Local
Leggett urged to consider cutbacks
By: Kathleen Miller
Examiner Staff Writer
December 21, 2008
County Executive Ike Leggett should consider voluntary layoffs, unpaid leave and re-evaluating automatic pay increases for county workers, the Montgomery councilwoman in charge of financial matters said in a memo last week.
Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg urged chief administrative officer Tim Firestine to consider “emergency triage” options for Montgomery County’s estimated $500 million budget shortfall.
“It’s pretty clear we can’t take a Band-Aid approach here,” Trachtenberg said. “Clearly part of what we have to do is reduce the work force. The amount of staffing we have is not sustainable. We want to save jobs as much as we can, so given a natural situation where people retire, why not encourage that more?”
Trachtenberg’s voluntary layoffs would involve workers taking leave for six months and drawing unemployment benefits, while the county continued to provide heath insurance for them, as a bridge to retirement. She said she hoped that and other cost-savings measures would enable the county to continue to help its growing needy population, despite shrinking revenues.
Gino Renne, head of the labor union that represents 8,000 Montgomery County workers, called the idea of voluntary layoffs a “nonstarter” that would have “terrible implications on pension credits.”
Meanwhile, Montgomery County workers received a sobering reminder last week that mandatory, unpaid leave is still on the table this year, as far as County Executive Ike Leggett sees it.
In September, Leggett announced the county may give its work force two days or more of unpaid, and unexpected time off from work. Leggett said at the time that he wanted to hold off on any decisions until he had a better sense of the county’s economic situation.
“In the near future, I will inform you whether furlough days are necessary for this current year,” Leggett wrote in a letter that was e-mailed to employees Thursday evening.
Renne strongly objected to the letter, saying Leggett is contractually obligated to contact him before “revisiting the issue of furloughs.” He said he was filing a formal complaint with the county’s labor relations administrator.
“He’s supposed to talk to us before communicating decisions like that,” Renne said. “He’s allegedly a lawyer but he didn’t read his own agreement.”
Leggett’s spokesman Patrick Lacefield said, “The county executive certainly has a right to keep employees up to date on budget situations.”
“We’ve never said furloughs were off the table,” Lacefield said. “How could you say that with a $500 million gap?”
Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg urged chief administrative officer Tim Firestine to consider “emergency triage” options for Montgomery County’s estimated $500 million budget shortfall.
“It’s pretty clear we can’t take a Band-Aid approach here,” Trachtenberg said. “Clearly part of what we have to do is reduce the work force. The amount of staffing we have is not sustainable. We want to save jobs as much as we can, so given a natural situation where people retire, why not encourage that more?”
Trachtenberg’s voluntary layoffs would involve workers taking leave for six months and drawing unemployment benefits, while the county continued to provide heath insurance for them, as a bridge to retirement. She said she hoped that and other cost-savings measures would enable the county to continue to help its growing needy population, despite shrinking revenues.
Gino Renne, head of the labor union that represents 8,000 Montgomery County workers, called the idea of voluntary layoffs a “nonstarter” that would have “terrible implications on pension credits.”
Meanwhile, Montgomery County workers received a sobering reminder last week that mandatory, unpaid leave is still on the table this year, as far as County Executive Ike Leggett sees it.
In September, Leggett announced the county may give its work force two days or more of unpaid, and unexpected time off from work. Leggett said at the time that he wanted to hold off on any decisions until he had a better sense of the county’s economic situation.
“In the near future, I will inform you whether furlough days are necessary for this current year,” Leggett wrote in a letter that was e-mailed to employees Thursday evening.
Renne strongly objected to the letter, saying Leggett is contractually obligated to contact him before “revisiting the issue of furloughs.” He said he was filing a formal complaint with the county’s labor relations administrator.
“He’s supposed to talk to us before communicating decisions like that,” Renne said. “He’s allegedly a lawyer but he didn’t read his own agreement.”
Leggett’s spokesman Patrick Lacefield said, “The county executive certainly has a right to keep employees up to date on budget situations.”
“We’ve never said furloughs were off the table,” Lacefield said. “How could you say that with a $500 million gap?”
More from Kathleen Miller
- MoCo police will review handling of assistant fire chief’s crash
- Atheists get day in court over effort to ban God from inauguration ceremony
- Leggett wants new Rockville jail, council chief calls too pricey
- Opposing groups probe immigration policies in Md.
- Md.’s River Road reopens after water main break
