Running a deficit for the 10th straight year, San Jose was forced to cut $115 million through a mix of program cuts, layoffs and salary and benefit reductions. It’s no surprise then that public employee morale, according to a just-released survey, has dropped dramatically compared to pre-recession survey on 2006.
In a survey released today, the fifth the city has conducted going back to 2001, more than half (58 percent) of the 2,677 employees polled said they were satisfied with their job—a 22 percent drop from 2006, when 80 percent of employees surveyed said they were content to work for the city.
While many employees said they were happy with their direct supervisors, San Jose’s top brass received poor marks. Almost 70 percent of employees said they disagree or strongly disagree with the way city officials have handled the ongoing budget shortfalls. There was also a 30 percent drop—76 to 46 percent—in the number of workers who would recommend working for the city.
In total, the city sent out 7,620 surveys to active city employees, with 35 percent of those people responding.
The survey notes that there is no known margin for error in the results.
How much money did the city manager waste on this survey????
” 69% employees are displeased with how “City officials” have handled the “City’s ongoing budget shortfalls.”
Mayor, Council and City Manager have flunked handled budget shortfalls in city employees opinion
Residents are also very unhappy about how budget cus and layoffs essential city services are being done by Mayor, Council and City Manager who
– spend ( waste ) millions tax dollars on non essential services, wasteful economic development, cultural affairs and bailouts failing businesses, sports teams, museums, non profits and downtown projects / events while neglecting most of city
– give millions to political insiders, sell and lease city property at under market prices which if sold or leased at market prices would bring in more revenue and reduce service cuts and layoffs
– do a great job of hiding where $50-100 million of $3 billion taxes are going and how city many funds could be used to pay for city services but Council uses for political paybacks and pet projects which if employees and residents knew details would not approve spending and would be very upset
– used inflammable speech, political bullying, threats and mislead employees and residents about budget rather than be honest, transparent and work with employees and community to develop solutions
Overall City Officials get Failing Grades from employees and residents on handling budget problems, threating and bullying shameful behavior
Is that Reed/Figone have the citizens bluffed into thinking that they have no responsibility for any of the financial mess. However, 70 percent of those actually within the city government who see the day to day shenanigans recognize who is at fault.
What’s even more hilarious is the crazy success of the public employee unions at looting the public treasury.
And the taxpayers are supposed to listen to these tales of woe from self-annointed second-coming-of-Mother-Teresa public employees and somehow keep a straight face?
Now that’s chutzpah.
It just amazes me how some sheeple can be so focused on bashing the unions and the public employee that they don’t see the fox getting away with the hen behind their backs. How stoopid.
There’s nothing unique about San Jose in all this.
The death throes of unsustainable public employee union compensation is playing out across the country.
Either break the back of the PEU unions or declare bankruptcy.
Whatever it takes. Just pick one and get it done.
There is one and only one reason why this city and this state are in the toilet – the democrat machine / public employee union cabal.
Unless the legs are kicked out from under this unholy alliance, Greece will be the word.
But hey, as long as you are getting your 250% pension match with 3% annual COLA, and bonus payments, the message of the public employee to future generations is let them eat cake.
Really? It took a survey to figure out that morale was down. Let me see if I understand this.
Employees laid off.
Employees demoted to a position paying half their salary.
Employees losing homes and or vehicles due to wage cuts.
Non general fund employees losing homes/vehicles with no benefit to the city.
Decreased neighborhood property values for no reason as a result of non-general fund employees homes going into foreclosure.
Less money back into local economy due to non-general fund employees decreased buying power as a result of a pay cut that did not help the general fund deficit.
If it takes a consultant to tell the city manager and council that this has reduced morale then they are truly out of touch and incompetent.
And again, why aren’t the savings in operating cost from non-general fund employees pay cuts being returned to the citizens and rate payers?
Your post smacks of priviledge and self-entitlement. Why do government employees think things should be different for them?
The public employee union gravy train has ended.
Adapt yourself comrade.
