Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "amy williams"

New group of city employees unionizes

2011-06-02T01:17:03Z

A group of 103 city employees including workers’ compensation claims representatives and administrative analysts will likely be represented by a new union, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams and labor organizer Dee Contreras.

A majority of the group of workers, who had not previously been represented by a union, recently signed cards in favor of joining a new union, the Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association, Williams said last week.

The signed cards were verified by California’s Mediation and Conciliation Service, according to Williams.

By unionizing, the analysts and other workers in the group will be able to negotiate with management on policies that affect them, according to Contreras, who is organizing city employees in the new union. She is the former labor relations director for the city.

“The reality is, those people want to help the city,” Contreras said. “The goal is to do as much as they can to help the city, but to get recognition and to participate in that decision-making process.”

Williams said the city plans to formally recognize the new union next month.

“By law, we support our employees’ right to organize for the purposes of collective bargaining,” Williams said. “A majority of a group of employees has authorized a union to represent them. The city will grant that right at the end of the 30-day notice period, which ends on June 20.”

During the 30-day period after the cards were verified, a competing union can apply to represent the group of city employees, Williams said. But according to Contreras, no other union has said it wants to represent the group of 103 employees.

Contreras formally told the city manager’s office about her plans to organize three groups totaling 677 employees, including the group of 103 staffers, in February.

She said she is currently negotiating with the city’s human resources and labor relations officials and the city attorney’s office over plans to unionize the other two groups of employees. One of the groups includes managers and the other group includes staff assistants.

If Contreras eventually organizes all three groups, the total will likely be less than 677 people. That’s because city officials and Contreras have been discussing whether some of the employees in those groups should not be part of the union, according to Contreras.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City budget crisis: Past, present and future

2011-05-07T00:51:25Z

The city’s current budget gap of $39 million is grim. But the city’s financial situation is even more dismal when examined in the context of its budget cuts in recent years.

The city has laid off about 215 employees since February 2008, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams. In addition, the city has taken 900 positions off its books since the 2008/2009 fiscal year and cannot hire employees for those spots, according to the city budget document. The city currently has 4,576 employee positions, Williams said.

Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka are recommending the City Council approve an $812 million budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. Of that amount, $362 million would be the general fund.

The city defines the general fund, consisting of taxes and fees, as its main fund for operations.

The City Council is now weighing whether to lay off hundreds of city employees in the next few weeks.

Mayor Kevin Johnson was visibly distressed Tuesday night after Masuoka briefed the City Council on the budget cuts and layoffs suggested by the city manager’s office.

“Those brutal facts gave me a headache,” Johnson said. “We’re talking about laying off a lot of people. And that just doesn’t feel good for any of us.”

Edgar explains in the budget document why the city has a $39 million gap. Because the city is still in a recession, sales tax revenues are likely to stay flat, and property tax revenues are down, the budget document says.

Labor costs have risen due to union contracts, new Fire Department staff in Natomas and mandatory retirement payments for employees, according to the document.

And, the city must keep its vehicles in working condition and replace old public safety machinery such as ambulances and defibrillators, all of which costs money, the document states.

City employees from various departments could be laid off, including 80 cops.

Police officers have been shielded from layoffs for decades: No officers were laid off during Sacramento City Councilman Darrell Fong’s 30-year career with the Police Department, Fong said last week. He retired from the department in 2009.

Even though the department has not faced layoffs of cops, the number of positions has shrunk in recent years.

“We had 804 officers in 2007 and 704 in 2010,” police spokeswoman Laura Peck said.

The city currently has 701 sworn police officers.

Johnson said Tuesday that he wants to learn more about the context of the cuts in recent years. He asked staff to present information soon on the following questions:

“How much have we cut from our general fund over the last four years?” Johnson asked city staff. “And then, secondly, how has that impacted job reduction over that period of time? I’m just interested because that time period has been brutal for our community.”

The Sacramento Press will report on city staff’s answers to Johnson’s questions when the information becomes available.

On top of its past and current woes, the immediate future for Sacramento’s city government does not look bright.

City officials project in the budget document that the city will continue to face budget gaps until fiscal year 2015/2016. The gap for fiscal year 2012/2013 is $11.7 million and is expected to rise to $22.9 million in fiscal year 2013/2014.

In fiscal year 2014/2015, the city expects to be $18 million in the hole. The gap drops to a $13 million deficit predicted in fiscal year 2015/2016.

“Given the lack of any significant revenue growth in the forecast, the current level of annual expenditure is not sustainable,” according to the budget document.

Still, the discussion of the current $39 million gap is continuing, and it’s possible that council members could find ways to prevent some cuts.

For example, Council members Kevin McCarty, Darrell Fong and Angelique Ashby all said they like the idea of seeing whether the city could move the public safety headquarters from Freeport Boulevard to the city’s Richards Boulevard location. The city has extra space at its Richards Boulevard building, Fong said.

Moving public safety workers to Richards Boulevard could save the city an estimated $800,000 - $900,000 per year in energy savings and maintenance costs, Fong said, referring to an estimate from the Police Department.

The Freeport building is not energy-efficient, he said.

City leaders need to look for “creative options to save a few bucks,” McCarty said.

Read a list of all the upcoming city budget hearings here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Guide to city budget hearings

2011-05-05T00:25:51Z

Sacramento city officials have scheduled 10 public meetings on the city budget over the next seven weeks.

The City Council is wrestling with a $39 million budget gap and is considering recommendations from the city manager’s office to lay off hundreds of municipal employees.

The public is welcome at the budget hearings, which will be led by the City Council.

“It’s important that the public’s voice is heard,” city spokeswoman Amy Williams said. “These are hard decisions that lie ahead.”

During the next few weeks, Williams said she aims to keep as much budget information as possible on the city’s website.

A link to city budget documents is on the front page of the website.

All of the budget meetings will be held at Sacramento City Hall at 915 I St. The budget schedule may change, Williams said. Citizens can check the city’s website for updated information throughout the budget process, she said.

