WAS Re: Even at the cost... IS my point

[Guest guest]

This is what I am taking about when I mention city workers. Out of the total potiental layoffs only 50 will come from the near top. In my huband's position, the laborers that are crucial to have on the job for safety will be minimized. So what happens then, well accidents that lead to expensive lawsuits that the city makes more expensive by trying to fight even when they are in the wrong.

Kim

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-city-managersnov19,0,5062608.story

Daley budget to take a little bit from the top

About 50 supervisor jobs among 770 targeted for layoffs

By Dan Mihalopoulos and Hal Dardick | Tribune reporters

November 19, 2008

After Mayor Daley pushed through his first city budget for 1990, the Buildings Department was headed by a commissioner, two deputy commissioners and an assistant commissioner.By this year, the mayor's budget has ballooned to include two managing deputy commissioners, a first deputy, five deputies and six assistants—even as the department has far fewer workers.The City Council is set to trim eight high-level managers from the Buildings Department when it votes on Daley's 2009 budget Wednesday.While Daley is cutting non-union top bosses, those layoffs will only partially offset the dramatic growth in upper-echelon management during Daley's reign. A Tribune analysis of city budgets found that since 1990 the number of department heads, deputies and assistant department heads has risen from fewer than 200 to almost 350, despite the slow shrinking of the city workforce.

Daley's budget for next year would eliminate about 50 such positions. Of the 770 planned layoffs, non-union managers are going to be affected disproportionately, city budget officials said. "It's important to note that managers don't just manage but also often provide services to people," said budget office spokeswoman Schrader.Still, the city payroll remains top-heavy, said Dennis Gannon, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor. "Not long ago, all you had in a lot of departments was a commissioner and a deputy," Gannon said.Ald. Waguespack (32nd) said the city needs "to get more people in the field, doing hands-on work and cut back on deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners. They're all getting paid anywhere from $80,000 to [almost] $150,000."Buildings Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey said managers were added "as the department identified new priorities or determined that more oversight was necessary." Cuts now are possible due to technology, he said.The Law Department will see a major reduction in supervisory attorneys, whose ranks have mushroomed in the last 20 years. When Daley first won election, the budget called for 21 chief assistant corporation counsels and seven deputies. By this year, funds were set aside for a first assistant, a managing deputy, 28 chief assistants and 12 deputies.Law Department spokeswoman Hoyle said the "number, variety and complexity of matters" handled by city attorneys has grown, forcing the creation of new divisions with additional supervisors. Hoyle also said many top city lawyers handle cases and "aren't just supervisors doing administrative tasks."The Human Resources Department is among the few that will have more supervisors in next year's budget. Human Resources Commissioner Homero Tristan recently added lawyer Karina Ayala-Bermejo as his second managing deputy at an annual salary of $124,104. Tristan and Ayala-Bermejo both graduated from the Metropolitan Leadership Institute, a program run by the United Neighborhood Organizations, a Latino group with ties to Daley. "We have to make sure we have good leadership," Tristan said.dmihalopoulos@...hdardick@...