Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "jan scully"

County approves budget, layoffs expected

2011-06-10T01:22:31Z

Sacramento County elected officials approved a budget Thursday that could result in more than 200 employee layoffs, according to county budget officer Tom Burkart.

These layoffs for the 2011/2012 fiscal year are in addition to the 1,299 layoffs the county has made since the 2008/2009 fiscal year, said county spokeswoman Chris Andis.

She added that 1,299 people were actually laid off as opposed to job positions being cut.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors balanced its budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year on Thursday afternoon, closing out a $90 million shortfall. The county has a general fund of $1.9 billion and a total budget of roughly $3.5 billion.

The approved budget is a first version – the supervisors will pass a final budget in September.

While Burkart provided an estimate for upcoming layoffs, exact figures were unclear Thursday.

“As a board member and member of this community, it weighs heavily on me that over the past several years, we’ve laid off hundreds and hundreds of people,” Supervisor Don Nottoli said at Thursday’s budget meeting.

The people who will be laid off attend local churches, shop in local stores and send their children to local schools, he said.

Interim County Executive Officer Steven Szalay estimated that more than 300 job positions will now be removed. That number does not include lost job positions from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s office, Szalay said.

District Attorney Jan Scully and Sheriff Scott Jones are responsible for calculating their departments’ lost positions and possible layoffs.

The loss of about 300 positions – which does not include the D.A’s office and the Sheriff’s Department – may translate to about 200 actual layoffs, Burkart said.

Positions are different from layoffs because they can include vacancies. The county also uses a complicated system of demotions as part of the layoff process, which can affect the number of actual layoffs.

The Sheriff’s Department had faced a $26.7 million shortfall, but Jones recently pared down that number to $9.5 million. Thursday, the Board of Supervisors brought down Jones’ budget shortfall to $4.3 million.

Jones was scheduled to hold a press conference late Thursday afternoon. The Sacramento Press will follow up on any information about possible layoffs at the Sheriff’s Department on Friday.

The District Attorney’s office is facing a $6.2 million shortfall in response to the Board of Supervisors’ budget approval. Scully’s office had a $13.3 million gap in February. She brought it down to $8.6 million. The supervisors restored about $2 million to the D.A.’s budget, leaving it with a $6.2 million gap.

In a press advisory released after the budget approval, Scully said the upcoming cuts to her office would hurt residents.

“Arrests take criminals off the street – only prosecutors keep them off the streets,” she said. “It is the responsibility of the Board of Supervisors to fund prosecutions for the entire county – the unincorporated areas and all of the cities.

“Most of the cases my office prosecutes come from the cities. By failing to take that into account, the board shortchanged more than 60 percent of our residents.”

Scully will speak publicly next week about how the cuts will affect her office, according to the news advisory.

While exact layoff figures are unclear, Andis provided statistics showing that the the departments of Human Assistance and Transportation are among other departments with filled positions slated to be cut.

The county’s drop in revenues since the 2007/2008 fiscal year has been a central reason for the county’s poor financial state, Szalay said in May. Since then, the county’s revenues from property, sales and motor vehicle taxes have dropped by more than $100 million, he added.

State budget cuts have also hurt the county, according to Szalay.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Youth violence forum draws large crowd

2011-02-17T06:47:26Z

In the view of Sacramento community activist Kathy Jenkins, stronger parenting of youth is key to reducing gang violence. At a forum in Oak Park on youth and gang-related violence, Jenkins told a crowd of about 150 Sacramento residents, city staffers and police officers that assertive parents should influence the lives of young people.

“This is called parenting, this is not policing,” Jenkins said.

“If we could parent, and if we can raise,” she added, “and if we can encourage, and if we can take guns and give books, if we can give dolls instead of pimping ... If we could do these things, we could put (the police) out of work. I would rather see them writing parking tickets.”

Jenkins was one of many speakers at the forum, organized by Mayor Kevin Johnson’s office. Johnson had planned to attend the Oak Park event, said his special assistant, R.E. Graswich. But he canceled in order to accept an invitation from the White House to spend time on Wednesday with President Barack Obama, according to Johnson’s press office.