Here is the list of hearings on the 2011/2012 fiscal year budget:

When: Thursday, May 12, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Parks and Recreation Department, budget assumptions, planned budget cuts

When: Tuesday, May 17, 2 p.m.
On the agenda: Convention, Culture and Leisure Department; Community Development Department

When: Tuesday, May 17, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Police Department

When: Tuesday, May 24, 2 p.m.
On the agenda: Economic Development, General Services, Support, Transportation, Utilities, Charter Offices (City Attorney, City Clerk, City Treasurer)

When: Tuesday, May 24, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Fire Department

When: Tuesday, May 31, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Library, agencies that partner with the city

When: Thursday, June 2, 6 p.m. (Tentative meeting)
On the agenda: Budget options

When: Tuesday, June 7, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Facilities and infrastructure budget (known formally as the capital improvement program), discussion of budget cuts

When: Tuesday, June 14, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: Update on city labor unions, finish plans for budget cuts

When: Tuesday, June 21, 6 p.m.
On the agenda: The City Council will approve the budget.

Source: city of Sacramento

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City, county faced grim year

2010-12-31T01:35:08Z

Sacramento’s city and county governments confronted grim budget situations throughout 2010. The city faced a $43 million budget gap, while the county struggled with a $181 million hole.

Local government employees felt the pain of budget cuts: Sacramento County laid off about 380 employees during the summer.

The county also slashed 29 positions in its engineering department in September. The county will no longer hire engineers for those spots.

City officials laid off 12 workers represented by Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447, city spokeswoman Amy Williams said in September. The layoffs occurred after talks between the city and the union failed.

However, the city’s job loss situation could have been worse. City officials and Stationary Engineers Local 39 negotiated a contract during the summer that saved at least 80 jobs.

Budget cuts hit Sacramento’s Fire Department, but the blow was lighter than expected. The City Council decided in June to increase from one to two “rolling brownouts” for the department. An earlier plan called for four rolling brownouts.

The term “rolling brownouts” refers to taking certain fire trucks and engines out of service at various times, former Fire Department spokesman Jim Doucette said in June.

A variety of city programs faced cuts, including the city’s 311 information line and youth program.

Consolidations of several city departments and offices took place as well. Code Enforcement, formerly a department, became a division of the Community Development Department. Neighborhood Services became a division of the Parks and Recreation Department, while Human Resources joined with Labor Relations.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Robbie Waters gives library $150,000

2010-11-24T05:59:47Z

Outgoing Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters is giving the Sacramento Public Library Authority up to $150,000.

Waters specified at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting that he wants his donation to go toward materials at the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library.

He announced at the council meeting that he scrapped his earlier terms for the donation. Last week, Waters had planned to give the money to the Library Authority only if the City Council retains the name of the Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library.

If the City Council changed the name of the library, Waters had planned to give the money to the Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Waters said that he talked to City Attorney Eileen Teichert’s office about his original plan and then decided against it. “I’m withdrawing that proposed resolution agreement that was published last week because there was a conflict of interest involved with that,” he said.

The $150,000 comes from City Council discretionary funds. Each council member is allotted $55,000 annually for his or her discretionary account, said city spokeswoman Amy Williams.

Leyne Milstein, the city’s finance director, explained that Waters’ $150,000 consists of a combination of discretionary account funds and funds that go to council members from cell phone tower agreements.

The city allows council members to carry over unspent money from previous years in their discretionary account, Milstein said.

“It’s an accumulation of unspent money,” Milstein said, referring to the $150,000.

City attorney Eileen Teichert explained that the city enters into agreements with cell phone companies that want to place towers on city property. A portion of the city’s revenues from these agreements are credited to council members’ discretionary funds when the towers are located in their districts, she said.

Photo by Kathleen Haley.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Fong: Clean out development department

2010-11-19T03:03:50Z

Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong said in an interview Thursday that further actions should be taken against city employees, including code division employee Dan Waters, who were involved in the recent scandals at the city’s Community Development Department.

Waters approved 35 building permits in a Natomas flood zone last year. Officials with the city and the Federal Emergency Management Agency say that Waters’ action to give the permits to K. Hovnanian Homes broke federal regulations. The City Council agreed earlier this week to pay up to $350,000 to correct its violations and comply with FEMA. The violations related to 38 permits – Waters approved 35 of them, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams.

Waters, the son of outgoing City Councilman Robbie Waters, is still employed by the city. He is a customer service supervisor at the city’s code division with a base salary of roughly $62,278, according to Williams. Specifically, he works in the neighborhood code compliance section, she said.

In an interview, Fong commented on the FEMA violations and the department’s other major scandal: an audit that says the department failed to collect more than $2.3 million in fees from developers.

“If I were running that department, they wouldn’t be working for the city of Sacramento anymore,” Fong said.

He noted the City Council cannot fire city employees. Under the city’s charter, firing is conducted by the city manager’s office.

Fong said the department’s troubles need further investigation beyond the audit. The audit calculated the fee problems, but it did not name names.

Fong also said he thinks there are other people responsible for the department’s messes in addition to Waters.

“My strong suspicion is there was some other folks involved in the chain of command,” Fong said. “And I think we need to figure out how far that went.”

He declined to name any names himself, saying that the city does not have evidence to show who was responsible and how they were involved in the department’s problems. He said he recently directed city officials and the city attorney’s office to provide a framework for how the City Council can investigate the people who were involved in the incidents at the department.

In response to questions about Waters, city spokeswoman Williams said: “We cannot share details about personnel matters. The City Manager’s Office is aggressively reviewing the audit report with the Community Development Department and Labor Relations, and we are investigating to determine if disciplinary action or further investigation of any employee is warranted.

“All disciplinary action necessary will be taken when appropriate,” she said. “Disciplinary actions are the responsibility of the city manager.”

