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Officials seek to avoid layoffs as deficit looms
Youngstown
The threat of layoffs loomed over Monday night’s city council meeting as council members and city administrators discussed options for reducing a $2.5 million to $3 million deficit facing the city next year.
Concerned city employees from several departments lined the council meeting room to listen to Finance Director David Bozanich outline a number of avenues the administration could take to reduce its deficit without cutting jobs.
The discussion on the uncertain future of some city positions came just days after it was revealed that Mayor John A. McNally promoted four law department employees and increased their wages, giving three of them more than a 10 percent raise.
Bozanich said earlier this month that if jobs were cut, eliminating positions in the police, fire, courts, park, street and health departments would yield the highest savings for the city.
During Tuesday’s meeting, however, 4th Ward Councilman Mike Ray said that if the city had to cut employees, the decision on which jobs to cut would be “fair and balanced” and wouldn’t focus solely on savings.
Fifth Ward Councilwoman Lauren McNally expressed some frustration during the meeting, saying she had hoped Bozanich would have had more concrete numbers and a less abstract plan for tackling the city’s financial woes. She pointed out that the council had met before with Bozanich and that many of the same suggestions were made during those meetings.
“We’ve gone over the same information three times,” she said. “These meetings should be progressive and should build on each other.”
Ultimately, Bozanich said all he could offer were suggestions and any concrete plans would have to wait until the beginning of Mayor-elect Jamael Tito Brown’s administration. Brown has said his administration would consider all avenues for combating the deficit, with layoffs being considered only as a final option.
Bozanich said the city would first rely on savings through employee attrition, where workers retire or leave the city’s employ after which their positions are eliminated. He said the city loses 10 employees a year through attrition, but even with a total of 20 employees lost between this year and next, Bozanich estimated another 20 jobs would need to be eliminated to cover the deficit.
In addition to workforce downsizing, Bozanich also suggested the city consider selling off its “nonrelevant” assets. He argued that past asset sales – such as the city’s decision to sell Lake Milton and to give up operational control of the then-named Youngstown Municipal Airport to Mahoning and Trumbull counties – were successful at saving the city money while limiting the direct impact on residents.
Included in the list of potential assets the city could sell is 20 Federal Place downtown.
Second Ward Councilman T.J. Rodgers assured the city employees that it was the council’s and the administration’s goal to avoid layoffs unless absolutely necessary.