Amid Layoff Threat, City Fills Jobs

What is wrong with hiring people who we need and lay-people off who we don't?

If Destefano is not running an efficient and effective government then the voters should deal with that on election day. But lay-offs of some have nothing to do with hiring of others.

This is an example AGAIN where Mayor DeStefano and the department heads are not taking the financial crisis seriously. The city should only be adding critically needed employees. Period. The department heads should have to certify it's a critical hire and the request should have to be approved by the budget office as a control. This was clear during the budget process and it's even more clear now.

If they are unwilling or incapable of doing that, then the finance committee should reign it in and make an adjustment to the budgets NOW. There is an $8 million gap today. It's not getting smaller.

The mayor keeps painting a grim picture next and future years. Is he truthful or doing that lip service thing? How do you take him seriously? Why should taxpayers take him seriously if he doesn't take a budget crisis of his own making seriously?

thanks johnny boy....yet you continue to fault/blame the cops and firefighters for the city's financial woes,....perhaps a hiring freeze,...???? hmmm,..there's a thought..!!!

A union leader's job is to protect their membership. I respect that, and they would not be doing their job if they weren't forceful advocates for the people who currently are members.

As a manager, my job is different. I view my job as having a duty to treat employees fairly as any employer has a responsibility to do (and not use some other employers' callousness as an excuse to do less than should be done), but mainly it is to 1) provide services effectively to residents, and 2) provide them as cost-efficiently as possible to taxpayers.

The truth is that sometimes the jobs that are needed to effectively and cost-efficiently provide services do not completely match the jobs that are currently filled. It is awful to contemplate on a human level, but it is possible that our duty to residents and taxpayers might require some jobs to be filled at the same time other jobs are being eliminated through lay-offs. Our duty as managers (and humans) is to avoid that where possible, but the jobs that need to exist in the city workforce must be dictated by operational need and not by which ones are currently vacant due to quirks of who retired when.

To give an example: we had a death and a termination in the 911 Center recently. I make no apologies filling a 911 Operator position even as lay-offs might happen because there is an operational need to have enough people to take our 911 calls. I am working on possible regionalization or other changes to the 911 Center to save money, as is my duty to residents and tax-payers - but those changes are at least a year down the road. In the meantime, if another vacancy occurs in the 911 Center, it will be filled no matter whether we are laying off people elsewhere or not.

Managers absolutely need to really think whether the position-that-became-vacant's work is absolutely needed; if it is whether its work can be done by a less-expensive position; any way of reorganizing to do the work with existing personnel; etc. But none of that changes the reality that operational needs of the City might mean that positions get filled at the same time lay-offs are being contemplated or being done in other positions.

• Rob Smuts
  Chief Administrative Officer

@Rob Smuts:

You lay out a argument that on its face sounds reasonable, but really, will the city not survive if we didn't hire:

a full-time librarian at $61,419 per year
a full-time bilingual processing clerk in vital statistics at $35,351 per year
a Librarian I, minimum salary $38,169
Supervising Librarian, minimum salary $50,594
Library Technical Assistant, minimum salary $40,642
Project Manager, Livable City Initiative, Economic Development, minimum salary $46,123
Maternal & Child Health Outreach Worker, minimum salary $35,351
Legal Executive Secretary in Economic Development, minimum salary $41,844
Youth @ Work Manger, minimum salary $41,844

Come on, cut out the nonsense and stop hiring just because you can.

Thank you for the response Rob.
But with that said. why not hire within, and then eliminate a lesser need position? I just think for instance the Project manager in LCI can be filled by someone already there and you can eliminate a lesser position. Killing two birds with one stone.

I do understand your explanation.... but understand when we things like the BOE story are happening..if is disheartening.
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/4_administrators_moving_on/

Cops getting paid more than what they make when the retire...and you know the whole list.
It gets your blood hot. It is hard to see the light through the trees if all we see is more spending. It is hard to believe hard choices will really be made, when we keep hearing about the spending. Words are great...but actions seem to contradict them.

But time will tell, it is hard to trust this administration right now due to it's history of spending...but the economic state of the city has given little choice to not change things...we just fear that this and recent news says that the irresponsible spending is continuing.

I personally would LOVE for you guys to prove me wrong and stand by the taxpayers for the first time...we are so broke, and broken.

