Despite the success of this year’s AMGEN stop in Santa Cruz, Mayor Mike Rotkin has decided that the city can no longer afford to host the cycling event, and has withdrawn from having it pass through Santa Cruz in 2011. “It’s a great event, we love to see it happen, we just don’t have the staff time to make it happen,” said Rotkin.
This year the city recouped its $200,000 investment in the event, and even made a $10,000 profit. The problem for next year is that so many employees in the parks and public works department are being furloughed or laid off, that the remaining workforce is already overburdened with its day to day tasks and simply will not have the time to take on any extra projects.
One suggestion being touted is moving AMGEN to nearby Capitolina, but they are faced with the same problems as Santa Cruz—too much work; too few people. It’s a problem more and more cities will face.
