Sacramento Police and union officials warned Thursday a spike in crime is expected if 81 cops are laid off when the City Council approves a budget. Police officers – angered over the likelihood that dozens of them are about to lose their jobs – are vowing to take action come election time, said detective Mark Tyndale, vice president of the local police union, the Sacramento Police Officers Association. On Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council tentatively voted to make deep budget cuts that would include slashing $12.2 million from the police department's budget and laying off 81 sworn officers and 68 civilian police employees. If the council approves the 2011/2012 budget with a final vote

The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision Tuesday night to make severe budget cuts to public safety is not final, but it made a big statement. Council members voted 6-3 to say they intend to make budget cuts later this month that include layoffs of 82 sworn cops and increases in brownouts or alternating closures for fire services. A big caveat to the tentative decision is the council’s statement that it is still open to further negotiations with the city’s public safety unions. Tuesday’s hearing drew intense public interest. Many people arrived more than an hour early to the 6 p.m. meeting. Shortly before 5 p.m., about 70 people waited in line for the doors at City Hall to open.

Sacramento City Council members began discussions Tuesday on the city manager’s recommendation to cut as many as 366 jobs in the budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. One city union protested the proposed layoffs at City Hall before the City Council meeting, and representatives from two other unions expressed their opposition to the cuts during the meeting. City officials presented the budget recommendations from the city manager’s office at Tuesday’s meeting and summarized the budget document. As part of the meeting, Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka explained a chart on the job cuts recommended by the city manager’s office. The city would need to slice 250 full-time positions

More than 350 jobs, including those of 80 sworn police officers, could be cut to balance the city’s budget, Interim City Manager Bill Edgar said Friday. The city manager’s office released recommendations Friday on how to resolve a $39 million budget gap. The proposal released by the city is not set in stone: The City Council is responsible for making final budget decisions. “This is the budget that everyone has dreaded,” Edgar said. “(This is) the budget where the chickens come home to roost.” The city manager’s office proposes cutting 294 positions. In addition, Edgar said he is recommending that the City Council cut about 60 more positions to privatize maintenance of city golf courses

The clock is ticking for the Sacramento City Council. Sacramento Interim City Manager Gus Vina’s resignation on Friday morning means that the City Council must take immediate actions that will impact the city budget and labor negotiations with municipal unions.  Council members must find a new top city official one month before the city’s proposed budget is due. Vina’s resignation also means that the city’s labor unions will take up budget negotiations with a new city leader. “We don’t have time to grieve,” City Councilman Steve Cohn said in an interview Friday. Cohn was one of four council members who supported Vina’s earlier effort to become Sacramento’s next permanent city manager.

The Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday to hire an outside contractor for tree pruning and removal work despite opposition from a major city union, Stationary Engineers Local 39. Council members voted 7-2 to pay up to $3.7 million to Roseville-based Jensen Tree Service, Inc., for a contract that could span five years. The contract has a one-year guarantee of work – after that, the city manager will decide each year over the following four years whether to continue the contract, according to Craig Lymus, the city’s acting procurement manager. A representative for Local 39, which represents urban forestry workers, among many other groups of city employees, said the work that Jensen Tree

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

New budget cuts will cause the city’s popular 311 call service to shut down for all requests except emergencies for two Fridays per month, according to city officials. The budget cuts result from the new contract for union employees represented by Stationary Engineers Local 39. As part of the union’s deal with the city, each member of Local 39 must take 88 hours of furlough time in the 2010/2011 fiscal year, and 96 furlough hours in the following fiscal year. Some of the union’s members work for 311, and they will be on furlough the two Fridays each month, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams.  The call center’s new schedule with furloughs starts Sept. 17. “We are unfortunately as

The Sacramento City Council approved a two-year labor contract with city union Stationary Engineers Local 39 that saved about 80 positions. Since the city came up about $1.2 million short in its negotiations with Local 39, council members decided Tuesday night to move that amount from a parking fund to the general fund. The city’s transportation department spokeswoman, Linda Tucker, explained in an e-mail last week that the city’s parking fund is designed to pay for new parking garages. “Given the downturn in development and no urgent need to build new garages, we are using about $1.2 million one-time dollars from the fund to cover the gap between what the city expected to receive in wag

At least 80 city employee jobs were saved after the members of the city union Stationary Engineers Local 39 approved a contract with city officials. City employees passed the contract earlier this month, according to an Aug. 23 e-mail that Interim City Manager Gus Vina sent to city staff and the City Council. Local 39 leaders and city officials negotiated a deal Aug. 6, but the union’s members had not voted on the contract at that time. The union represents 1,600 full-time city workers, according to Joan Bryant, director of public employees for Local 39. These city employees hold jobs in several areas that include code enforcement, animal care and the solid waste division. The contract

