Penticton council swings budget axe

JOHN MOORHOUSE Thursday, February 19, 2009

Penticton city council‘s budget axe has fallen, chopping almost a dozen union and non-union jobs from the city payroll. A total eight management and other non-union staff are being laid off, along with three CUPE positions. As well, a plan to hire four non-union staff and one CUPE worker has been deferred - most of the positions won‘t be filled until 2010. The layoffs will reduce the budget by about $900,000. However, when proposed staffing additions for the fire department and other areas are taken into consideration, the net reduction is $651,000. The city has also implemented a number of other payroll reduction measures, including a ban on overtime (except for emergency personnel) and no holiday relief (except for public service positions). It is also looking at delaying the recall of seasonal employees this spring. Jack Kler, the city‘s director of corporate services, said Wednesday only one of the CUPE staff reductions involves an actual layoff. One worker is retiring while another vacant position will be not filled. Kler declined to reveal which departments were affected by the layoffs since that might identify some of the individuals involved. He simply stated the cuts went across the city‘s operations.

Council‘s decision was made during a closed-door session on Feb. 9 and was reconfirmed at its in-camera meeting on Monday. City workers were informed of the layoffs Tuesday, just a few hours before council opened its public 2009 budget deliberations. No mention of the layoffs was made during the three-hour session, although an item on reduced labour costs was included in a budget summary. Mayor Dan Ashton said Wednesday the layoff decision wasn‘t easy, pointing out the city has a hard-working staff. “It was incredibly tough,” he said. “We‘re very cognizant of the economic times. We are very cognizant of the overall budget of the city and that‘s why we‘re looking at everything. There isn‘t a stone to be unturned.” Ashton noted one proposal put forward during Tuesday night‘s budget meeting called for the city look into the feasibility of amalgamating its parks and public works departments. “We‘re going through the city budget process line by line, and we‘re trying to ensure we can come forward with reasonable budget.” he said. “Do we think it‘s going to be a reduction in service? We are hoping not.”

Council must wrap up its budget deliberations by the end of April. City administrator Leo den Boer said while the staffing reductions were unfortunate, most city workers expected something to happen. “Unfortunately, Penticton is not a rich community. We do not have a large tax base,” he said. “I think we can live with that during these economic times.” Den Boer noted the city already operates “a pretty lean machine” and expressed hope council will revisit the staffing issue once the economy turns around. Brent Deleeuw, a past vice-president of CUPE Local 608, said the layoffs definitely had an effect on all city staff. “People are certainly upset to see co-workers be laid off - not just union members but also managers too,” he said. “We work alongside these people, we know they have families and volunteer in the community. It‘s never a pleasant thing to see happen.” Deleeuw said city workers are still nervous, facing the unknown as budget deliberations continue. “Everybody‘s waiting to see what happens,” he said. Council continued its line-by-line budget deliberations Wednesday night. Its next budget session has not yet been scheduled.