Because for decades our employment has been different. Without re-hashing the argument again, in a nutshell private and public service is dramatically different in all ways. The benefits of private sector work are different than the benefits of public sector work. The down sides of private sector work have traditionally been different than the down sides of public service. What you want, and it turns a government workers stomach at your jealousy and greed, is to have public workers suffer when you suffer but not benefit when you benefit. You want government workers to fall when you fall but not rise when you rise. It is you that needs to adapt yourself to reality. No person with half a brain is going to go into public service if it mirrors the private sector but without the perks in the good times.
I sure hope you don’t live in the City of San Jose and possibly might need to have help with a water/garbage bill, or have some trouble in your neighborhood, or a have a problem with anything that you need to go to one of the “priviledged and self-entitled” City public workers. You need to walk a mile in the shoes of the average public employee. You read the one sided Mercury News to closely and obviously believe all the negative written. …or maybe you applied for a job at the City, and didn’t get it!!
You might want to educate yourself and take some time to put your money where your mouth is…and talk to some of those who are laid off and losing their homes and cars….ask them what they made for a living. You would find that many were not that much above minimum wages. There is nothing wrong with being a public servant, and getting a decent wage and benefits, and being part of helping the community in which you live.
I just feel very sorry for you and your closed tiny mind.
Deb will really know morale is low when millions of gallons of raw sewage starts backing up into homes and streets after all the sewage treatment workers walk out because they make $20 to 30,000 a year less than at other facilities and have lost their homes for no good reason. If I were her, I would have a porta poty ready by labor day.
Congratulations to Mayor Reed. He has accomplished what Ron Gonzales almost achieved—the total destruction of employee morale. Gonzo made a valiant effort and almost succeeded but Reed has blown past that and completely destroyed morale. Even those who are not threatened with lay-offs can’t wait to leave this sinking ship. Good people are leaving every day for jobs elsewhere and it will only get worse.
It is really tragic what has happened. Reed continually insults the work force and never misses an opportunity to do so. He has even thrown the non-union workers under the bus.
It will be a long, long time before the damage he has done can be fixed. As a citizen (and not a city worker or retiree) I can’t wait to leave this city for one that actually cares about its workers as well as its residents.
Nice going Mr. Mayor. You now join in Gonzo in the Hall of Shame.
With the amount of work that is heaped on me, my new salary is not worth it. Just not worth the stress and aggravation. I’m outta here.
> With the amount of work that is heaped on me, my new salary is not worth it. Just not worth the stress and aggravation. I’m outta here.
Goodbye.
Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.
“Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.”
Believe me when I tell you that the door will not get within a couple feet of my butt as I exit. Believe me.
Don’t worry Bronco is just a punk kid.
From the survey report: “One in seven (69%) employees are displeased with how “City officials” have handled the “City’s ongoing budget shortfalls.”
Since when is one in seven is 69%? Which is worse—their math or their proofreading?
JMO: Get off Reed’s leg, your like a pathetic lil Chihuahua.
Mayor Reed has started construction of a new project near City Hall. It appears that Reed and Council had secretly approved in closed session the construction of a special project.
This facility will be an exact copy a “special facility” or lair of Reed’s favorite personal hero. It seems that during the month long July hiatus, Reed and Council will travel on “taxpayer monies” First Class to the Ukraine.
They will go to the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa and tour the “relic” remains of that city and get a first hand glimpse of the “special” subterranean construction marvels of Reed’s hero.
Reed said that he would liked to have used what was left of City labor. But Reed felt that their work is “substandard” and they can’t be trusted with a project of this magnitude, as Reed felt that City Employees are Sub-human and not worthy enough.
Apparently Dan Fenton of the San Jose Convention Visitors Bureau found this destination prior to forming Team San Jose and did the tour, and felt that his friend Reed would like to travel to the Eastern European tourism “Hot Spot”.
Please view the story:
http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/07/01/wehrwolf-hitlers-ukrainian-bunker-becomes-controversial-attra/
Old Frank
The new project has been named “The Falcon’s Lair”, it started out as The Reed Annex.
But after a vote at Council it was unanimous that the name be changed to “The Falcon’s Lair” and that the Crest of the building have a Large Imposing Gold Falcon Statue mounted to the building in a Roman fashion.