Police Chief Rick Braziel, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones and Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully were among others who made remarks at the forum. Residents also participated in the forum by brainstorming ways to halt youth violence in the Sacramento area.

Braziel explained the police department’s Operation Ceasefire program, in which officers meet with youth involved with violence, he said. “We bring them in and give them alternatives,” Braziel said.

The department and local support service programs provide services to the youth so they can stop a violent lifestyle, Braziel said. Other partners in the program include the U.S. Attorney’s office and the District Attorney’s office, he said.

Jones emphasized prevention of gang violence and said it was part of his gang strategy. “What’s been long overdue is the prevention side,” he said.

One of the attendees, Malcolm Stone, 63, told The Sacramento Press that he recently moved to south Sacramento from Riverside County. He said he had earlier thought that Sacramento was somewhat “sleepy.” He and his wife are “shocked about all the violent crime in the news” in Sacramento, he said.

Assistant City Manager Cassandra Jennings wrapped up the event, telling the attendees that city leaders plan to create an action plan to address youth violence. She said focus groups will be organized in March, and another community forum will be held in April. In June, the city hopes to have an outline of a strategy, she said.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Mayor backs candidates Ashby, Cohn, Schenirer and Waters

2010-05-19T03:43:09Z

In a statement Tuesday on his blog, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson made his endorsements for candidates competing in the June 8 primary election.

A KCRA reporter asked Johnson at a Monday press conference if Johnson would endorse candidates who oppose a “strong mayor” form of government. Johnson is leading an effort to bring more authority to the mayor’s office.

In response to the reporter’s question, Johnson said: “I think that’s not really the issue before people. I don’t think that people have had to make a decision on that. So, there’s not a litmus, in general, for that right now.”

Johnson said the candidates he is supporting are not content with the status quo. He explained that he backed candidates with energy, problem-solving skills, “a sense of urgency to get things done,” and a vision for the “new Sacramento.”

However, the Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday that Councilman Ray Tretheway claimed he was pressured by unnamed Johnson supporters to back a strong mayor plan. Johnson is endorsing the following candidates:

Sacramento City Council

City Council District 1: Angelique Ashby

City Council District 3: Steve Cohn

City Council District 5: Jay Schenirer

City Council District 7: Robbie Waters

Sacramento County Board of Supervisors:

Board of Supervisors 1: Phil Serna

Board of Supervisors 2: Jimmie Yee

Board of Supervisors 5: Don Nottoli

Other County Races

Sacramento County Sheriff: Jim Cooper

Sacramento District Attorney: Jan Scully

Assessor: Kathleen Kelleher

State Legislature

Assembly District 9: Lauren Hammond

Assembly District 5: Richard Pan

State Senate District 6: Darrell Steinberg

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City/County budget crisis: The weekly roundup

2009-06-22T01:20:33Z

City approves budget, 168 possible layoffs

The City Council approved its budget June 16 for the 2009/2010 fiscal year, which means the city no longer has a budget gap of more than $43 million. However, the budget also means that city services face significant cuts, and 168 employees are scheduled to be laid off.

The last day of work for the 168 workers has been changing because the city and unions are still grappling with contract negotiations. The most recent information is that the last day of work for employees scheduled to be laid off is July 3, said acting city spokeswoman Wendy Klock-Johnson Friday.

The city has already distributed 168 pink slips. Still, the number of actual layoffs hinges on union concessions. City unions must make deals with city managers soon: The final deadline for labor agreements is June 30 at midnight, Klock-Johnson said earlier this week.

City parks to be maintained by volunteers, private sector?

Budget cuts and layoffs at the city’s Parks and Recreation department may mean the department could consider contracting with private firms and working with neighborhood groups to maintain city parks, said Jim Combs, director of Parks and Recreation.

A total of 65 workers in the department have received pink slips, according to Parks and Recreation spokesman Hindolo Brima. The department’s planned $8.3 million in cuts includes layoffs.