Williams noted that the city transferred Waters to a different position last year. “Under the previous administration, Dan Waters was reassigned to Code Enforcement last calendar year,” she said. “As part of the consolidation efforts to save money, Code and Community Development Departments merged, and code became a division where he now resides.”

The local media has reported that Waters was temporarily suspended last year.

Meanwhile, Waters’ work at the development department is also being investigated by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, according to reports in The Sacramento Bee.

Vina said at an Oct. 12 City Council meeting that the FPPC had concerns about the city’s development department, although he did not mention Waters’ name.

FPPC Executive Director Roman Porter was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Waters did not return three phone messages left by The Sacramento Press Thursday afternoon.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Law prompts change to city program

2010-10-08T01:31:41Z

The city is changing the way it manages illegally dumped garbage after the city attorney’s office found that the city’s old program might have broken state law.

The City Council agreed on Tuesday to make the city’s code division responsible for the city’s illegal dumping program, meaning the Utilities Department will no longer handle it.

City Attorney Eileen Teichert’s office found that the city’s funding system for the program may have violated Proposition 218. That state law says that utilities fees from ratepayers must correspond to the costs of delivering the utilities services.

“The city attorney’s office has determined that under Prop. 218, garbage rate revenues may not be used to fund the citywide collection and disposal of illegal dumping, because this does not constitute a ‘cost of service’ for garbage customers,” according to the report from city staff.

The report said the Utilities Department has operated the illegal dumping program with money from garbage collection rates since 2001.

City spokeswoman Amy Williams could not confirm that the city has been violating Prop. 218 since 2001.

“There is no definitive answer to this question because there are no reported judicial opinions considering whether Prop. 218 allows the collection and disposal of illegal dumping to be funded from garbage collection rates,” said Williams said.

“The city’s decision to stop this practice was based on legal advice from the city attorney’s office that garbage rate revenues should not be used to fund the citywide collection and disposal of illegal dumping, because this does not constitute a ‘cost of service’ for garbage collection customers,” Williams said.

The Sacramento County Grand Jury published an investigative report in January of this year on how the city used utilities funds.

Meanwhile, Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy said that illegal dumping is a major problem in her North Sacramento district. Illegally dumped items, such as mattresses, furniture and refrigerators, are a blight and public safety issue, she said.

Piles of illegally dumped waste expand, she said. “Pretty soon, you don’t just have a little pile, you have a huge pile.”

Recent budget cuts to the city’s code division have slowed services, such as inspections of damaged buildings and pickup of abandoned cars, according to the city’s website.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

A deeper look at changes to police chief's salary

2010-09-10T03:41:40Z

At first glance, it appears that Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel is raking in the money this year. In just the last three months, he garnered an 8 percent salary increase and a new retirement perk.

However, Braziel’s salary and benefit gains are not as simple as meets the eye. There’s a back story that involves the timing of Braziel’s raise.

Police Department spokeswoman Laura Peck and city spokeswoman Amy Williams both emphasized that Braziel’s raise is not a new development, because the city has owed him the extra money for years. Peck said she could respond to questions without the need for the chief to comment directly to The Sacramento Press.

To make sense of the information, The Sacramento Press asked city staffers to explain Braziel’s raise and new retirement benefit.

Braziel now earns an annual base salary of $198,262 after his mandatory furlough time is subtracted from his pay.

When Braziel became the Police Department’s head in 2008, “he voluntarily took a 12 percent decrease in pay with the understanding with the city manager at the time that it would be restored in 6-12 months,” Williams wrote in a e-mail.

Mandatory furloughs made up 4 percent of the 12 percent decrease, said Konrad von Schoech, a police department spokesman.

When Braziel received an 8 percent raise in June, it was a restoration of the amount he had not been paid earlier, Williams said.

At the same time, Braziel received the raise when he chose to stay in Sacramento after applying for a police chief job in Seattle earlier this year.

Braziel earned the 8 percent raise June 5 — four days before he announced to the public that he would not leave Sacramento. He said at a June 9 press conference that the raise was not the reason he chose to stay in the city.

His raise comes from the city’s general fund and was approved by Interim City Manager Gus Vina, Williams wrote.

Braziel, who has worked for the city for 30 years, also received a “senior employee pay” benefit last month. Williams’ statistics show that Braziel is one of 153 longtime city employees who are using the benefit, which boosts an employee’s retirement compensation after the employee retires. Furloughs offset the program’s costs to the city, Williams wrote.

Employees enrolled in the program have participated in the Public Employees Retirement System or the Sacramento City Employees Retirement System for at least 25 years, according to a city staff report. The program will expire in June 2013, the report said.

As police chief, Braziel is considered a department director.

Figures provided by Williams show that Braziel earns the highest salary of his 10 other counterparts at City Hall, all of whom make six-figure salaries. Marty Hanneman, director of the Utilities Department, is second to Braziel in earnings with a base salary after furloughs of $177,512.

A link to information about the salaries of department heads and other city officials was recently posted on the front page of the city’s website. “It was posted a few weeks ago after the Bell City scandal,” Williams said. “We were getting a lot of media calls asking for salary information, and we wanted to be transparent.”

Here is a list of the names and salaries of the city’s 11 department heads after furloughs are accounted for:

Rick Braziel, police chief: 198,262

Martin Hanneman, director of utilities: 177,512

Ray Jones, fire chief: 169,824

James Combs, director of parks and recreation: 159,919

Reina Schwartz, director of general services: 159,858

Barbara Bonebrake, director of convention, culture & leisure: 158,375

Max Fernandez, director of community development: 156,855

Jerry Way, director of transportation: 149,873

Geri Hamby, director of human resources: 144,414

James Rinehart, director of economic development: 139,872

Leyne Milstein, director of finance: 125,211

Read city spokeswoman Amy William’s responses to Sacramento Press questions about department director salaries here.

Read an Aug. 10 report report from city staff that includes information about the “senior employee pay program” here.

