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City Manager's Office J. Gordon Palmer, Jr. A message from the City Manager: For nearly a year, the budget process has consumed a good portion of our time, attention and resources. We have addressed all that we can through program and service reductions. Now, we must significantly restructure employee compensation and benefits so that they are sustainable and more in line with what other employers are providing. Our current healthcare benefits are extremely generous, offering coverage for unlimited dependents at a cost to the City of approximately $1,900 per employee, per month. Police make a small contribution toward this monthly cost. We are asking all employees to make a monthly contribution toward healthcare premiums, and we are seeking plan design changes that will increase the deductible and prescription co-payment. As a last resort, we have had to issue layoff notices. We have been and continue to do everything we can to minimize the number of layoffs. We have reduced services and restructured departments, combining recreation and libraries into Community Services, moving Parks Maintenance and tree crews to Public Works, and eliminated 4 Department Director positions and 2 Deputy City Manager positions. Most labor groups have offered concessions, including furloughs, and nearly 80 employees took advantage in a Voluntary Separation Program at the end of 2008. We recently offered an early retirement incentive; 113 employees will retire before the end of the year, including 3 police management and 13 police officers. To avoid deeper reductions and additional layoffs, we need concessions from every single department and employee to balance the budget and provide critical services to our citizens. Unfortunately, we were not able to achieve the level of concessions necessary with the Stockton Police Officer’s Association (SPOA). Their “last, best and final” offer has been presented. They have offered approximately $1 million in concessions; however, the operating deficit for the Police Department is nearly $8 million. Because we were unable to achieve sufficient concessions, 55 layoff notices were issued to Police Officers. At this point there is no other alternative to resolve the salary survey dispute, but to proceed to arbitration. There is just one more step in the process, prior to going to arbitration, and that is to meet one more time. In the interim, we have agreed on an arbitrator and selected tentative dates in November. We are still working with SPOA to meet prior to arbitration. In addition, we will continue meetings with the Fire Department. We are hopeful that we can come to an agreement that reduces the Fire Department budget by approximately $9 million. They have worked with us in the past to bridge the gap in difficult situations, and we know that they will help us address this crisis during these extraordinary times. Many citizens and employees have suggested that we raise revenue to address our budget shortfall. There is no short-term solution to raising the amount of revenue needed to address the current crisis. Our ability to raise revenues is constrained, because this is not a localized economic issue - it is a global crisis. For example, suggestions have been made about raising sales tax; however, the state of California recently raised sales tax. An additional sales tax increase specifically for the City of Stockton could discourage consumers from purchasing goods and services in our community. We do plan to increase revenues through a modernization of our business license tax, which must be approved by voters. We recognize that continuing to reduce programs and services is not acceptable to our citizens and would have long-term detrimental impacts on our community. A balance of our core functions, including public safety, is the reasonable and responsible approach. We must act responsibly by making changes to protect our city, our citizens and our future. While we know the process is difficult, the end result will be more effective and efficient local government today and for future generations. Thank you for your comments and suggestions. We hope that you will continue to stay engaged and interested as we address our needs today and in the future. J. Gordon Palmer, Jr.
Laurie has a B.S. in Business Administration and a Master's in Public Administration from California State University, Stanislaus. Laurie oversees the following departments:
Johnny Ford
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Stockton,
CA 
immediate area