Dear ****,
Thank you for your email.
I, along with Councilmembers Crowley, Harris, Qualls, and Thomas, voted in June to cut $16 million from our City's Budget which saved jobs as well as delayed layoffs. We also asked the Administration to report back on the feasibility and any savings that could be reached by merging some City and County services, eliminating take-home cars, and other suggestions that you proposed.
I have been working very hard to prevent layoffs and will continue working to find other cost saving mechanisms, so that we do not have to layoff ANY employee.
Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a global economic crisis, and the City of Cincinnati is not the only entity in town (or in the country) looking at layoffs as a "last resort" way to fill budget deficits. Companies like the Enquirer have laid off 100, Smuckers 85, and Hamilton County just laid off dozens of Sheriff's Deputies, while Dayton was forced to layoff police as well. This is not an easy place for us to be in, but it is the reality.
In terms of cutting the Mayor or Councilmembers’ salary, those salaries are set by the Charter and an amendment could not be passed in time to save any positions in 2009. Furthermore, Mayoral and Council salaries have been frozen since 2005 resulting in a 9.4% reduction over the last four years (compared to other non-represented City Employees).
As I said before, I am currently looking at ways to prevent layoffs, and I am willing to work with any group, individual, or party who is willing to help provide solutions to solve this crisis. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me on this matter.
Sincerely,
Councilmember Y Laketa Cole
President Pro Tem
Meridian's response:
Dear Ms. Cole,
Thank you for your response. I, too, understand layoffs in the current economy and am very aware of the current crisis. I am an IT employee with ****** Bank, and once the integration of our bank with *** is complete, it is likely that I will be laid off, too.
My parents raised their first family during the Great Depression of the 1930's. As grandparents, my folks found themselves expecting another child after WWII, and I was raised as though the depression hadn't stopped. We thought long and hard about every expense -- is this a want or a need? Can we make/do this ourselves, or is a purchase necessary? If we have to purchase it, what is the lowest price we can find?
Cincinnati needs to think in a similar fashion. As my letter indicated, there are many things that the City of Cincinnati funds that are not necessary. This emergency requires prioritization of budget items, which has not been done. I would like to stress that those "nice-to-haves" need to be cut from the budget before Police and Fire layoffs are even considered. Such things include swimming pools, golf courses, take home cars, City employee cell phones, too-heavy administrative staff. Have you considered reducing recycling to bi-weekly? I'd be happy to hold my recycling for less frequent pickups. How about asking citizens to pay for trash pickup, as happens in many other local municipalities?
There are many, many more things that in this economy are luxuries for the City. No one of these things will prevent Police and Fire layoffs, but together they can contribute to significant reductions in the numbers.
Additionally, I would like to address the request for furloughs from union city employees. I have spoken to police officers about this issue, and I believe that furloughs are a real possibility, but only if officers have some idea of what those furloughs might buy them. With no information given about the effect of furloughs, I certainly wouldn't vote for them. Asking for that concession was premature, in that there were no concrete numbers about how many layoffs those furloughs would prevent.
I believe that if City Council gets their ducks in a row and gets the numbers put together in such a was that only NECESSITIES remain in the budget, then you'll all have a happier constituency and likely will also have more cooperation from union employees.
Thanks for listening,
Thank you for your email.
I, along with Councilmembers Crowley, Harris, Qualls, and Thomas, voted in June to cut $16 million from our City's Budget which saved jobs as well as delayed layoffs. We also asked the Administration to report back on the feasibility and any savings that could be reached by merging some City and County services, eliminating take-home cars, and other suggestions that you proposed.
I have been working very hard to prevent layoffs and will continue working to find other cost saving mechanisms, so that we do not have to layoff ANY employee.
Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a global economic crisis, and the City of Cincinnati is not the only entity in town (or in the country) looking at layoffs as a "last resort" way to fill budget deficits. Companies like the Enquirer have laid off 100, Smuckers 85, and Hamilton County just laid off dozens of Sheriff's Deputies, while Dayton was forced to layoff police as well. This is not an easy place for us to be in, but it is the reality.
In terms of cutting the Mayor or Councilmembers’ salary, those salaries are set by the Charter and an amendment could not be passed in time to save any positions in 2009. Furthermore, Mayoral and Council salaries have been frozen since 2005 resulting in a 9.4% reduction over the last four years (compared to other non-represented City Employees).
As I said before, I am currently looking at ways to prevent layoffs, and I am willing to work with any group, individual, or party who is willing to help provide solutions to solve this crisis. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me on this matter.
Sincerely,
Councilmember Y Laketa Cole
President Pro Tem
Meridian's response:
Dear Ms. Cole,
Thank you for your response. I, too, understand layoffs in the current economy and am very aware of the current crisis. I am an IT employee with ****** Bank, and once the integration of our bank with *** is complete, it is likely that I will be laid off, too.
My parents raised their first family during the Great Depression of the 1930's. As grandparents, my folks found themselves expecting another child after WWII, and I was raised as though the depression hadn't stopped. We thought long and hard about every expense -- is this a want or a need? Can we make/do this ourselves, or is a purchase necessary? If we have to purchase it, what is the lowest price we can find?
Cincinnati needs to think in a similar fashion. As my letter indicated, there are many things that the City of Cincinnati funds that are not necessary. This emergency requires prioritization of budget items, which has not been done. I would like to stress that those "nice-to-haves" need to be cut from the budget before Police and Fire layoffs are even considered. Such things include swimming pools, golf courses, take home cars, City employee cell phones, too-heavy administrative staff. Have you considered reducing recycling to bi-weekly? I'd be happy to hold my recycling for less frequent pickups. How about asking citizens to pay for trash pickup, as happens in many other local municipalities?
There are many, many more things that in this economy are luxuries for the City. No one of these things will prevent Police and Fire layoffs, but together they can contribute to significant reductions in the numbers.
Additionally, I would like to address the request for furloughs from union city employees. I have spoken to police officers about this issue, and I believe that furloughs are a real possibility, but only if officers have some idea of what those furloughs might buy them. With no information given about the effect of furloughs, I certainly wouldn't vote for them. Asking for that concession was premature, in that there were no concrete numbers about how many layoffs those furloughs would prevent.
I believe that if City Council gets their ducks in a row and gets the numbers put together in such a was that only NECESSITIES remain in the budget, then you'll all have a happier constituency and likely will also have more cooperation from union employees.
Thanks for listening,
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