By Sarah Lombardo
Saratoga is proposing to eliminate almost seven positions from its City Hall workforce and consolidate two of its departments as it prepares to face the loss of the utility users tax.
The move to cut 6.7 jobs would shrink the city's workforce to 48.05 full-time-equivalent employees, about a 12.5 percent reduction. It would also create a new department, the Community Environment Department, by merging the Public Works and Community Development departments, and would shift many of what were previously the City Manager's Office responsibilities to the Administrative Services Department.
On the chopping block are 12.9 positions, including a codes administrator, a community services officer, an associate and an assistant planner, a building inspector, two park maintenance workers, a senior clerk typist, a volunteer coordinator, the community development director, a maintenance superintendent, a Japanese garden caretaker and a Japanese garden specialist, an assistant to the city manager and two part-time receptionists. The city's proposal recommends then adding 6.2 positions that reflect the needs of the restructuring.
The plan would save an estimated $426,000 in salaries and benefits.
The proposal, presented to the City Council last week, has been called a good beginning, but has many staffers and residents wondering how such a significant cut will affect service.
"This looks great and it's a good start, but my question is, How is this going to work?" said Irene Jacobs, an administrative analyst for the city. "Service will have to be cut somewhere. There is no way that staff can be cut any leaner than it is now and maintain the same services."
The proposed reorganization has listed positions to be cut, not people. But Jacobs said her job as it exists now, and many others, would not be the same under the reorganization. "Nobody is left unaffected," she said. "Everyone is affected, whether it be the responsibility of their duties or finding themselves in a different department."
The Administrative Services Department would be taking on more tasks under the proposed plan: Some City Manager's Office functions, current Finance Department activities and some general service activities that are now done through the Recreation and Public Works departments, including the volunteer program, would all be shifted into the Administrative Services Department.
"The way we approached this was try to look at the major functions for services that the city provides and try to group the like kinds of services and functions together into logical departmental structures," said Acting City Manager Larry Perlin.
But the transfer of so many duties seems to have a few councilmembers worried, particularly about the volunteer program.
"A lot of shifting is into Administrative Services, and I'm just wondering if they are going to be able to match it with the resources," Councilman Jim Shaw said.
Perlin said he and the staff gave the issue a lot of thought and believe the plan is workable, but also acknowledged that staffmembers won't be able to maintain the same level of service.
"We recognize that to the extent that we are currently performing certain functions and providing certain services, we may very well not be able to provide them at the same level," Perlin said. "We will still have a volunteer program, but it may not have all of the bells and whistles of the current program. ... There may need to be a little give there."
And Senior Accountant Jennifer Yang said she would like to know from the council where that "give" will be. "It's not clear to us what the council's intention is. Do they still want to provide the same services level to the public or not?" Yang said.
Yang said she knew the council was in a difficult position, but tough decisions are going to have to be made. "They cannot please everybody," she said of the council. "I don't want to turn my back on my colleagues, but it comes down to the reality. Something has to go. I'm glad I'm not in the council's shoes."
The next budget workshop will be on April 22 in the Senior Day Care room of the Community Center. At that meeting, the staff and the council are planning to discuss a proposal for city expenditures, and the council will provide direction to the staff on the restructuring proposal.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, April 2, 1997.
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