," Howard said. "You can't blame them, but they need to look at every aspect of the operation. There are all kinds of things to look at to find out if there's a more efficient way to do it with the resources you have."
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 21, 1996.
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