Please don't try to snoozle me! Even if some were special funded employees being hired, do those employees not get the same medical benefits you want changed? Why do you continue to hire when you state the medical benefits are killing the taxpayers. When a job is posted and it states upon funding availability. Well guess what mayor, there is no availability of funds for anymore new medical benefits being added for new employees. Your managers will continue to hire until you say no Mr.Mayor. But you won't because you can't get your spending under control.
And why are you stating that you have the same concern as the unions do about more hiring? Are you just the mayor when you beat up on the unions? You are not in charge when your high paid administrators continue to hire?
And whats with the project manager in LCI? I asked someone from LCI about this position. They said there are 3 right now plus the deputy that oversees the 3. So,what ever happened to the concept you continue to bring forward about doing more with less mayor? Oh and how many projects is LCI building anyway that you need four project managers? And what qualifications do these project managers have anyway? Wouldn't it make sense to have building inspectors oversee these projects? Get rid of the project managers and let building oversee the few projects that LCI is doing? And let the deputy handle and oversee the money part of these projects. Again,how many projects is LCI doing anyway?
And lastly mayor, stop building new schools. We are in deep debt because of it and you are gearing up for Hill Central and East Rock. If we are broke, why do you continue to build mayor. The taxpayer has to pick up millions of that tab that the state does not reimburse. Not to mention that you have to meet a quota of so many students to fill these fancy schools that you can't meet.
Please mayor, stop trying to snoozle me and the rest of the taxpayers. Shame on you and please start looking for another job will you?

They always say if you want to know what's happening look at actions, don't listen to words. We're told the city's in a huge hole, that taxpayers will be gouged and that existing workers will be savaged - but the Mayor then hires four positions and posts for seven more!? Is it critical to fill all those jobs?? The primary way to deal with our budget troubles is attrition. Work with the existing force to meet the gaps that come up through collaboration not conflict. The Mayor says to look at the private sector as a guide. Private sector businesses in a similar position would not be making all these new hires. Period. It's an insult to taxpayers and to city workers.

@Smuts
The "callousness" that you mention comes from the fact that the private sector must address these choices while you and your boss simply continue to show ineptitude in correcting the crisis you helped create (and continually show that you have no idea how to extricate yourself, and more importantly, the taxpayers). The private sector can't gouge taxpayers and must offer good pricing or go out of business. We, "as humans", need food to live and you keep taking from our plates to pay for your folly.

You made two points about your responsibilities: one, services are somewhat delivered effectively, but your second point about "as cost efficiently as possible" has been an almost total failure. The same contracts that your boss is complaining about were all negotiated during his time in office. You can't have it both ways. You can't blame the unions for contracts that they collectively bargained with you and you were either too dumb or naïve and agreed with them and now you can't pay for them. You know, the ones where you agreed for little or no pay raises but back-ended the pensions with richer benefits. Things like that.

You use the example of a 911 operator to justify four hirings. Please post again and tell us the need for the other three and the total cost of the hires when health and pension benefits are included. No one disagrees that emergency services are paramount, but it gets tiresome hearing you and your boss keep repeating that if we don't do this there will be more crime, worse schools, etc…

If this year's deficit went up 25% to $11mm from $8mm, how is that $56mm looking now? More like $80mm? The idea that you can pull us out of the mess created by this administration is ridiculous. There will be no more money from the State or the feds bailing you out and you've run out of things to sell. Why don't you do the honorable thing and declare Chapter 9 before there is no city to save.

As a new police officer in New Haven, I get a little bent out of shape when the mayor sends a letter to all of us stating that times are tough, hard decisions have to be made, yada yada yada...basically implying lay-offs...yet he desperately needs to fill a librarian position?? I know PD is not well liked, but I hope to believe that I make a decent contribution to the community during my shift. Not to mention that I make 20 grand less, base-pay, than a full-time librarian.

I can't speak for Vital Statistics, which is not one of my departments, but Libraries is a great example to talk about.

Some background: in 2001 (when I started working for the City), the Libraries had 3 branches, 74 employees, a budget of $5,099,775 (in 2010 dollars) and an attendance of 463,828. 2010, the Libraries had 4 branches, 46 employees (including the two positions just filled and the vacancies being advertised), a budget of $3,803,489 and an attendance of 812,348. See: www.cityofnewhaven.com/ChiefAdministrator/pdf/NHFPL review.pdf

Three choices: 1) We could decide that we can't afford libraries anymore and close all the branches or even the whole system. 2) We could decide what level of libraries we can afford and set a dollar target knowing how that translates into hours and service delivery, and do what we need to hit the dual dollar and service targets. 3) We could let happenstance like who retires determine the amount we're spending and services we're providing. If all our library technical assistants and other specialized IT librarians retired, we could just decide to stop offering computer kiosks and focus on children's library services, for instance.

