Amador County – Amador County Supervisors voted 5-0 in a special meeting Tuesday to approve layoffs for 17 employees in nine county departments, though the union still has until Monday to decide on the county’s final request to reinstate a 36-hour work week.
Deputy County Counsel Greg Gillott said the County has made a final proposal, and the union has until Aug. 22 to respond. Supervisors approved the removal of 17 positions in an effort to balance the budget and save reserves and contingencies for emergencies.
Speakers during public comment Tuesday included a few who would lose their jobs in the layoffs, including a Level 1 engineer, one of two in Public Works on the layoff list. He encouraged Supervisors to not cut the positions.
Several people spoke of the loss of an Animal Control officer, and how it would affect the effectiveness of Animal Control. One asked if having one officer might open the county to liability, due to long response time on calls.
A Behavioral Health employee facing layoff said their staff is already so small it can’t offer therapy, and only does “crisis management.” The department is in the new county building on Conductor Boulevard and high rent affects staffing. She asked Supervisors to try renegotiating, saying “if the goal is to shut down the Mental health Department, we’re doing a fine job on that.”
Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said they have tried to make inroads in that negotiation, but failed because the landlord has a “20-year, rock-solid lease on the building at a very low rate and he’s very happy to have it.” Mike Israel, of Environmental Health, urged reinstatement of the 36-hour week, arguing that departments have already adjusted to it, so it would not affect operations. With layoffs, they lose expertise, and continuity of projects and programs.
He said the reduction is 33 percent of the workforce, and urged that they “do the right thing as far as public service and your employees are concerned.”
Auditor Joe Lowe repeated part of his budget report to Supervisors, saying: “Any positions I lose would affect my internal control.”
Supervisor Brian Oneto said he had hoped to get agreement on the 36-hour work week, which has “been on the table for some time.” Plasse said it “takes two to agree to that.”
Plasse said the list of layoffs was “not compiled by throwing a dart at a board.” It began under former County Administrative Officer Terry Daly, when they made a county mission statement, saying that “delivering services to its constituencies and its public is essential.”
Supervisor Louis Boitano said he thought furloughs were a “real viable option to help us manage this budget.” Plasse said it has “been on the negotiating table for four months now.”
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
