Amador County – Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan submitted a draft budget Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors that had one layoff, while the Chief Probation Officer reported that his employees had voted to have a 40-hour work week, which could lead to a layoff.

Ryan said he met cuts as recommended by Supervisors, to meet and not exceed the budget of 2010-2011. It included not filling seven vacancies, and the loss of one person, a part-time analyst. The vacancies that went unfilled totaled 10 percent of deputies, or 4 officers. It also included a dispatcher, a part-time dispatcher, and an Office of Emergency Services Coordinator.

The Sheriff said: “I wanted to make sure if at all possible that nobody went home,” and “quite frankly we’ve invested a lot of money and would like to hang on to them.” He expected to keep assisting with Plymouth and Amador City, but there had been a net loss in state Community Oriented Policing Services funding of about $900,000, and he has sent appropriate letters of concern to legislators. He said “cities may not have the financial wherewithal to pay for law enforcement if that $100,000 goes away.”

Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said “it has been a goal of this board to not lose people as well.” Ryan thanked County Administrative Officer Chuck Iley for his cooperative spirit in the budget work. Iley in a report said all county departments, except for law enforcement, were asked to budget for 36-hour work weeks, while law enforcement has 40-hour work weeks.

Chief Probation Officer Mark Bonini said his employees have “elected to go back to 40 hours.” Iley said Bonini is “getting hit with a double barrel” and has “tried every avenue short of cutting personnel to meet the numbers set by the Board.” Iley said the Probation Department is “$130,000 short of the mark it needs to meet.”

Supervisor Richard Forster asked if the employees have the option to go with 36 hours, but he did not know if they wanted to separate from the union. Iley said that would be an option that would have to come from the employees, and “they can’t go through the management or us.”

Deputy County Counsel Greg Gillott said “it must be initiated by them on their behalf,” and he must check related language to see if it is possible. Plasse said Probation was one of the only department budgets that was not able to put in a 36-hour work week.

Supervisor Ted Novelli said they might have to look into that, but the Probation workers are in a bargaining unit that includes other groups of employees.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.