I think the second option is best and I have asked the new City Librarian to put together a budget for next year that includes a 5% cut in total costs over 2010, and asked him to figure out within that budget how to deliver maximum services. It's possible that we'll have to change that to 10% or the Board will pick 20% - but whatever the final number, I'll ask him to put together his plan, then give him the freedom to execute it. That will mean eliminating some positions and services, and possibly filling others. If the plan is to reduce all different types of programs on offer by the library by the same amount but two branch managers retire and no child librarians do, then we might do a promotional test for one branch manager spot and whatever other moves so we end up with one fewer position in both categories instead of two fewer in one and no change in the other.

When we can do what I described above by moving people around, we will. Sometimes a person in one job just cannot do a different, more necessary job, however. We might end up having to do a lay-off and a new hire in that case. That type of planning is not a "mixed message" - it's governance to provide effective, cost-efficient services. A blanket hiring freeze is downright irresponsible no matter how dire the financial situation is - one job is not the same as another, and unless we're going all the way to zero, some jobs will be more important than others and their importance is not determined by whether the last person to hold it decided to retire or is still working.

• Rob Smuts
  Chief Administrative Officer

Rob, Thank you for the transparency and the thought process on the libraries. Your logic makes sense to me.

Why not open up the same thought transparency with the Fire, Police, Teachers, and BOE Administrators as you just did for libraries?

An open assessment of cost and benefit is called for.

Libraries say a lot about a city's human priorities but financially they are a rounding error when compared to the "big three".

Mr. Smuts, I appreciate you taking time to respond here. Can you respond to blue dog dem's argument regarding pension benefits given to police and fire departments? Outside lawyers were hired by the city to negotiate their contracts. It is hard to believe this was the best they could do and worse the city agreed to it. Did the city really believe the astronomical returns the pensions funds were producing would last forever?

AND THIS MAYOR GOES AFTER THE LITTLE GUYS. I HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR THE BOE FOR 13 YEARS AND I MAKE 16,000 A YEAR. TRY LIVING ON THAT.

@Smuts

You must be pretty good at 3 card monte, because you keep deflecting from the point at hand. The reason that the libraries are underfunded is because of your administration's budget cuts, and for no other reason. Your second post sounds like you inherited a problem instead of being the source of it.

Our taxes have increased almost every year, so it is not the taxpayers' fault that the libraries are underfunded and understaffed. If you hadn't approved terrible union contracts, built or remodeled almost every school in town and had a top-heavy school administration sucking funds for salaries and benefits from our limited tax dollars, the libraries and other services probably wouldn't be in such dire straits. I suppose it's the tax payers fault that the pension is underfunded too.

I'm still waiting for you to respond to the questions posed as opposed to answers to questions from a straw man.

I am shocked by Mr Smuts 2 postings. I have 2 comments.

an eerie parallel between Detroit now and New Haven in the near future?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959104576081783880635012.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_opinion

I appreciate the stand-up way that Rob Smuts is answering the questions people have and responding in a forthright manner. However, I still feel strongly that of all the bad options facing the city, attrition is the least painful and makes the most sense. Determine which functions are the most crucial and organize and train, if necessary, existing staff to meet those duties. I cannot believe that with all the folks presently working for the city with all the skills they possess that all these new hires were necessary. And it's crushing the spirit of taxpayers and the existing city work force. When you have a leaky faucet, before cleaning up the mess, the first thing you have to do is stop the leak. You don't increase the spigot flow.

Mr.Smuts although I find you one of the more gentler souls in city hall I still think you need to understand that the moral of all workers could not be lower. Please stop posting on the NHI and Please get back to work.
Mayor, get your staff under control while on taxpayer time.
Thank you.

Rob "I like our chances on appeal" Smutts. This was his response I believe, quoted in the Register, subsequent to the City loosing yet another lawsuit.

Which one I can't remember- Casper Vallero the public works employee who successfully sued for age/discrimination after being passed over for a promotion. $500,000.00 awarded to him!!!

or was it Tolnay the police officer who successfully sued for retaliation by the mayor because he rightfully arrested 2 politically connected Fair Haven ministers for disturbance. 1 Million dollars!!

Or maybe the Firefighters lawsuit which the Supreme Court decided in the Firefighters favor!!

How much of the deficit is due to the lawsuits against the City? Don't give me that self insured crap. The Tolnay award went over the limit. What is the total the City pays to all the outside law firms hired to defend it?