Sacramento Press staff reporter Suzanne Hurt contributed to this report.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Arizona: Groups continue to protest Sac City Council

2010-08-03T03:05:01Z

Two local groups continue to protest the Sacramento City Council more than one month after the council decided to boycott Arizona companies.

One of the groups, Boycott Sacramento, is intentionally avoiding local businesses in response to the council’s sanctions on Arizona businesses.

Another group, Recall Sacramento, is saying it will attempt to remove certain council members from office. However, Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said the group has not yet officially started the recall process.

The groups formed after the City Council decided June 15 to dispute Arizona’s new immigration laws by boycotting that state’s companies. The council passed the boycott in a 6-1 vote, with council members Steve Cohn and Lauren Hammond absent, and Robbie Waters voting in opposition.

The City Council stepped outside the court system when it decided to boycott Arizona, said Gerald Klaas, organizer of Boycott Sacramento.

“It’s a step toward mob rule,” Klaas said.

Arizona’s new law states that police officers must investigate a person’s immigration status if they think he or she is an undocumented immigrant. Officers must examine immigration status during “enforcement of any law or ordinance of a county, city or town” in Arizona, the law also states.

But a new federal court ruling on Arizona’s law could complicate the Sacramento City Council’s protest. Parts of Arizona’s law were stalled last week by a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton, who deemed them to be unconstitutional, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The implications of the ruling on Sacramento’s boycott of Arizona are unclear at this point. Matt Ruyak, a supervising deputy city attorney in Sacramento, said the city attorney’s office is now analyzing Bolton’s ruling.

At the same time, city staff is still assessing the dollar amount of the business it does with Arizona companies, said city spokeswoman Amy Williams.

Meanwhile, Klaas, a Sacramento County resident, said he estimates that Boycott Sacramento has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost business to companies within the city limits. He said he based his estimate on e-mails from people who said they did not buy large-ticket items in Sacramento because of the city’s boycott of Arizona.

The Boycott Sacramento Facebook page has 3,474 fans, but groups of three and four people showed up at July protests at City Hall, according to the Meetup.com website.

Klaas said he and his wife estimate they are not spending about $400 per month at Sacramento businesses.

Boycott Sacramento is not related to Recall Sacramento, a group organized by Republican congressional candidate Paul Smith.

The Sacramento City Council is not “pro-business, pro-jobs in any stretch of the imagination,” Smith said. “When they elected to sanction another state, it was none of their business to do that considering the mess the city’s in.”

Asked if his effort was a self-serving move for his congressional campaign, Smith said it is “imperative” that he show the community in his district that he is concerned about Sacramento businesses.

“I don’t want to take over a district in December that’s all boarded-up downtown because all the business was driven out,” he said.

Smith said the group aims to recall council members Rob Fong and Steve Cohn first, but that his group may also try to kick out Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Bonnie Pannell, Sandy Sheedy and Kevin McCarty. Supporters of an effort to recall the Sacramento City Council are upset with Fong and Cohn more than the other members, Smith said. Fong is ignoring voters, Smith claimed, and Cohn did not vote on the Arizona issue.

The group will not try to recall council members Ray Tretheway, Lauren Hammond or Robbie Waters because they are leaving office, he said.

Mark Williams, the Tea Party Express’ former controversial spokesman, made remarks at a recent Recall Sacramento protest, Smith said, but Williams has “baggage,” and the group does not consider him to be a member. Williams’ statements on a July blog drew widespread media attention.

Smith said about 2,000 people have signed up on the Recall Sacramento website.

Cohn said Smith’s Recall Sacramento group was a publicity campaign. “In my case, he can’t do it legally until next June,” Cohn said. “It’s a waste of time to even talk about it.”

RE Graswich, Johnson’s spokesman, said there is nothing to comment on until the group provides documentation of its recall.

Councilman Rob Fong did not return phone calls Monday afternoon.

Mizuno said Recall Sacramento’s campaign has not begun the recall process. “Right now, there’s a lot of talk, but no one seems to be doing anything,” Mizuno said.

The Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce opposed the boycott of Arizona companies. In a June 1 letter to Mayor Kevin Johnson, Chamber President Matt Mahood raised concerns that a boycott on Sacramento businesses could take place if the City Council boycotts Arizona. Read the Chamber’s letter here.

Photo of Paul Smith by Kathleen Haley. Photos of Sacramento City Council members by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City doles out pink slips

2010-07-22T01:17:05Z

The city of Sacramento sent out pink slips to about 90 employees Wednesday because city management and two unions have not yet found common ground in their contract negotiations.

However, Interim Assistant City Manager Patti Bisharat said city officials have not given up on efforts to resolve their differences with the unions.

In June, the city closed a $43 million budget gap for the 2011 fiscal year.

The two unions that have not made concessions are Stationary Engineers Local 39 and Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447. Local 39 represents employees in numerous city departments, including Utilities, Transportation and Community Development.

Bisharat said Tuesday that the city was still actively negotiating with the unions and “still hopeful” for an agreement to avoid layoffs. But the city sent out layoff notices in order “to pull the trigger if we need to,” Bisharat said.

If the negotiations end successfully, then city management will retract the pink slips, she said.

But if talks do not improve soon, the laying off of about 90 employees will go into effect Aug. 6, according to Bisharat.

Joan Bryant, director of public employees for Local 39, said it was “very disturbing” that the city sent out layoff notices Wednesday. The union has faced layoffs of more than 200 workers in the past two years, she said. The union represents about 1,500 workers locally.

“The city has an obligation to cut its spending and stop cutting workers at every turn,” Bryant said, “because pretty soon you’re going to have no one to cut.”

She claimed that the city is laying off workers to put pressure on the union to accept the city’s demands.

Local 39 is continuing to negotiate with the city, she said, but noted that the city’s specific requests are “not something that we will likely jump into.”