Old Frank
“In total, the city sent out 7,620 surveys to active city employees, with 35 percent of those people responding.”
That’s because the other 65% didn’t give a sh!t about that survey. You think morale is bad, now??? Wait til everybody sees their paychecks.
> You think morale is bad, now??? Wait til everybody sees their paychecks.
Oh, Dear.
This is awful.
As a tax-payer and citizen, I’m terribly distressed that city employees are s-o-o-o-o unhappy.
I’m thinking of setting up a hotline so that gloomy employees can call-in and hear a positive message:
“Hello. You’ve reached the City Employee Cheer-up hotline.”
“Are you bummed because your pay got cut ten percent, and you’re not getting your union guarenteed annual raises?”
“Well, visualize having no job at all and joining the 400,000 people who file for unemployment benefits every week, and the nine and a half-million people ahead of you who are in line to get all those new “Green Shoots” jobs being created during President Obamba’s Summer Of Recovery.”
“Count your blessings, stop your whining, and cheer up.”
“Good-bye.”
I DO have a job and I DO NOT have to visualize ANYTHING because my job is not going anywhere. I am a taxpayer and citizen, too, but I am going to have more fun giving 10% less effort to YOUR service. I’ll be damn if I continue to work like a dog for less money. I will just bide my time and then you can tell me “good-bye” when I retire. For now, I am not going anywhere but I will CERTAINLY MAKE SURE that I give less effort to the likes of YOU! Less pay=less effort. Now run along and go count YOUR blessings and PRAY that you do not need me for anything.
> but I will CERTAINLY MAKE SURE that I give less effort to the likes of YOU! Less pay=less effort.
Well, if we were realistically getting zero effort out of you before, and now we pay you LESS for giving zero effort, it sounds to me like the taxpayers are coming out ahead.
Also, I guess the taxpayers don’t need to be worried about “workplace accidents” because it sounds like nothing more dangerous than sitting on fat asses is taking place.
You don’t have an inkling of WHAT effort that I have given before, so your statement doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, does it? You do not know me. You do not know a damn thing about me. You are just making posts that are void of substance, which actually says a lot about YOU.
As for employees sitting on fat asses. I ask you…how do you know if employees at City Hall, who have fat asses, are just sitting on them? Are you an ass watcher? Do you come to City Hall and look to see if people with fat asses are sitting around so as to not cause workplace accidents? I would think that if you looked in the mirror, you would see that the fat asses are more of a resemblance of your face. Go sit on that. Face to chair.
Now, move along and let the grow ups have a discussion.
> You don’t have an inkling of WHAT effort that I have given before, so your statement doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, does it? You do not know me. You do not know a damn thing about me. You are just making posts that are void of substance, which actually says a lot about YOU.
Gee. The Morale Improvement Hotline doesn’t seem to have improved your morale very much.
Here. Have some nice money.
There. That seems to have done the trick.
But there’s a problem.
My money ALSO improves MY morale.
And, sorry to say, my morale is more important than your morale.
>Gee. The Morale Improvement Hotline doesn’t seem to have improved your morale very much.
Here. Have some nice money.
There. That seems to have done the trick.
But there’s a problem.
My money ALSO improves MY morale.
And, sorry to say, my morale is more important than your morale.<
Not even worth comment.
At least we still support the Hayes Mansion with a negative cash flow of 5.8 million per year from the general fund! Too bad no one reads what is in the budget!
“The floggings, errrr layoffs, will continue until morale improves!”
-Reed the Terrible
June 30, 2011 post CSJ budget hearings
Maybe when all of this is done, we can name a baseball statium bathroom afer them. Boys=Reed Girls=Figone. Very Sad day in San Jose. I am very curious why no one mentions of the 200 Million chuck is holding for the A’s, why is that not being used to solve to budget? Guess no one in the City will answer that one! Keep deceiving the public sooner or later someone will ask the correct questions, but for now go ahead and hide money and tell the public is the retirements that cuased all this….Remember you guys voted for these pensions and salaries dont blame the unions. Hopefully, and RECALL will come soon:>)
Sight in, hold breath, squeeze, release…