THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407080301
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Joe Banks
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Might there have been a better way to handle the staff cutbacks and subsequent layoffs at City Hall? Not only the outright dismissal of several well-respected, long-time employees, but the manner in which some employees were notified?
``Sorry, your job's been eliminated. See you, bye. Taxi! 489-7777. Call 'em a cab.''
That's basically what happened June 27 when City Hall announced the elimination of 39 jobs.
Since the cutbacks were announced, horror story after horror story has been shared by colleagues and InfoLine callers.
Take, for example, Paul Lipscomb. A 25-year employee, Lipscomb was promoted to traffic maintenance parking operations manager nine months ago.
Consultants decided that his duties and responsibilites could be included with other divisions. Fine. But why should Lipscomb be penalized? For doing his work in his previous position so well he was promoted, only to be laid off. Lipscomb, hindsight being 20/20, would have been better off forgoing the promotion.
Couldn't some effort have been made to reassign Lipscomb to another position either in the Traffic Engineering Department or another city department?
Couldn't the city have practiced a shipyard-like RIF approach, as an InfoLine caller suggested?
Couldn't Lipscomb have been given the option of assuming his previous job and the person presently holding that position bumped back to his/her previous position, and so on?
Any student of Personnel 101 understands that.
The way City Hall opted to handle the layoffs might have been the quickest, cleanest and most convenient way. But it wasn't the fairest.
The city, in a 180, didn't take into consideration an employee's work record, let alone loyalty and/or tenure.
In Norfolk, City Hall has ``downsized'' by a very conservative estimate of 500 positions in the past six to seven years.
Yet, in every case, the Norfolk employee was presented with notification that his/her position would be eliminated at the end of the respective fiscal year. The Norfolk employee at least was given the opportunity to transfer to another position.
In some cases, a Norfolk employee grumbled at the decision.
In some cases, a Norfolk employee opted to take employment elsewhere.
In no case, was a Norfolk employee just put out on the street - jobless with but 2-weeks notice.
Such a practice might have helped Bill Hagy, a mechanical inspector for the City of Portsmouth for nearly seven years.
``There were some jobs open in Suffolk and we could have applied over there if we had known sooner,'' he said. ``Now those jobs are filled.''
In some cases, Portsmouth employees nearing retirement will be leaving sooner than expected.
Morton Williford, delinquent tax collector, had planned to retire around the first of next year. A few months early won't matter to him after 33 years of service, he said.
But how about hose who weren't planning to retire so soon?
Couldn't the city have offered those approaching retirement a bit more notice so they might have gotten their financial ducks in a row?
Then there's the manner in which some employees were notified.
Patricia Byrd Pond, administrative manager in the Social Services Department, was told of her pending dismissal while at Maryview Medical Center, where her mother was hospitalized. Pond, an 18-year employee, didn't call to tell us; a colleague did.
Irma Freeman, a home health care nurse with five years service, came back to her office to find an envelope sitting on her desk.
``I was shocked when I opened it and read that I was being terminated,'' she said.
The manner in which some employees were notified lacked professionalism.
Any student of Personnel 101 understands that.
We can argue, debate until we're blue in the face, whether the positions cut were the right ones to eliminate or whether City Hall politics saved one department's positions at the expense of another department's position.
We can argue, debate whether the positions cut will indeed result in a savings or be negated by the cost of contracting out.
We can argue, debate whether we, as taxpayers, will get more bang for our buck or whether we actually are about to receive fewer services for our dollars.
We can't argue, debate whether there might have been a more humane way to handle the layoffs.
Any student of Human Decency 101 understands that.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH CITY EMPLOYEES LAYOFF DOWNSIZING by CNB