Nearly half of Costa Mesa city employees get layoff notices
source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-costa-mesa-cuts-20110318-1,0,2155762.story
Officials aim to contract work out to curb future pension obligations and eventually close a budget gap. A union leader says the city didn't try to negotiate other options. Workers are shell-shocked, and one dies in an apparent suicide.
Costa Mesa has sent layoff notices to nearly half of its employees in a dramatic austerity program being closely watched by other cities struggling with ballooning pension obligations.
The move was sharply criticized by union leaders, and it stunned city employees, one of whom apparently committed suicide by jumping off Costa Mesa City Hall hours after layoff notices went out Thursday.
City officials said the cuts were the first step in a plan to outsource many services to the private sector and significantly reduce the number of workers at City Hall.
The six-month termination notices affect 213 of the city's 472 full-time employees and cut across departments: firefighters, maintenance workers, jail staff, even dogcatchers.
Costa Mesa is among hundreds of local governments around the country facing massive future shortfalls in what they owe retirees. This year's tab — $15 million out of the city's $93-million budget — is estimated to grow to more than $25 million within five years.
But while other cities have attacked the problem with less generous pensions for new hires and by requiring current employees to contribute more of their paychecks toward retirement, Costa Mesa aims to contract out services it has directly provided for decades in a bid to curb future pension obligations.
"Clearly they are trying a new model," said Stuart Drown, executive director of the Little Hoover Commission, a bipartisan state public policy oversight agency. "A city that lays off half its staff — by any standard that's got to be considered a big move."
Costa Mesa has sent layoff notices to nearly half of its employees in a dramatic austerity program being closely watched by other cities struggling with ballooning pension obligations.
The move was sharply criticized by union leaders, and it stunned city employees, one of whom apparently committed suicide by jumping off Costa Mesa City Hall hours after layoff notices went out Thursday.
City officials said the cuts were the first step in a plan to outsource many services to the private sector and significantly reduce the number of workers at City Hall.
The six-month termination notices affect 213 of the city's 472 full-time employees and cut across departments: firefighters, maintenance workers, jail staff, even dogcatchers.
Costa Mesa is among hundreds of local governments around the country facing massive future shortfalls in what they owe retirees. This year's tab — $15 million out of the city's $93-million budget — is estimated to grow to more than $25 million within five years.
But while other cities have attacked the problem with less generous pensions for new hires and by requiring current employees to contribute more of their paychecks toward retirement, Costa Mesa aims to contract out services it has directly provided for decades in a bid to curb future pension obligations.
"Clearly they are trying a new model," said Stuart Drown, executive director of the Little Hoover Commission, a bipartisan state public policy oversight agency. "A city that lays off half its staff — by any standard that's got to be considered a big move."
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