The city is asking Local 39 to sign off on a three-year contract that would end in June 2013, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams. A 4 percent pay cut would go into effect now with the proposed contract, Williams wrote in an e-mail. Starting in June 2012, employees covered under the contract would receive a 5 percent raise.

Among other details, the contract would include a monthly furlough day throughout the three-year period, Wiliams wrote.

When the City Council balanced Sacramento’s budget on June 22, it extended negotiation talks with three unions for 30 days. One of the unions, the Auto, Marine and Specialty Painters Local 1176, made concessions to the city last week, Bisharat said.

The city had hoped to use savings from labor concessions to balance its budget. But when city managers didn’t gain concessions from unions by June 22, the City Council decided to allow an extra month for negotiations.

Since the city didn’t have the savings from concessions in June, the City Council moved $648,000 in other funds to help fill the budget hole.

The layoffs of about 90 employees would mark a second group of layoffs for the city this summer. About 50 employees worked their last day on July 16, Williams said.

Harry Rotz, the business manager for Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447, could not be reached because he was out of town Wednesday, according to the union’s office.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Budget woes lead to overhaul of city departments

2010-07-02T05:35:04Z

Sacramento’s city government is in the midst of a major overhaul.

The merging of seven city departments and offices was among many cuts city leaders made to close out a $43 million budget shortfall. Consolidations of several departments, including Neighborhood Services and Parks and Recreation, are now under way.

Neighborhood Services is no longer its own department. It’s now a division of the Parks and Recreation Department. The Office of Youth Development also lost its unique status — it now falls under the umbrella of Parks and Recreation.

The consolidations include cuts to a few top positions. Vincene Jones, who was the director of the Neighborhood Services Department, is now the manager of the Neighborhood Services division.

As part of the Parks and Neighborhood Services consolidation, Jones’s division is now responsible for a special events unit formerly under the jurisdiction of Parks and Recreation.

Putting the special events unit under the Neighborhood Services division is a “natural fit” because the two groups already had a working relationship, Jones said.

“We do things together anyway,” Jones said.

Neighborhood Services will lose two staffers. Parks and Recreation and Neighborhood Services will continue to be housed at City Hall on Ninth Street.

Lyn Corbett, who headed the Office of Youth Development, is leaving the city in the next couple months, said Hindolo Brima, a spokesman for the Parks Department. Corbett did not respond to a phone call Thursday afternoon. The city formed the Office of Youth Development in 2007.

The Parks-Neighborhood Services-Youth Development consolidation results in a Parks Department with more expertise relating to neighborhoods and youth, Brima said.

At the same time, the Code Enforcement Department has joined with the Community Development Department. Code Enforcement is now a division of the Community Development Department.

Max Fernandez, who was the director of Code Enforcement, said a decision has not been announced about his employment with the city government. While his job status is up in the air, Fernandez spoke positively about the consolidation.

“We’ll be able to share the resources of the two departments to use them more efficiently,” he said.

Fernandez noted that Code Enforcement personnel will be moving from their current headquarters on Meadowview Road to the Community Development Department headquarters on Richards Boulevard. Staff will move over in the next 60 to 90 days, he said.

In a third group of consolidations, the Human Resources and Labor Relations Departments have merged, said city spokeswoman Amy Williams.

In addition, Williams said the city is still examining the idea of creating an Office of Communications, in which public information officers would work under one office instead of at various departments.

Photos: Vincene Jones of Neighborhood Services and a Code Enforcement employee.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Roseville mayor on city's decision to hire Ray Kerridge

2010-05-07T01:55:33Z

After resigning from the city of Sacramento in March, controversial former City Manager Ray Kerridge did not travel far for his next major assignment: He’s now the city manager of Roseville.

The Roseville City Council chose Kerridge for the position Thursday in a 4-1 vote. Kerridge was the choice out of 63 candidates for the job.

Roseville Mayor Gina Garbolino said in an interview Thursday that Kerridge is the “right person for Roseville at this time.”

Various Sacramento officials offered differing reasons in February for why Kerridge decided to leave the city. Sacramento city spokeswoman Amy Williams said Kerridge resigned from his post because he had dedicated more than 35 years to public service and felt it was a good time to transition to a private sector position.

Meanwhile, Mayor Kevin Johnson said Kerridge’s resignation was in part due to a negative atmosphere at City Hall. At a Feb. 18 press conference, Johnson and City Councilman Robbie Waters blamed other council members for creating a hostile work environment and complimented Kerridge on his work for the city of Sacramento.

Johnson admitted to being partly to blame for the negative atmosphere among City Council members.

The city was also facing significant controversies with its Community Development and Utilities departments at the time of Kerridge’s resignation. When Kerridge was leading the city, Sacramento was in trouble with both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Sacramento County Grand Jury. The city acknowledged it broke FEMA rules by allowing building permits in a flood zone in Natomas.

The Grand Jury has claimed that actions by the city’s Utilities Department violated state law Proposition 218.

And, the Sacramento City Council recently hired a third-party auditing firm to examine whether the city has been allowing developers to bypass fee payments in recent years.

Attempts to contact Kerridge through the city of Roseville Thursday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Reacting to Kerridge’s new move, Mayor Kevin Johnson said in an e-mail through his spokesman that the city of Sacramento is operating in a “broken system.” While Johnson did not specifically mention a “strong mayor” form of government would be the cure, he is leading an effort to give the mayor more power in Sacramento.

"Unfortunately, this news is the latest example of why we need to reform City Hall,” Johnson said. “Ray's resignation was a major loss to Sacramento, and I remain troubled by the atmosphere at City Hall that likely played a role in his decision. We can't afford to keep losing our best people because of a broken system.

“Our loss is Roseville's gain. Ray will further the city's already impressive work to create jobs and foster a positive business climate. I congratulate Ray on his new role and wish him well," Johnson said.

Roseville’s Garbolino acknowledged that Kerridge had faced controversies in Sacramento.

“We knew what was in the paper,” Garbolino said, noting that there are “other sides of stories.”