Guy Noir you make a point right on target! Haven't even given thought to those law suits being part of the deficit, but ofcourse all have contributed. And looks like no matter what council we use, we loose. Frightening for myself and all other taxpayers.

Guy noir,
Good question. Many of the city's staffing prosses are made because of the fair of being sued. But all this is an argument for more privitzation and temp hires in positions and departments it can be done, which would remove liability.

Not sure that is were we want things to go.

It is about NO new hires, consolidating departments, people having their job descriptions changed and having to take on more, health and penion give backs, furl days, and yes PD should not be a 9 to 5 job. High crime times are 3pm to1am. More officer should be on that shift not the day shift.
FD new hires should be paramedics only with hospital transportation ability. Or the FD staff needs to be cut and all roses calls should go directly to ambulance companies.
Both department have to have drastic changes to there contracts.

But sadly as we see with the recent BOE contract jack crap will happen because the city dept heads are not able to make real change.

posted by: blue dog dem on January 14, 2011 11:35pm
an eerie parallel between Detroit now and New Haven in the near future?

This is the real parallel.Not the unions.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118047548069017647.html


http://www.tax.com/taxcom/taxblog.nsf/Permalink/UBEN-8AGMUZ?OpenDocument

do we really need:
3000 Outdoor Adventure Coordinator $69,533

what the heck does this person do in the dead of winter? sit by a phone and wait to escort families on outside adventures in new haven?

Web Designer $66,252

do the City website really change that much in real time that it requires this?

http://www.recol.com/About/

recol takes care of the site anyway.

@ 3/5s

I should have been clearer. I'm pro-union. The article posted was my fear that the city, after wasting millions on remodeling might not be able to sell some of the unneeded schools and abandon them like Detroit is contemplating. It wouldn't surprise me at all since it is apparent that the administration doesn't have a clue and continues to sell off all of our assets.

NHCop,

luckily you are 20 gs less on the base pay as you probably make 100gs more on BS overtime that cops very recently used to up their pensions.

Talk about getting what you can get from the system.

Also re the almighty importance of firemen and cops:

how often are the firemen there BEFORE the fire breaks out? and how often are the cops there BEFORE the kid gets shot?

Cops and firemen are overpaid janitors.

Anyone who knows the City Hall scene right now knows that nothing happens there without the Mayor's say-so. He controls absolutely everything. I'm sure Smuts responded here because the Mayor told him to. At this point in his career, the Mayor rules with an iron hand and punishes those who don't follow his command, or who even offer minor dissent. Morale in City Hall is desperately low, and fear is thick. We'll see if the Mayor gets a vote of confidence this November.

To Swatty--
Why don't you use that crystal ball that foresees fires and shootings to play the next winning powerball. And did you ever think that to make the hundreds of thousands of dollars that you think we all make, we have to sacrifice time with our friends and families.. Oh, I almost forgot...the next time your house is on fire, and your loved ones are inside screaming for help, I'm sure your more than capable of pulling them to safety and put the flames out yourself...

NHcop,

NHcop,

Your tack is exactly as expected. Cops and fire fighters always threaten their citizens with shooting rampages and blazing houses with screaming babies inside with it's contract time.

Swatty--

I'm not threatening anything. I just assumed, by your comments, that services provided to you by PD and FD were not needed because you can clearly handle them yourself. ...

David Stead,

Ultimately something has to give. I want my city officials to make hard choices. The unions leverage from positions of fear.

Tell me not what I owe you, but tell me why you deserve a job! And I'm not talking about David Stead. I'm talking about every city employee.

We can't afford all of you any longer at the going rate. Take a cut somewhere or someone is out pounding the pavement. And I for one am for keeping people employed with lowering benefits.

But I'm the kind of person who doesn't think smokers should be able to afford health care: it should be that heavy of a fine to be so stupid in society.

Please by all means smoke - if you think you can afford it!

No wonder why most city employees refuse to live in kingdom DeStefano has built. I am a city employee and refuse to live in the crisis DeStefano has created. How and why do the citizens of this could be great city vote for this disappointment! New Haven was ranked the 18th worst city in the country base on population to crime ratio! Thanks to his lack of governing what do you think will be the major budget cuts? I'll tell you police and fire departments. If you think 18th is bad you have another thing coming. My guess is we will be top ten by 2012. Do you think Yale Universty will list that in there brochures? Come to new haven where crime flourishes and finaces dwindle.