At the final city council meeting on Watsonville’s budget Tuesday night, city staff managed to pull off a small miracle, to the surprise and delight of many of the assembled nonprofits.
At the final city council meeting on Watsonville’s budget Tuesday night, city staff managed to pull off a small miracle, to the surprise and delight of many of the assembled nonprofits, including Si Se Puede, Pajaro Valley Children’s Center, Salud Para La Gente and Loaves and Fishes. All had gathered for what at first seemed like a futile final plea that the cuts to their funding be reduced. “We are willing to share in this pain, but on par with reductions in other parts of the city,” said Human Care Alliance vice president Jorge Mendez. CASA intern Michelle Pacheco-Espinosa implored, “If you make 20 percent cuts, it will affect children and they’ll have a less bright future.”
But it seemed that the 20 percent figure was all but set in stone. “We can’t pay for it all anymore. I hope you understand what I’m trying to say,” said councilmember Manuel Bersamin apologetically. “We’re listening and it breaks my heart, but we have to be responsible.”
Then city manager Carlos Palacios piped up. “I have a suggestion,” he said. “We haven’t been able to identify anything until recently that would make it fairly easy to get out of this bind.”
Having dangled this carrot, Palacios switched course, issuing a stern reminder that city staff has already made massive concessions in order to close the city’s $4.5 million budget gap. All employee bargaining units agreed to pay and benefit decreases, with the lone holdout—Watsonville fire–coming to an agreement Monday evening. Both police and firefighters have accepted a 7.5 percent decrease in pay and raises, and the collective bargaining unit of SEIU members, management, mid-management and others agreed to a 10 percent average reduction. Along with the unpaid time off, many employees also volunteered for additional unpaid hours off. Still others opted to take retirement incentives. Though the changes will reduce city staffers’ work weeks to 36 hours, shuttering most offices on Fridays starting July 17, they also pared down the number of layoffs from 122 to just three. “When you see them, thank them for the sacrifice they have made,” said Palacios of city staff.
Then the payoff: Palacios revealed that he and administrative services director Marc Pimentel had scoured the budget one last time and identified an additional $20,000 to be had by axing the city newsletter. The money would revert to the general fund, thereby restoring 5 percent back to the nonprofit social services.
Though councilmember Kimberly Petersen acknowledged that the newsletter was of particular importance to her, she conceded the importance of the nonprofits. “We’re in a time when we really need to support the most vulnerable as much as possible,” she said.
The final bump in the road to a balanced budget came from councilmember Greg Caput, who went to bat one last time in an attempt to prevent any city employees—even three—from being laid off. He asked if those people could take a massive pay cut, as high as 50 percent, to stay employed. “I believe in job security,” he said. “I don’t want to leave any man behind.” Councilmember Bersamin responded, “I don’t think there is such a thing as job security anymore, in this day and age.”
In the end, the budget passed, without Caput’s vote, to whistling and raucous applause from the public. “It was a surprise to us,” said Mendez afterwards. “I don’t live in Watsonville, but I feel like shopping there a lot more after that meeting.”
Pimentel confessed that some of the final frantic brainstorming had taken place via text message. “I’m burnt out,” he said.
