Morning Fizz
Extra Fizz: City Staff Cuts, Worldchanging.com
Editor's note. Since we do the Fizz in the early AM, we're a little fuzzy. Inadvertently left out two items this morning's edition:
1. Mayor Mike McGinn's proposal to lay off or reclassify around 200 senior-level city staffers (those classified as management or "strategic advisors") may have one major unintended consequence for mid-level city managers.
Because layoffs in city departments are based on seniority (i.e., city employment contracts don't allow departments to lay off their most-senior staff without cause), senior staff and strategic advisors are far more likely to be recategorized into lower-level positions than laid off. In cases where those positions are already filled, the top-level manager will displace the mid-level one. That's one reason so many mid-level managers showed up at last week's Civil Service Commission meeting to protest McGinn's proposed cuts.
It also means that the cuts won't go as far as they appear at first glance toward reducing the $40 million general-fund shortfall (a shortfall that, as we mentioned Friday, half the proposed cuts don't even address), because they'll hit mid-level management the hardest while preserving top-paid longtime city employees' jobs, albeit under different titles.
(Incidentally, if you're interested in hearing what city hall staffers themselves have to say about the proposed cuts, check out the comments thread on our original post , where a number of city employees weigh in on McGinn's announcement.)
2. Worldchanging's Alex Steffen gave two talks in November (one of them introduced by then-Mayor-Elect Mike McGinn) about how cities like Seattle can and should lead the way toward sustainability, starting by setting citywide carbon neutrality as a goal. Both talks are now online and available on Worldchanging.com.
1. Mayor Mike McGinn's proposal to lay off or reclassify around 200 senior-level city staffers (those classified as management or "strategic advisors") may have one major unintended consequence for mid-level city managers.
Because layoffs in city departments are based on seniority (i.e., city employment contracts don't allow departments to lay off their most-senior staff without cause), senior staff and strategic advisors are far more likely to be recategorized into lower-level positions than laid off. In cases where those positions are already filled, the top-level manager will displace the mid-level one. That's one reason so many mid-level managers showed up at last week's Civil Service Commission meeting to protest McGinn's proposed cuts.
It also means that the cuts won't go as far as they appear at first glance toward reducing the $40 million general-fund shortfall (a shortfall that, as we mentioned Friday, half the proposed cuts don't even address), because they'll hit mid-level management the hardest while preserving top-paid longtime city employees' jobs, albeit under different titles.
(Incidentally, if you're interested in hearing what city hall staffers themselves have to say about the proposed cuts, check out the comments thread on our original post , where a number of city employees weigh in on McGinn's announcement.)
2. Worldchanging's Alex Steffen gave two talks in November (one of them introduced by then-Mayor-Elect Mike McGinn) about how cities like Seattle can and should lead the way toward sustainability, starting by setting citywide carbon neutrality as a goal. Both talks are now online and available on Worldchanging.com.
