A gloomy Thursday for the City of Abilene...for those of us that ventured outside, that was easy to see. However, for 1200 Abilenians, it was a "gloomy" day aside from the weather.
Three days without pay for all city personnel. While some employees may have seen something, like today's news coming for some time now, it's still not what anyone wanted to hear.
City Management says they hope to save $600,000 from the furlough days, only problem being that $600,000 can only be saved if ALL 1200 employees actually have those days off. City Manager, Larry Gilley implied today that some City positions might not be able to have those days off because the City of Abilene is focused on providing the Citizens of Abilene with the highest quality of service. As the City states in its mission statement,"We work together to build a community of the highest quality for present and future generations."
While, we say 1200 employees are affected by the City's financial situation, it's really much more than that. It's 1200 people plus all of their family members. It's hard to imagine just how many people will feel an impact from the pay cuts. It's unfortunate to know that for so long, we said Abilene was safe from the state of the nation's economy, but as City Councilman, Robert Briley said in my interview earlier today, it was basically just a matter of time until we felt the effects here in the Abilene community.
It's easy to speculate being an outsider, not a City employee but I also got to thinking how difficult it must be to be on the City Management end. I cannot imagine having to tell 1200 people that they'll have to take three days off this year and they won't be getting paid for it. It couldn't have been easy, and while it's been described as a "bump in the road by some," it does make you wonder if things can get worst.
When I read about other cities throughout the country, many have already had to fire City employees to put a dent in their communities debt. In that sense, it sounds like we are still pretty lucky here in Abilene. But, at the same time because it doesn't sound too likely that the City will save the hopeful $600,000 (because some employees will have to work) on those furlough days, the City could be facing some future problems.
City Management says that a reduction in force would only be a last resort for the City of Abilene, as they've expressed before. However, it wasn't too long ago that the City of Abilene issued a "hiring freeze," where some retiring positions were not filled by new personnel. Instead, other employees were forced to step in to fill the job requirements. And we can't forget the Abilene Police Department and Abilene Fire Department, who agreed to postpone their pay raises for six months.
What do you have to say about everything?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
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Did I read where Manager Gilley was on the furlough list?
ReplyDeleteThe City Council was aware of the economy situation a long time ago but still appoved high dollar consultant fees and more. I wonder about their thinking was for all us tax payers?
ReplyDeleteThe way the days off are scheduled, not all employees will have the same day off. The ones who have to work in order for city services to continue will get their unpaid holiday on a different day, so everyone gets three unpaid days, just not all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI can vouch that at least one city admistrator who is doing an excellent job is being paid $10,000 yearly less than his retiring predecessor, in addition to being subject to the same unpaid days off and postponed raises as everyone else. Essentially, the city got the shiny new model at a huge discount. I hope they realize what a deal they got, but I won't hold my breath.
I do agree that a few unpaid days, spread evenly across the board, are the best solution to an unfortunate situation, but incoming administrators filling retiree vacancies shouldn't be taking such a large hit, ($10,000-for one person!) while other upper level managers are subject only to a few days off with no cut in salary.
Furloughing employee's and spending $100,000 to remodel a toilet, Abilene has a problem.
ReplyDeleteI think the City Administration should take a long look at some projects in Abilene that are not self sustaining. The one that comes to mind is Frontier Texas, money continually comes from the budget to finance this project. I feel that it is time for Frontier Texas to put up or shut up. It should not drain the budget at the expense of the city employees. Maybe you, Brittany, can ask the hard question. If my personal budget takes a hit, I'll move money from my entertainment fund to the "must need" fund to keep food on the table, lights in the kitchen and heat in the house. Responsibilty, it's what it's all about.
ReplyDeleteI would think that city employees could do without three of their 9-10 paid holidays vs. taking three specific calendar days off and disrupting city services.
ReplyDeleteFurloughing city employees and spending $250,000 to remodel the entrance to the dog pound says alot about the priorities here.
city employees are sitting on their rears in dump trucks at cb park near ft phantom and they don't deserve their jobs while others are working hard everyday. has anyone noticed all the city employees sitting or driving around in their company vehicles, doing nothing? sleeping on the job. three men to one dump truck is overkill, don't ya think? And what about telling those city employees that have city vehicles that they can no longer drive the city vehicle to and from work? my ex has one and he drives it to and from work. at my job we are no longer allowed to take company vehicles home. that may save some money. i think someone needs to look into the city employees sleepin on the job in the parks....
ReplyDeleteI wish everyone would quit complaining about consultants. Consultants are highly specialized in one area that employees usually are not trained in. Many times a consultant is paid X number of dollars to help the city get 10X or 100X worth of grants and funds from federal and state govt. They are almost always worth the price
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