In the wake of what some have deemed a rift between City Council
and employees, both city staff and council members appear to be
doing what they can to make amends.
In the wake of what some have deemed a rift between City Council and employees, both city staff and council members appear to be doing what they can to make amends.
Councilman Craig Gartman requested the council on Monday discuss whether to spend up to $16,000 to reinstate the city’s annual employee service awards celebration barbecue. A smaller certificate celebration replaced the annual employee celebration during the past two years after the City Council eliminated the ceremony as part of $6 million in cutbacks in May 2008.
Meanwhile, City Clerk Shawna Freels made sure to invite council members to the city’s Halloween soup luncheon on Friday, although she noted that it falls in the middle of the day when most of them are working. City Administrator Tom Haglund said he wanted to make sure council members were invited.
“We’re all part of the same team,” Haglund said.
Both Gartman and Councilwoman Cat Tucker said they never intended to eliminate the service awards program and the annual city barbecue when voting on budget cuts last year.
In the past, city workers were able to select service awards from a catalogue for a set amount of money based upon how long they had worked at the city.
The budget in May 2008 contained about 125 pages, Gartman said, and he did not realize that the service awards program was on the chopping block. Tucker, who also has expressed displeasure about the ceremony’s elimination, has requested that the council on Monday discuss ways to improve employee morale.
Gartman said someone had told him that city staff intentionally did not invite council members to its annual barbecue, which has taken the form of a city employee appreciation committee-hosted potluck during the past two years. He also heard that members of city boards and commissions were invited to the event.
Although Gartman is on vacation this week and will not be able to attend the Halloween soup luncheon, he said he has enjoyed attending that function in the past and was glad to see that council members were invited.
Mayor Al Pinheiro noted that the list of budget cutbacks approved in 2008 were all recommended to management by city department heads. Those cuts included $10,531 for the barbecue and $15,648 for the awards. Pinheiro said employees generally understand the council must make tough economic choices, and he doubted that city administrators would change their minds on the merits of the funding cuts they had previously recommended. However, he would not say how we planned to vote Monday.
Meanwhile, Tucker has mentioned providing special Christmas gifts for employees or having groups of 10 randomly picked employees meet with members of the council during a luncheon. She said similar employee appreciation award events have been important to fellow workers at Santa Clara-based Applied Materials where she works.
“I know that in the industry that I work in, everyone looks forward to those appreciation awards,” she said.
She anticipated that an awards ceremony would not cost nearly $16,000, given the city layoffs that have taken place during the past two years.
In addition to voting on the awards ceremony, the council will decide whether to extend a deadline for a “seismic safety” mitigation program for unreinforced masonry buildings, whether to support demolition of the youth center building, and whether to support an Oakland A’s franchise in San Jose.
They will also hear reports about city youth recreational programs and the Technical Advisory Committee. A study session before the meeting will focus on California High Speed Rail.
Monday’s regular council meeting will be at 7 p.m. and the study session will be at 6 p.m. Both meetings will take place at the City Council chambers at Gilroy City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St.