While the city and Stationary Engineers Local 39 saved 80 jobs with an agreement Friday, the city laid off 11 workers represented by the local plumbers’ union. The city did not find common ground with Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447 by Friday, the city’s deadline for layoffs. Harry Rotz, business manager for Local 447, did not return phone messages earlier this week. No one answered the phone at 4:45 p.m. Friday at the union’s office. Interim City Manager Gus Vina said the city would continue to negotiate with Local 447. “There’s 80 people in the city of Sacramento that were packing up and were planning on going home to tell their son or daughter — their family members — that they’

“Chop at the top!” That was the chant echoed by approximately 150 employees of the City of Sacramento, all members of Local 39, as they picketed outside City Hall Plaza. “Our members are very, very upset,” said Joan Bryant, Director of Public Employees for Local 39. “This is the fifth round of layoffs we’ve had in our bargaining units. We had about 121 of our members who recently received layoff notices, and our members are upset about it." “I’m here to show my support,” said David Worlds, an employee with the Department of Transportation, recently transferred from the Department of Parks and Recreation. “I think it’s important that we show up and if nothing else let people know that it

"We are here today because our Local Union 39 is not listening about letting us have a voice on what labor concessions we'll take to save people's jobs," says Leslie Garner, City of Sacramento employee. "Our voices are not being heard by our union."    According to a statement made by Stationary Engineers - Local 39: "The citizens of Sacramento deserve a city that is a 'Full Service City.' We treasure our parks, our libraries, the quality of our drinking water, and our canopy of trees. Like other local government agencies acoss the country, the City of Sacramento is facing significant budget challenges. And unfortunately, the City Manager is proposing drastic cuts to the workers who

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

 With the city budget and Mayor Kevin Johnson’s updated strong mayor proposal on the City Council’s agenda, the public is likely to see political fireworks at two meetings Tuesday. During the first meeting, at 915 I St. at 2 p.m. the City Council will discuss key issues related to the city’s budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The city must settle a $43 million budget gap. Council members will consider whether to scale back proposed cuts to the city’s fire, parks and police departments. Read the report on some of the planned budget cuts here.  Another issue on the council’s afternoon agenda is the Utilities Department budget. Find information on that budget here.  The City Council wi

Claims that the city’s development department did not retrieve fees from developers in recent years have raised questions of whether some of last year’s layoffs could have been avoided. At one point last year, the city had a $50 million budget gap. The Community Development Department was hit with 27 of the city’s 102 layoffs, according to economic development spokesman Maurice Chaney. Sacramento is now struggling with a $35 million-$40 million budget hole for the 2010/2011 fiscal year. A third-party auditor will investigate claims that the development department waived, undercharged, deferred or did not retrieve development fees, City Auditor Jorge Oseguera said. In a phone interview

For about 180 city employees and roughly 790 county employees, Thursday was the last day of work. The city layoffs are part of the budget cuts the city approved when it passed its budget last month. When it passed its budget, city officials closed a $50 million deficit. County layoffs came with the Board of Supervisors’ approval of its proposed budget last month. The county government had faced a $180 million deficit. For its final budget in September, the Board must still close out a $19 million budget gap in the state-mandated programs the county administers, according to Linda Foster-Hall, the county budget officer. Some of the city’s unions made concessions to city managers in retur

 A total of 68 firefighters are scheduled to be laid off during the first week of July, assistant city manager Gus Vina said on Tuesday. Mayor Kevin Johnson told reporters Tuesday that the Sacramento City Council did not accept the latest tentative deal with Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522. Since the firefighters and city managers did not reach a labor agreement, the city plans to go through with its plan to lay off 68 firefighters. The firefighter layoffs are part of the city's budget cuts. "This is a setback, but the world doesn't stop here," Johnson told reporters Tuesday night. The city also did not arrive at a deal with Stationary Engineers Local 39, according to Vina. This

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 layo

A group of residents is continuing a campaign against proposed budget cuts to local parks after city staffers this week did not support the group’s proposals. The group, called Rescue Sacramento Parks, has pitched the City Council several proposals to sustain parks services as the city addresses its projected $50 million deficit for the 2009/2010 fiscal year. Among many other proposed budget cuts, the city is proposing to slash about $8.3 million and 145 positions from its Department of Parks and Recreation. Rescue Sacramento Parks is worried the proposed cuts to parks will lead to blight and public health and safety problems. Craig Powell, the group’s chairman, said some of the group’s