Garbolino said the Roseville City Council conducted an extensive search that included input from 150 city employees. City employees and community members said they wanted their new city manager to have vision, leadership skills and an attitude of quality customer service, Garbolino said.

Kerridge was the best candidate, Garbolino said. “Obviously, he has a reputation for customer service.”

Garbolino noted that her city adheres to laws. “Roseville has always followed the book,” she said. “We don’t veer from that. That’s non-negotiable.”

Councilman Waters said in an interview Thursday that Kerridge made major improvements to the city of Sacramento’s development department when he oversaw it. Kerridge’s move to Roseville is “a great loss to the city of Sacramento,” Waters said.

At its May 19 meeting, the Roseville City Council will decide Kerridge’s salary and determine his first day of work, according to Roseville's website. Kerridge earned $215,000 as Sacramento's city manager.

Photo courtesy of the city of Roseville.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City budget to be released Friday, $40-$43 million gap

2010-04-30T03:01:07Z

Sacramento city officials hope to release the draft city budget before 4 p.m. on Friday, said city spokeswoman Amy Williams.

The city is facing a $40-$43 million budget gap, according to an estimate provided earlier this month from Interim City Manager Gus Vina.

Williams said the city releases the draft budget on May 1 each year. This year the city will release it the day before May 1. She said the city’s charter dictates the timeline for the budget release. The charter calls for the city manager to issue budget recommendations at least 60 days ahead of July 1.

City Councilman Steve Cohn said last month at a Neighborhood Advisory Group meeting that he expects major cuts to city parks.

The Parks and Recreation Department received $8.3 million in cuts as part of the 2009/2010 budget.

The Sacramento Bee published information from confidential budget documents Wednesday. The documents suggested cuts may be made in several departments, including police, fire, development, general services and code enforcement.

The Sacramento Press will report additional information about the draft budget after it is released Friday.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Mayor, Waters praise Kerridge, blast "divisive" politics

2010-02-19T04:42:14Z

Mayor Kevin Johnson and City Councilman Robbie Waters praised City Manager Ray Kerridge, who announced yesterday that he was resigning on March 12, at a joint press conference Thursday.

Without naming anyone in particular, Johnson and Waters both blamed other council members for the negative atmosphere at City Hall. The other council members did not attend the press conference. However, Joann Cummins, district director for Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy, attended the event.

“I think the divisiveness has certainly played a role (in Kerridge’s decision),” Johnson said.

He said he was concerned that the work environment could cause “great talent” to leave.

Johnson also faulted himself for his part in the divisive atmosphere at City Hall.

Waters also used the word “great” to describe Kerridge.

“We’ve lost a great leader,” Waters said.

City spokeswoman Amy Williams answered questions from The Sacramento Press after the press conference. She said Kerridge was not available for questions Thursday afternoon. Williams responded to the question of whether Kerridge’s resignation is linked to the city’s problems with its utilities and community development departments.

A Jan. 6 grand jury report says the city may be breaking Proposition 218, a state law that mandates how city funds are used.

City officials are also confronting findings from an investigation into the department’s approval last year of 35 permits in a Natomas flood zone. The offices of the city attorney and city manager note in a Jan. 26 report that the department broke federal rules by approving the permits.

The report lists new issues, including possible violations of city planning rules, that involve the building services division of the development department.

“In any large organization, there will be issues,” Williams said.

She said Kerridge has dedicated more than 35 years to public service and felt this was a good time to transition to a private sector position. Kerridge felt the timing of his transition was good for the city, as well as for himself, Williams said.

Kerridge feels the timing of his resignation is good because of recent developments on the issues of the 35 Natomas permits and the city budget, Williams said. Kerridge said he felt there has been “significant movement” on the investigation into the city’s approval of 35 building permits in a Natomas flood zone, Williams said.

The City Council also came together at a Feb. 11 budget session — its first budget session of the year, Williams said. Kerridge said he viewed the council members’ unanimous agreement on the issue as a positive sign. The city manager’s office creates the proposed budget.

Williams further noted that Kerridge has a private sector job opportunity.

The city is facing a $35-40 million budget deficit for the 2010/2011 fiscal year, according to a Feb. 11 report.

Photos by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Strong Mayor: Johnson to pitch new ballot measure

2010-02-09T06:18:08Z

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has not been deterred by two court rulings that prevent his strong mayor initiative from being placed on the June ballot. His latest strategy is to ask the City Council to place a new strong mayor proposal on the ballot.

But Johnson’s new plan, which he announced on his blog Monday afternoon, cannot include the existing strong mayor initiative. That's because Sacramento Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster struck down the initiative last month, saying it broke state law.

Johnson's blog entry does not explain the components of his new proposal. He described his new plan as a "collaborative executive mayor reform package." Joaquin McPeek, Johnson's spokesman, declined to specify details Monday night. McPeek said Johnson will take questions from reporters on the proposal Tuesday.

Johnson said in his blog that he would ask the City Council on Tuesday to consider his new plan.

"The time has come to spell out in simple language a handful of points necessary to make executive mayor reform work in Sacramento," Johnson wrote.

If the City Council decides to vote on a new measure, it will need to create a new proposal in 15 days. The City Council has a Feb. 23 deadline to prepare a measure for the June ballot.

“The City Council has the ability to put their own measure on the ballot,” city spokeswoman Amy Williams said. “They are barred by Judge McMaster’s order from placing the strong mayor initiative on the ballot.”

Johnson's strong mayor goals have been stymied by two courts.

Plaintiff Bill Camp sued the city of Sacramento, the Sacramento City Council and Thomas Hiltachk, the attorney who wrote the strong mayor initiative. Making major changes to a city charter through an initiative conflicts with state law, Camp argued.

The January Sacramento Superior Court decision said the existing initiative would revise the city charter. A revision differs from an amendment because it makes major changes, according to the decision.

Johnson’s initiative also faced problems at the 3rd District Court of Appeal, which last week decided that it would not temporarily halt McMaster’s decision.

