The 5-0 vote followed a discussion in which board members agonized over the cuts, the largest such action the board has taken in any department during the current economic downturn.
Mental Health has 66 full-time staff members. Mental Health Director Kristy Kelly told the board that of the 18 positions slated for cuts, 12 currently are vacant.
But that didn't appear to lessen the sting of the decision for board members, including Supervisor Rob Brown, who said he wanted assurance that this was the only option available.
Kelly told Lake County News Tuesday evening that the layoffs will be effective at the end of May.
In addition to eliminating the 18 spots, another staffer will be transferred to new duties under another funding stream and three extra help staff – who don't have the same protections as the full-timers – also will be laid off, said Kelly.
In all, the staff cuts will save about $505,000 for the period from June 1 through June 30, 2010, Kelly said.
Kelly received the board's approval at its April 14 to move forward with exploring layoffs as part of addressing a projected $1.1 million budget deficit in the coming fiscal year. That deficit has resulted in part from state audits that found the department had received payments to which it was not entitled, as Lake County News has reported.
The department also has $2.1 million in unpaid bills to vendors, some of which go back as far as July of 2008, Chuck Fernandez, Mental Health's financial officer, told the board Tuesday.
Kelly told the board Tuesday that the department entered into meet and confer with the Lake County Employees Association (LCEA).
Fernandez said LCEA wanted it known that their preference was furloughs, not layoffs.
LCEA President Mary Davidson showed a petition with about 50 Mental Health Department staff signatures, requesting that furloughs be considered.
Kelly said her management team discussed furloughs. “There were a variety of reasons why we decided not to go in that direction.”
Fernandez added that the decision is about “rightsizing.”
“There's nothing temporary about this,” he said.
Kelly added that furloughs, if they continued long-term, could negatively impact staff morale.
Brown wasn't convinced. “I appreciate the situation you're in but I've expressed to you my concern about laying anybody off.”
He said he had wanted to know if there was interest in furloughs, but was concerned that after asking that question, “Now we're saying, 'it really doesn't matter.'”
Brown asked how it affects morale to ignore the 50 signatures seeking furloughs. He said he understood rightsizing, but added that the county also has attrition open to it. He suggested using furloughs to give time for attrition to take place.
Kelly said certain positions, such as the crisis team, can't be furloughed because of the need to function on a constant basis. Brown suggested they exempt certain positions from furloughs.
“And then the math changes,” said Kelly.
“Does it?” asked Brown. He said the board hadn't seen the math yet.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington said the structure of Mental Health's budget has “resounding problems.” The county previously loaned the department $2 million because of its budget issues, which he said he had been reluctant to do.
“If we don't structurally change how we operate we're never going to get ahead of that $2 million shortfall,” he said. “We're never going to get out of this hole.”
Farrington, suggesting that they may simply have to forgive the loan, said nobody wanted to cut positions, and he didn't have a problem starting off with furloughs.
Added Board Chair Denise Rushing, “We need to see the numbers before we can make the call.”
Farrington suggested layoffs be a “Plan B” if furloughs don't work.
County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said the department budgeted $3.5 million for permanent salaries this year. A 10-percent cut in salaries through furloughs, he said, “is not even going to come close to what you'd need.”
More realistically, they would be looking at salary cuts of up to 30 percent, Cox said, which would likely result in the loss of staffers.
Kelly said that attrition isn't a good option because it's not possible to control when staff will leave.
She said she wanted to be clear that her management staff had worked on the proposal a long time. “This is not a direction we wanted to go,” she said, adding that they did a very thorough analysis of how the department functions, and are trying to keep people who work directly with clients in place.
Fernandez said of the six filled positions facing layoff, four are not revenue-generating jobs. “We did a lot of research and analysis on every single position,” he said, and these were the jobs that, if eliminated, would result in the least harm to the agency.
Brown said he was trying to be respectful of staff, but it becomes personal when people lose their jobs. “I'm having a real struggle with this.”
He agreed with Farrington that they may have to forgive the $2 million loaned to Mental Health, and that even with layoffs furloughs might be necessary. “This is the beginning of a lot of this in a lot of departments.”
Before making a decision, Brown said he wanted to hear from Cox that this is the only option available.
“This department hired too many staff,” a situation that needed to be reversed, said Cox.
If staff knew how much their salaries would need to be cut, they wouldn't support furloughs, he said.
“This department has a structural imbalance in their financing,” said Cox, with vendors that haven't been paid. Mental Health, he noted, always has been self-funded.
Supervisor Jeff Smith said it's one of the toughest decisions he's had to make. “I don't really think we have a choice at this point,” he said. “I'd rather let people know as soon as possible.”
Davidson said that she had told Mental Health staff that furloughs could go a year or more, but she didn't realize they were looking at 35-percent salary cuts. She added that other proposals from staff included job sharing, voluntary layoffs and retirements.
Staff also wanted to help develop the department's earning power, said Davidson. Layoffs would result in the department losing people with knowledge and experience.
Cox said the county is proposing a significant transfer of realignment funds from Social Services to Mental Health to help it pay back the $2 million to the general fund. They've approved the department paying back $200,000 a year.
He worried about when the vendors will be paid, and how much longer it will be before some start legal action.
“I don't see a way out of this,” said Rushing.”
Smith offered the resolution for a vote.
Brown said he would go along with the proposal, hoping that the people slated for layoff will be given a chance at a job elsewhere in the county. Cox said that effort will be made.
“The magnitude of this is very haunting,” said Farrington, noting they had fought hard to keep a revenue-based position in the Planning Division.
Rushing agreed that the situation was “huge.”
“Hopefully the public understands the enormity of this issue,” Farrington said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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