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Youngstown mayor seeks unions' help
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Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams
The mayor will continue to meet with union officials.
YOUNGSTOWN — Mayor Jay Williams asked city employee union officials to find ways to significantly cut spending, including salary and benefit concessions, by May 1 to avoid or reduce layoffs.
Williams met for two hours Tuesday behind closed doors with officials from the city’s eight unions to discuss the city’s financial problems, including a projected deficit of more than $3 million by Dec. 31 if cuts aren’t made.
The city administration is proposing the elimination of 60 jobs, possibly more, and/or making significant cuts in expenses, primarily salaries and employee benefits, to reduce the number of potential layoffs with a July 1 deadline. Eliminating 60 jobs would save the city about $3.9 million annually.
After the meeting, Williams said the unions were asked to come up with scenarios that include concessions in salary and/or benefits between this July 1 and Dec. 31, 2010, to significantly reduce or eliminate the number of proposed layoffs.
The city administration is doing the same, but Williams said he’d prefer for the employees to propose the cuts and offer ways to save money because it’s their jobs.
If the cuts are deep enough, the city would make sure there is job stability “barring a financial collapse” for city workers through the end of 2010, Williams said.
Williams wants the proposed cuts finalized by May 1, and plans to meet with union officials as many times as needed to accomplish that goal. Williams said that if a lot of progress is made by May 1, he’d extend that date for final discussions.
“The employees of the city of Youngstown, including myself, have to make sacrifices,” he said. “... If there are layoffs it’s because collectively employees were unwilling or unable to” make cuts.
There is no way the city will ask its residents to approve an income tax increase, Williams said. City voters approved a 0.5-percent income tax increase in 2003, Williams said.
“We can reduce or avoid the layoffs and the deficit if we work as a collective unit,” he said. “We want to hear what the employees have to say. We’re asking for sacrifices across the board.”
David Cook, head of the city’s firefighters union, said that no specifics were discussed Tuesday but that he is interested in meeting again.
Kenneth Centorame, president of the city’s police ranking officers union, declined to comment except to say he will discuss the situation with his membership.
“We’re facing an economic decline, and it’s up to the employees to decide if we can come up with concessions,” Williams said. “Every dollar in concessions means less layoffs.”
skolnick@vindy.com