Combs told the City Council last week that if the department is going to suffer severe budget cuts, then the department may consider working with the private sector, as well as Parks and Recreation staffers, for maintenance services at city parks.

He also said he would be meeting with several neighborhood groups that have indicated they want to enhance maintenance in their local parks.

The situation for Parks and Recreation may soon change if Stationary Engineers Local 39, the union that represents parks workers, makes concessions to city managers.

Joan Bryant, director of public employees for Stationary Engineers Local 39, was not immediately available for comment Friday. The union represents a wide variety of workers in numerous city departments, including code enforcement, parks and recreation, parking enforcemen and the solid waste division.

800 pink slips for county employees

The county’s approval of its proposed 2009/2010 budget last week means that 800 employees may lose their jobs.

In September, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will adopt the fiscal year’s final budget.

Budget damage to District Attorney’s office lessened

There’s no doubt that the county’s budget crisis is resulting in dramatic cuts and layoffs. But when it comes to the District Attorney’s office, the budget situation has improved.

The D.A.’s office lowered its budget gap to $1.7 million from $13.1 million in May. The most recent numbers for the D.A.’s office are 18 possible layoffs and 45 unfunded positions, said Shelly Orio, spokeswoman for the D.A.’s office.

The recent figures may change because the county is still negotiating with four unions that represent employees in the D.A.’s office, Orio said. The D.A.’s office is also still waiting for clarification on some of the decisions made by the Board of Supervisors last week.

In May, Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully said she would have to cut major units, such as elder abuse and major narcotics, if she had to resolve a $13.1 million deficit.

“The good news is that no prosecution units will be completely eliminated,” Scully told the Board June 10.

See the D.A.’s June 10 presentation for more information on the office’s numbers.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

District Attorney: budget crisis means justice won't be served

2009-05-14T03:02:32Z

Elder abuse. Major narcotics. Community prosecution.

These are just a few of the key units in the county district attorney’s office that would be eliminated if the office has to make $13.1 million more in cuts to help balance the county’s budget.

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully gave the Board of Supervisors a dire outlook Wednesday of how the public would suffer from proposed cuts to the D.A.’s office.

The county’s most recent figure for its budget deficit is $180 million, said Kerri Aiello, a county public information officer.

“Rest assured, with these kind of cuts, if I have to close a $13.1 million gap, justice is not going to be served in this community,” Scully said.

The department would need to make 109 layoffs and remove entire units to fill the $13.1 million hole, she said.

Units that would be entirely removed include major narcotics, community prosecution, special investigation, statutory rape, elder abuse and child abduction.

Scully said other units that would not be eliminated but have already been cut or will be cut include homicides, gangs, domestic violence, adult sexual assault, victim witness advocates, juvenile hall, and special assault and child abuse.

“It’s not a pretty picture,” Scully said.

She explained that the D.A.’s child abduction unit prosecutes cases in which a non-custodial parent violates the law by taking a child from the custodial parent. The proposed budget cuts mean that those particular child abduction cases “likely would not be prosecuted,” Scully said.

She told the county supervisors that serious or violent cases under the major narcotics unit would still be prosecuted by the D.A.’s office. However, she noted that cases involving major narcotics would be folded into a “general felony” category. This means that a major narcotics case “now becomes one case in a caseload of a smorgasbord of crimes,” she said.

Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan asked Scully if she has reason to believe the D.A.’s office would receive federal stimulus funding.

Scully said the office has applied for $10 million in federal stimulus dollars. However, she explained outside the meeting that the she didn’t think it was likely the office would be awarded the entire amount for which it applied. She said the stimulus funds were “too uncertain.”

Two more workshops on the county’s budget crisis will be held this week at the Board of Supervisor’s chambers at 700 H St. Workshops on both Thursday, May 14, and Friday, May 15, will begin at 9:30 a.m.

Here’s a breakdown from Scully on the 109 layoffs:
46 attorneys

18 investigators
6 victim advocates
12 investigative staff
3 criminalists
24 support staffers