Avalon City Manager Ben Harvey called two “all hands” meetings at City Hall Tuesday, Nov. 19, to discuss the city’s $1.7 million deficit.
A recent staff report to the City Council put the figure at $1.62 million.
The meeting was not a surprise. The Friday, Nov. 8, Catalina Islander reported that Harvey planned to call a staff meeting to discuss the deficit.
Avalon City Manager Ben Harvey called two “all hands” meetings at City Hall Tuesday, Nov. 19, to discuss the city’s $1.7 million deficit.
A recent staff report to the City Council put the figure at $1.62 million.
The meeting was not a surprise. The Friday, Nov. 8, Catalina Islander reported that Harvey planned to call a staff meeting to discuss the deficit.
This week, Harvey said he told city staff that he was going to propose limits and cost sharing when negotiations begin with the city’s three employee groups.
He said he would not make staff cuts “out of the gate,” though that might be necessary in the future.
Harvey said all full time employees were required to attend and all part time employees were encouraged to attend. He said two meetings were necessary because different employees work different shifts.
Harvey said he made staff aware of the city’s financial situation.
Harvey told the Islander that he was not planning staff cuts at this time, but that might be necessary in the future.
“I’m mindful of the trickle-down effect of something like that,” Harvey said, pointing out that Avalon is a small, tight-knit community.
Harvey said he called the meetings so he could get insights from staff members on making the city more efficient. Describing himself as “the new kid on the block,” he said he wanted to benefit from the wisdom of Avalon staff.
“I’m looking to make sure our operations are more efficient,” he said. “I’m trying to take a hard look at every single thing so that we can trim everywhere. We’re trying to be realistic.”
Harvey said, as he has said before, that the Avalon budget crisis would not be solved in one year. He said the city was looking at a multi-year process.
As previously reported, Avalon recently approved a budget that expects expenses to exceed revenues. Sewer-related matters dominated the recently approved city budget. State-mandated improvements to the decaying sewer system have dominated city government for several years now.
In June, the City Council increased sewer fees and mooring fees to address the costs of maintaining the city’s sewer and water infrastructure.
At the time, Harvey said the sewer system was one of the challenges Avalon faces.
“We’re an old city,” he said. “So it’s also the saltwater infrastructure, it’s also the streets.
According to Harvey, Avalon staffing levels have remained static for several years now.
Mayor Bob Kennedy has said Avalon needs to reduce costs by 7 percent.
“We want to work with our employees to work out how to climb out of (the deficit),” Harvey said.
