Tampa Cuts Jobs Of 121 Employees

By ELLEN GEDALIUS The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jun 29, 2007

TAMPA - Mayor Pam Iorio laid off 121 city workers Thursday and eliminated an additional 115 vacant, full-time positions.

"All of these employees have been good employees," Iorio said during a packed press conference at City Hall to announce the layoffs. "It was obviously a very painful process to go through and tell people they will no longer be employed with the city of Tampa."

The parks department was hit particularly hard: 21 people were laid off, and 45 full-time positions were eliminated. An additional 131 part-time and seasonal parks and recreation positions were eliminated.

Some pools will close over the winter, and cuts are planned for other programs.

The layoffs come a few weeks after the state Legislature approved changes to the property tax structure that will have a big impact on local government.

The city was expecting about $180 million from property taxes this year, but now is expecting about $158 million. All totaled, the city has to find a way to trim between $20 million and $22 million from the budget.

The layoffs and cut positions should result in about $15 million in savings, leaving the mayor to find another $5 million to $7 million in cuts.

Roughly 80 percent, or $267 million, of the city's general fund is spent on personnel, meaning layoffs were inevitable.

"These cuts were across the board," Iorio said. "We will be operating in the future with much less revenue."

First Responders Spared

City employees were on edge Thursday in anticipation of Iorio's announcement.

Workers asked each other whether they had heard anything about the layoffs. Signs on cubicles in the human resources department told passers-by not to disturb. Conference room doors were shut.

The police department sent over extra officers as a precaution.

By 3 p.m., nearly all affected employees had been told their fates, and Iorio held a news conference.

She kept cuts to the police and fire departments to a minimum.

From the police department, she eliminated 34 civilian positions and 13 sworn positions. No street-level police officers were laid off, although the department's administrative division was eliminated. The major in that division is eligible for retirement, Chief Stephen Hogue said.

The greatest impact is to the crime prevention bureau. Eight officers will transfer from their desk jobs to patrol.

"The main mission of the police department, which is to reduce crime, will not be affected in any way," Hogue said.

The changes in the police department will save the city about $2.6 million.

No firefighters were laid off, but 14 administrative positions were eliminated, saving the city about $900,000.

"There will be no impact on the emergency response to the city of Tampa," Chief Dennis Jones said.

No top administrators or department directors were laid off, although the community affairs director position formerly occupied by the retiring Fred Hearns is being cut.

Four deputy director positions were eliminated. Two people were laid off, including code enforcement deputy Bill Doherty, and two were reassigned.

Six managerial positions were cut. Among those laid off were Creative Industries Manager Paul Wilborn and Historic Preservation Manager Del Acosta. Wilborn made about $103,000 annually; Acosta made about $85,000.

None of the half dozen employees in the mayor's office will be laid off. One position was cut, though it has been vacant for months.

"We run a pretty busy office," Iorio said. "I in no way think we are an overstaffed mayor's office."

No Severance Pay

A complete list of employees affected might not be available for another week or so because of a provision in the union contracts referred to as "bumping." If, for example, someone's position was eliminated but that person previously held a subordinate position in the same department, that person can move to the lower position, take a salary cut and bump the person holding the lower position.

Besides bumping, some departments are being reorganized, resulting in layoffs.

As the result of a reshuffling in the public works department, transportation manager Roy LaMotte is without a job. He is being encouraged to apply for other positions, though he said late Thursday that he didn't know if he would.

"I understand the circumstances - they're trying to balance the budgets," LaMotte said. "But I need to take my personal life into consideration."

He has a wife and three children, including two in college. He has been the go-to guy for neighborhood activists requesting stop signs, traffic lights and other transportation fixes. His salary was about $109,000.

Brian Thompson and James Glaynor each have worked for the city as surveyors for a few years. Both were told Thursday their jobs had been cut.

They lashed out at Iorio, complaining about a $15,000 raise approved last year for the mayor.

"The mayor made a comment she didn't want to give back her $15,000 raise," Thompson said. "She's spending all of this money on the Riverwalk and the Tampa Museum of Art and stepping on the little guys."

Glaynor was equally devastated.

"I don't think it was handled right at all," he said. "My evaluation was good, everything was going good. I don't know what I'm going to do. I have 89 days to figure it out."

Employees can continue working for the city for 90 days from the day they were told about the layoffs. Severance packages were not offered.

Bernardo Menendez, vice president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said he heard that some employees weren't told of their layoffs individually but in group settings.

"That's wrong," Menendez said. "I'm dissatisfied by the way it was handled."

Overall, the city has about 4,700 employees. Iorio has added 175 positions since she took office in 2003.

Iorio said she doesn't plan more layoffs this year.

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.