In a separate development last week, the group Sacramentans for Accountable Government held fundraisers for the initiative. Each person who attended a SAG luncheon at the Cosmo Café last Thursday paid $1,000. The contribution amount for an event sponsor was $5,000.

A second fundraiser focused on a conversation between Frank Luntz, a Republican consultant and pollster, and Willie Brown, who formerly served as California Assembly Speaker and mayor of San Francisco. The cost to attend that fundraiser was $100 per person.

Photo by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City departments in trouble: What is the city manager’s role?

2010-02-02T04:50:28Z

News Analysis

City Manager Ray Kerridge oversees a city government that is struggling with major controversies in its Community Development and Utilities departments.

Council members are reacting to claims in a Jan. 6 grand jury report that the city may be breaking Proposition 218, a state law that mandates how city funds are used.

City officials are also confronting findings from an investigation into the department’s approval last year of 35 permits in a Natomas flood zone. The offices of the city attorney and city manager note in a recent report that the department broke federal rules by approving the permits.

The report lists new issues, including possible violations of city planning rules, that involve the building services division of the development department.

And the Sacramento Bee is reporting that Advantage Demolition & Engineering gained city contracts by allegedly turning in fake paperwork. The city has fired the firm, which was supposed to install water meters, the Bee reported.

While Kerridge runs the city government, Mayor Kevin Johnson and the City Council have not specifically discussed Kerridge’s role in the city’s troubles at recent public meetings.

In the spirit of accountability and transparency that Johnson, the City Council and Kerridge himself have championed, the Sacramento Press wonders: What is Kerridge’s role in current city problems?

The Sacramento Press asked city spokeswoman Amy Williams if Kerridge could answer that question and others in a phone interview on Friday afternoon or Monday morning. Williams said Kerridge was away from the office Friday afternoon and asked The Sacramento Press to e-mail questions to her. Kerridge e-mailed The Sacramento Press with a response Monday morning.

In his e-mail, Kerridge said that he is facing many issues that began before he became city manager in 2006.

“The greater majority of these issues like Proposition 218 predated my administration,” Kerridge said. “Because we have made it a priority to be transparent, when we have discovered these issues, we have addressed them and done it in public. When you do this, there are risks, and it can be very uncomfortable, but it is the right thing to do.”

Kerridge said that problems at city departments are being addressed.

“There are obvious areas that need to be improved and those improvements are being made,” he said. “For instance, multi-level checks and balances have been put in to place to address Community Development’s (front) counter operations. I have always been an advocate for systematic audits on all departments and I still am.”

City Councilman Steve Cohn said that while Kerridge may not have been city manager at the start of some of the Prop. 218 problems, the issues have been ongoing. “He’s certainly responsible for fixing the problem,” Cohn said.

Read the full list of questions and Kerridge’s response at the end of this story.

Johnson on Kerridge's Role

Meanwhile, Johnson is expressing multiple views of Kerridge. Johnson says he supports Kerridge but also says that voters should scrap the city manager position in favor of a strong mayor system.

Johnson acknowledges that Kerridge, as city manager, is ultimately in charge of the city departments facing problems.

He calls himself "a fan" of Kerridge but doesn't criticize him for controversies in the Utilities and Community Development departments under his control.

Johnson’s comments at a Tuesday press conference in Oak Park last week revealed his views of Kerridge.

Johnson openly acknowledges that the city government is facing multiple problems.

“There seems to be a pattern of mismanagement or poor judgement,” Johnson said. “What this does, it creates a sense of cynicism and lack of trust with the public.”

But despite the list of issues with two departments under Kerridge's authority, Johnson expressed his support for the city manager in response to a question from Capital Public Radio's Ben Adler.

“The utilities department falls under the responsibility of Ray Kerridge, so does the planning department,” Adler said to Johnson. “You’ve said repeatedly you’re a really big fan of Ray Kerridge. Has your position changed at all?”

“No, I’m a huge fan of Ray Kerridge,” Johnson responded. Then, in his next comment, Johnson conceded that “all of these things fall, in some shape or form, under his [Kerridge's] jurisdiction.”

“He’s not denying that,” Johnson said.

While Johnson said these problems have occurred under Kerridge's watch, and that Kerridge runs the city government, Johnson did not criticize Kerridge.

Instead, Johnson turned the discussion to argue in support of a strong mayor government. “That’s why I believe very strongly that we can change our form of government to an executive mayor form of government,” he said, noting that decisions and choices would then be made by someone elected by the public.

Johnson further said that a strong mayor would be held accountable by the public. In addition, he said in defense of Kerridge, the city manager must deal with competing visions of council members and the mayor, Johnson said.

“I think Ray Kerridge gets caught in the middle," Johnson said. “He has nine bosses. Who in here would want nine bosses? I mean, you can’t get anything done with nine bosses.”

Questions for Kerridge

The Sacramento Press asked Kerridge for comment on the Prop. 218 issue, the company that the city hired to install water meters and the problems with the Community Development Department. The list of questions follows:

What is your role in these issues?

How much responsibility do you feel you have for these problems?

Referring to current controversies in city departments, Johnson said this week that "all of these things fall, in some shape or form, under his [Kerridge's] jurisdiction." However, he is not publicly criticizing you or faulting you for these problems. Can you comment on that?

What are your plans to make sure these kinds of problems don't happen again?

When Johnson said these things fall under your jurisdiction, he then argued for a strong mayor form of government. In what ways, if any, has the form of government in the city affected these problems?

Are you retiring this year?

Kerridge’s Response

Kerridge provided the following e-mailed response to the questions Monday:

My style of leadership requires transparency and openness in our organization. I have created an environment that encourages change and
challenges us to look at our systems. The greater majority of these issues like Proposition 218 predated my administration. Because we have made it a priority to be transparent, when we have discovered these issues, we have addressed them and done it in public. When you do this, there are risks and it can be very uncomfortable but it is the right thing to do. Improvement is a continuous process and we should never be satisfied with the status quo.

