Amador County – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a proposed departmental reorganization of county services that may lead to the dismissal of up to six management positions. County Administrative Officer Terri Daly, the plan’s author, stressed the importance of adapting to the harsh economic times. “This is no longer business as usual; things have changed and we have to change with them,” she said. She estimates the reorganization will save $500,000 in salary in the coming year. The plan integrates most existing departments into five major departments: Administration, Community Development, Health & Human Services, General Services Administration and Public Services. All major departments fall under the supervision of Daly, who in turn reports to the Board of Supervisors. She proposed hiring or promoting new managers for the Community Development and Public Services departments while other departments like Health and Human Services will be headed by existing management. Three existing departments- Veteran’s Services, Probation and the Ag/Air UC Extension will remain as separate entities reporting independently to the board. Daly drew upon her 20-plus years of business experience to determine factors that will help County departments work more efficiently. These include bringing staff together in larger departments and “flexing” staff to accommodate changes in activity levels, eliminating job silos and job repetition in smaller departments, creating a strong core management department and placing more focus on laying the groundwork for future needs. “If you don’t adapt, if it’s not clear to employees what their job is, or how they do their job, if there isn’t strong training and support, you’re going to go out of business,” said Daly. She said she does not relish the fact that some layoffs will be necessary, but she wanted to be up front so as not to “skirt the issue.” Supervisor Ted Novelli asked what other options they could consider to avoid layoffs. “Can we shuffle that person into another department?” he asked. Daly said “we will investigate every opportunity not to layoff employees.” She noted that the county is down 20 percent across the board in annual revenues. An unknown factor that could affect the plan as proposed is the Early Retirement Incentive Program. Daly said she is still waiting to hear from those who have expressed interest, but she expects “10 to 12” employees to take advantage of the program. Supervisor John Plasse said he reluctantly agreed with the decision to make layoffs because in his assessment, “employee salaries equal 66 to 70 percent of gross revenues.” Supervisor Richard Forster noted that the county employees he has seen are “still doing their job with less.” Chairman Brian Oneto took the opportunity to criticize the state government. “The way government is run in California means we are going to have to change, somehow, someway.” Supervisor Louis Boitano recommended the board approve the plan, but do so “with our eyes wide open, on a trial basis to see how it goes.”
The board voted 5-0 to approve a motion by Forster accepting the proposed reorganization while “including the flexibility to tweak” the plan through the implementation process. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Wednesday, 07 April 2010 02:05
Supes Appove Departmental Reorganization, Potential for 6 Layoffs
Written by Tom-
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Amador County – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a proposed departmental reorganization of county services that may lead to the dismissal of up to six management positions. County Administrative Officer Terri Daly, the plan’s author, stressed the importance of adapting to the harsh economic times. “This is no longer business as usual; things have changed and we have to change with them,” she said. She estimates the reorganization will save $500,000 in salary in the coming year. The plan integrates most existing departments into five major departments: Administration, Community Development, Health & Human Services, General Services Administration and Public Services. All major departments fall under the supervision of Daly, who in turn reports to the Board of Supervisors. She proposed hiring or promoting new managers for the Community Development and Public Services departments while other departments like Health and Human Services will be headed by existing management. Three existing departments- Veteran’s Services, Probation and the Ag/Air UC Extension will remain as separate entities reporting independently to the board. Daly drew upon her 20-plus years of business experience to determine factors that will help County departments work more efficiently. These include bringing staff together in larger departments and “flexing” staff to accommodate changes in activity levels, eliminating job silos and job repetition in smaller departments, creating a strong core management department and placing more focus on laying the groundwork for future needs. “If you don’t adapt, if it’s not clear to employees what their job is, or how they do their job, if there isn’t strong training and support, you’re going to go out of business,” said Daly. She said she does not relish the fact that some layoffs will be necessary, but she wanted to be up front so as not to “skirt the issue.” Supervisor Ted Novelli asked what other options they could consider to avoid layoffs. “Can we shuffle that person into another department?” he asked. Daly said “we will investigate every opportunity not to layoff employees.” She noted that the county is down 20 percent across the board in annual revenues. An unknown factor that could affect the plan as proposed is the Early Retirement Incentive Program. Daly said she is still waiting to hear from those who have expressed interest, but she expects “10 to 12” employees to take advantage of the program. Supervisor John Plasse said he reluctantly agreed with the decision to make layoffs because in his assessment, “employee salaries equal 66 to 70 percent of gross revenues.” Supervisor Richard Forster noted that the county employees he has seen are “still doing their job with less.” Chairman Brian Oneto took the opportunity to criticize the state government. “The way government is run in California means we are going to have to change, somehow, someway.” Supervisor Louis Boitano recommended the board approve the plan, but do so “with our eyes wide open, on a trial basis to see how it goes.”
The board voted 5-0 to approve a motion by Forster accepting the proposed reorganization while “including the flexibility to tweak” the plan through the implementation process. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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