Council authorizes layoffs

The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday passed a budget outline that would close the projected $19 million deficit in the coming year by laying off 22 city employees, cutting salaries by 5%, giving early retirement incentives to employees and starting programs to raise fees for municipal services.

The council voted 3 to 1, with Councilwoman Katrina Foley objecting, to approve the suggested 10-point plan at a meeting attended by more than 100 city employees.

The plan requires another council approval to take effect, and some items require the agreement of four city employee unions.

Councilman Eric Bever did not attend the meeting.

Foley proposed using more money from the city’s reserves to avoid cutting staff.

“My goal here tonight is to not eliminate one job and I think we can do that and what I would like to see us do is go back and reduce some of our operational costs by a little bit more,” Foley said.

Mayor Allan Mansoor, Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece and Councilman Gary Monahan objected, saying that reserves are dwindling.

City Hall executives said that it would be difficult to make the depth of budget cuts necessary to balance the budget without staff cuts, they continued.

“We’re facing some difficult decisions and we can’t keep going in this direction,” Mansoor said.

The layoffs and associated department budget reductions represent the biggest part of the budget proposal, estimated to save $6.3 million. The city spends 73% of its operating budget on salaries and benefits for its staff.

As laid out in the plan, nine people would be laid off from the fire department, 11 people from the police department and two from City Hall staff.

Dozens of people from the Costa Mesa Firefighter Assn. came out to show support for their union leaders who spoke out against the proposal.

Past union president and 27-year Costa Mesa fire fighter Jeff Janzen said that it was irresponsible to reduce pay and benefits for workers who based big life decisions like home buying and marriage on their contracts.

“To fix this in one year would be unreasonable. We didn’t get into this in one year and we aren’t going to get out of it in one year,” Janzen said, referring to the economic crisis.

Under the 10-point plan, the fire department would have to reduce its staffing levels.

A proposal by Foley at the end of the meeting to put a measure on an upcoming ballot to raise the tax paid by hotel guests in Costa Mesa (which has been raised several times in the past unsuccessfully) once again failed to garner any support from the council but it did generate thunderous applause from the crowd.

Many staff members who stayed through the entire five-hour meeting left with exasperated expressions on their faces.

The 10-point plan would eliminate several programs including the Ranch programs and CERT program (a public safety volunteer program), lead to slower and less regular maintenance of roads and city facilities and reduce the response capabilities of police and fire departments, according to the city’s report.

The plan also asks residents to pay increased fees for fire department inspections of buildings and to foot the bill for medical care and transportation provided by the fire department during emergencies in addition to a couple of other things in order to save the city about $1 million.

Police and fire employees would be asked to reduce their overtime costs by $1 million.

Reporter ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].