There are obvious areas that need to be improved and those improvements are being made. For instance, multi-level checks and balances have been put in to place to address Community Development’s counter operations. I have always been an advocate for systematic audits on all departments and I still am. I am dedicated to serving this community and the City of Sacramento.

Photos by Anthony Bento.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Agencies plan to set up 419 winter shelter beds

2009-10-27T04:05:07Z

Despite Sacramento County’s financial crisis, the city and county intend to provide 151 more beds for the homeless this winter than last.

That’s because city officials expect 419 winter shelter beds to be funded through a variety of entities, including the city, nonprofit organizations, the federal government, the county and private donors. Last year, there were 268 winter shelter beds for the homeless.

“The strategy provides for a collaborative public and private solution to increasing winter shelter options for the region's most vulnerable population during the coldest months of the year,” according to an Oct. 27 report to the City Council from Cassandra Jennings, assistant city manager, and La Shelle Dozier, executive director for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

Councilmembers will hear a presentation on the funding plan for winter shelter beds at their Tuesday meeting.

The funding allocation from the city would be $149,000; the county’s portion would be $168,000. Allocations are not yet final.

Mayor Kevin Johnson held a press conference Friday to announce that a multiagency task force found funding for 269 winter shelter beds. Johnson is chairman of the task force, which is part of the Policy Board to End Homelessness.

City spokeswoman Amy Williams pointed out Monday that the city also is receiving federal stimulus money that can go toward 150 more beds, bringing the total number of beds to 419.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City halts Nestlé work

2009-10-27T02:48:16Z

A $14 million retrofit of a proposed Nestlé water-bottling plant has ground to a halt after the city of Sacramento issued a stop-work order while investigating whether the work began before the company had legal authorization from the city.

Late Friday afternoon, the city's Community Development Department issued a stop-work order for Phases II and III shortly before an interim or "urgency" ordinance request was added to the City Council's agenda for Tuesday night. The council is being asked to consider amending the city's zoning code to immediately require special permits for beverage bottling plants. The meeting starts at 6 p.m.

On Monday, City Councilman Kevin McCarty and officials from the city's Community Development Department were trying to determine when Nestlé Waters North America began interior renovation of an industrial warehouse being leased for a new water-bottling operation.

"We're still assessing all the facts," said David Kwong, acting director of the city's Community Development Department. "We're trying to make sure there's nothing being done out of the ordinary."

Legally, construction cannot begin before a start-work authorization or building permit is issued, he said.

A building permit for Phase I was issued Oct. 7, but no start-work authorization has been found, Kwong said, adding that a start-work authorization was issued for Phase II the same day.

"I don't know if there was an authorization to work for Phase I," he said.

Phase I included foundation work and moving walls, Kwong said. Phase II involves work on water and drainage lines and other operational needs. However, the company's description of the work to be done appears to overlap in the two documents.

Nestlé maintains the company has not done anything illegal.

"Nestlé Waters is in compliance with the city's building and permitting laws," Brendan O'Rourke, the company's supply chain director and national director of natural resources, said in a written statement. He arrived in Sacramento on Monday to help respond to the unfolding situation.

Phase I construction is complete, the company said. Nestlé began work two months ago and is halfway through renovation of the plant at 8670 Younger Creek Drive, Chris Kemp, Nestlé's Sacramento plant manager, said Wednesday.

"To date, the company has invested more than $3.7 million into this plant in form of permitting fees, construction costs, due diligence payments and costs associated with the movement of equipment from other Nestle Waters plants to Sacramento," read an e-mail from Nestlé on Monday.

The stop-work order may be temporary. A draft ordinance was still being finalized by the city attorney's office late Monday afternoon. The draft goes to council members before being made public, said Amy Williams, spokeswoman for the city manager's office.

The council ought to carefully consider commercial requests to bottle and sell city water, said City Councilman Kevin McCarty, who requested the item be placed on the agenda and later posted a story about his decision.

"Water is increasingly one of more most precious and valuable resources," McCarty said Monday. "My proposal would mandate a further dialogue on all future water-bottling facilities. I think it's an important discussion to have."

Changing the process now would be "troubling," O'Rourke said.

"We have followed the city and state laws throughout this process, invested more than $3.8 million into this facility and hired people to work, all based on the the current law and it would appear that this is an attempt to change those laws midstream," he said. "We find that prospect troubling not only for this plant, but for any business looking for certainty in the siting process."

Nestlé also questioned the legality of the stop-work order. The company said the stop-work order may not be legal because the city already had issued a start-work authorization for Phase II.

"The city has not provided any evidence to support this stop-work order despite the rules that require they do so within 24 hours," said O'Rourke.

The city gave Nestlé preliminary authority to start work on Phase II, but that doesn't give the company the right to continue the work. In addition, no building permit was issued for Phases II and III, said Sheryl Patterson, senior deputy city attorney.

"We do have the right to issue a stop-work order when no building permit has been issued," she said.

An interim ordinance, which would not require review under the California Environmental Quality Act, would give the city time to consider a formal amendment to the zoning code. An interim ordinance requires a super majority or two-thirds vote of the council, to pass, Patterson said.

Nestlé has paid the city $65,000 in permitting and application fees. The company also agreed to hire local contractors and has committed to paying them $600,000 for their work.

Nestlé applied for a building permit through the city's Facility Permit Program in order to make tenant improvements, including underslab plumbing, demolition of existing partition walls and construction of new ones.

Questions also are being raised over whether it was correct to use the Facility Permit Program in this instance. "The Facility Permit Program facilitates a rapid approval process for tenant alterations and improvements of commercial and industrial facilities: minor tenant improvements, including maintenance, repair and minor alterations; and major interior tenant improvements and remodels. This includes tenant improvements to new and existing structures," according to the city's Web site.

"I'm not sure if it all adds up," McCarty said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.