Leopold's Proposed Budget Already Affecting Employees

While it's been just weeks since Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold released his proposed budget for the 2012 fiscal year, some county employees are already getting a feel for what the austerity measures on the horizon might look like.

Last Tuesday, nine county employees who work for the Department of Aging and Disabilities were notified that their positions would be eliminated on June 30, which marks the end of the current fiscal year, according to officials within the department.

“Affected positions include the department's two assistant directors, four senior center assistant directors, two individuals in transportation, and one in Information and Assistance,” said Mary Felter, a spokeswoman with the county Department of Aging and Disabilities, in an e-mail. “There are other vacant positions that will not be filled.”

(Arnold Senior Center's assistant director is Claire Kelly, a popular and very visible staff member at the center.)

The vacant jobs that will go unfilled include two positions in the department's outreach program and another position at the senior centers. The 12-position reduction, which is included in Leopold's proposed budget for next fiscal year, represents a 16 percent cut to the department's staff.

While the employees were notified last week that their positions would soon be eliminated, the county isn't ready to characterize the move as layoffs.

“No one has received notification of being laid off,” said Dave Abrams, a spokesman for the County Executive's office, in a phone interview.

Abrams said the county hopes to shift the affected workers to other comparable jobs within the county. But he conceded that it won't be an easy feat to transfer every single employee to a different position, especially in a tight budget year.

“Our goal is to place as many people as possible into positions,” said Abrams. “But we can't operate how we did in the past.”

Abrams said that one avenue for placement could be retirements of other county employees between now and June 30, which would open up positions where the affected workers could be placed. The notification of position eliminations caught some county council members off guard.

County Council Chair Dick Ladd (R-District 5) said he had received no specific information about job eliminations except what had been provided in budget materials.

"I simply have no information because nothing has happened yet," said Ladd. "I do know that any cuts we make are going to be painful."

“I don't know any more than you at this point,” said Councilman Chris Trumbauer (D-District 6) of Annapolis, in an e-mail. “I don't get how they can be doing layoffs right now.”

The county executive's proposed budget for 2012 has yet to be adopted by the county council. The council is in the midst of deliberations on the plan.

However, while Councilman Jamie Benoit (D-District 4) of Crownsville didn't necessarily agree with the layoffs, he did characterize the effort to notify the employees preemptively as a “prudent measure.” But even as he described the step of notification as “prudent,” Benoit remained skeptical that other positions will be available for the employees.

“I hope there is a way to find positions for all of them, but it's going to be very difficult,” said Benoit. “My hope is at a minimum the county would offer them some form of relocation assistance to hold them over [while they look for other jobs].”

It is unclear how a 16 percent reduction of personnel in a single department will affect day-to-day activities and the providing of services to the county's elderly and disabled.

“It's unfortunate because the Department of Aging provides a lot of very important services, particularly to some of our county's most vulnerable,” said Benoit. “But it's a choice the county executive made to deal with the difficult crisis we're in.”

The department provides a wide spectrum of services, ranging from home delivered meals to education on health and nutrition.

Abrams said the county is determined to continue providing a high level of service to the elderly and disabled, even with such a reduction in staff in one department.

“Our goal is to ensure that seniors who utilize our programs aren't dramatically affected,” said Abrams.

But as with the uncertainty about finding other positions for the laid off employees, Abrams said it remains to be seen whether or not the cuts will actually affect the delivery of services.

“We hope not, but we'll see,” said Abrams.

Editor's Note:  This is an updated version of the story since it was posted that includes additional comments from County Councilman Dick Ladd.