{"id":10113,"date":"2011-06-16T07:35:53","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T15:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/?p=10113"},"modified":"2011-06-16T08:37:37","modified_gmt":"2011-06-16T16:37:37","slug":"riehl-world-city-fiddles-while-workers-burn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/?p=10113","title":{"rendered":"Riehl World: City Fiddles While Workers Burn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nero<\/a>At the June 7 city council meeting we learned the yearly rent for a plot in the community garden is slated for a 400 percent increase, from $60 to $250. After council member Farrah Douglas questioned the steep hike, Mayor Matt Hall observed it was only a monthly increase from $5 to $20. That reminded me of the life insurance ads on TV that boast of affordable premiums\u2014\u201cless than a dollar a day!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall\u2019s flippancy shows how far removed he is from those relying on social security alone for their monthly income. It also may explain his willingness to cut pay and benefits of city employees least able to afford them.<\/p>\n

Carlsbad\u2019s elected officials like to say the city has been able to dodge layoffs and deep cuts in services because of their careful planning and fiscal prudence. But a closer look reveals another side of the story.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s proposed budget for 2011\/2012 projects a $600,000 surplus, bringing the accumulated general fund balance up to $54 million, a whopping 47% of the $113 million budget. There\u2019s even room enough for another $1.4 million bailout of the golf course. Previous yearly million dollar subsidies since its opening have been in the form of loans. But now that it\u2019s clear the debt will never be repaid, and with hopes fading the course will ever pay for itself, it will now be a part of the regular operating budget, just like the city\u2019s other recreational facilities.<\/p>\n

Follow the jump for the rest of the story. . .The city boasts that no layoffs have been required during the recession. None are planned for next year. We can expect only a \u201cminimal\u201d reduction in city services, such as delays in street light replacements, road repairs and trimming trees on city property.<\/p>\n

City officials claim \u201csharing the pain\u201d have been the watchwords for budget cutting. But negotiations with the Carlsbad City Employees Association (CCEA) reveal the city\u2019s lowest paid workers will bear the brunt of it. The group represents 340 employees with a pay scale ranging from $30,000 to $80,000. The city\u2019s final one-year contract offer would result in a 7 percent cut in take-home pay, beginning July 1. That\u2019s because the city wants to shift its share of pension fund contributions to employees, who will also be slapped with a one year freeze in pay.<\/p>\n

Management employees, with a salary schedule ranging from $80,000 to $124,000, won\u2019t feel the pain. City Manager Lisa Hildabrand told CCEA members the city will continue to pay management personnel\u2019s 7 percent pension fund contribution and may give them a 2.5 percent pay increase, since they\u2019ve gone without raises for three years. She told the group the city is also planning to consider outsourcing, furloughs, and moving employees around as additional cost-saving measures.<\/p>\n

The CCEA met the city\u2019s final offer with a counter offer, asking that the increase in pension contributions be phased in at 3.5 percent a year over two years, beginning December 1. The association agreed to a one-year pay freeze and a reduction in retirement benefits for new hires from the current 3% at age 60 based on highest salary to 2% at 60 based on a three-year average.<\/p>\n

The city council will vote on the contract at its June 21 meeting. Council members need to explain why the city\u2019s lowest paid workers are being asked to bear the greatest burden in these hard times. <\/p>\n

Richard Riehl<\/em><\/strong> is a Carlsbad resident. Contact him at <\/em>fogcutter1@yahoo.com<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/theriehlworld.blogspot.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the June 7 city council meeting we learned the yearly rent for a plot in the community garden is slated for a 400 percent increase, from $60 to $250. After council member Farrah Douglas questioned the steep hike, Mayor Matt Hall observed it was only a monthly increase from $5 to $20. That reminded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,46],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10113"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10113"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10116,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10113\/revisions\/10116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}