More First Solar layoffs?

Just two weeks after telling Congress the company was "financially strong," First Solar announced it was going to lay off half the 240 workers at its Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One (AVSR1) power plant near Los Angeles. They have a facility in Perrysburg.

The Washington Free Beacon has the story:

A politically connected, taxpayer-funded solar firm announced a massive round of furloughs on Friday, just weeks after its chairman told Congress his company was “financially strong.”

First Solar, an Arizona-based solar panel manufacturer that received more than $3 billion in federal loan guarantees under President Obama, has furloughed half of the 240-person workforce at its Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One (AVSR1) power plant near Los Angeles.

...

The announcement comes two weeks after First Solar chairman Michael Ahearn told members of the House Oversight committee that the company “remains financially strong and well positioned to execute through the current market environment.”

Ahearn’s testimony was supplemented by a presentation that included testimony from a number of First Solar employees, including Javier Pomposo and Zachary Christensen from the AVSR1 plant.

...

It is not known whether Pomposo and Christensen were among the 120 employees furloughed.

...

Congressional investigators have raised questions as to whether the Obama administration cut corners in an effort to funnel taxpayer dollars to First Solar. The company has close ties to Democratic leadership and the White House.

Kathleen Weiss, the head lobbyist and vice president of First Solar, has visited the White House at least 16 times to meet with Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett and other senior administration officials.

Jose Villarreal, a board member of the Center for American Progress—a left-wing think tank closely tied to the administration that has lobbied aggressively for green energy loans—sits on the board of First Solar.

The mayor's 'confidential' memo

Yesterday on WSPD, we talked about the March memo Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre sent to Mayor Carty Finkbeiner detailing the impact of police layoffs and how he planned to re-organize the department.

That memo is here:


Finkbeiner's 'confidential' response, getting the facts wrong and telling Navarre to rewrite the memo to make it sound better, is here:

Chief Navarre's response, disputing the mayor's position and opposing police layoffs, is here:


As I said last night on Eye On Toledo, there are only certain documents that can actually be considered 'confidential' under Ohio law. This memo to the police chief is not one of them. It's a public document that anyone could request and view - and which the public has every right to see.

Is this the way to treat employees?

Over the last week or so, Toledo's Mayor Carty Finkbeiner has threatened layoffs due to the city's $27 million budget deficit. Council cut out about $7 million so there is still $20 million to go, hence the layoff notices.

Originally, he said he'd be laying off around 300 employees - but that number has ranged as high as 350 and as low as 240-ish. Included in that total were 150 police officers along with prosecutors working in the Toledo Municipal Court (TMC).

Today, Judge Timothy Kuhlman, TMC's presiding judge, was a guest on WSPD with Brian Wilson (podcast here) and expressed his concern that a reduction in the number of prosecutors would seriously compromise the operations of the court and the safety of Toledoans. Without a sufficient number of prosecutors, it is likely that cases would be dismissed, leaving criminals to go free. He also said that the Court's probation department is already hearing 'bragging' about how gangs and criminals are just waiting for the layoff of police to occur.

Despite claims that they don't listen to WSPD, by 7 p.m. the Mayor had issued the following press release directly responding to the Judge's comments:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 23, 2009

Mayor Finkbeiner: 'Our Prosecutor's Office Is Not Closing.'

Today Mayor Finkbeiner released the following statement in response to allegations made by Municipal Court Judge Timothy Kuhlman that the City of Toledo's entire Prosecution Office staff could be laid off:

"Judge Timothy Kuhlman is misinformed and irresponsible in his statements about the possibility that the City of Toledo could lose its Prosecutor's Office. The City of Toledo will continue to employ a Law Director and the Prosecutor's Office will continue to operate with its current staff, barring any further economic downturn. While it is true that layoff notices were given to all General Fund employees, the Prosecution team would be the last in the Law Department to be cut. For Judge Kuhlman to go public without knowing of what he is speaking is absolutely unconscionable."

Of course, Carty, with his traditional 'ready, shoot, aim' behavior, did exactly what he accused Judge Kuhlman of doing: going "public without knowing of what he is speaking."

At no point did Judge Kuhlman say that the city would 'lose its Prosecutor's Office.' He did state the truth when he acknowledged that all prosecutors got layoff notices as Carty admits, and Wilson commented about even Chief of Staff Bob Reinbolt getting a layoff notice. Kuhlman talked about the consequences of both a lack of police and prosecutors and the impact layoffs of both would have to the court system and Toledoans.

But note what the release says - 'layoff notices were given to all General Fund employees.'

So the city gave layoff notices to people that they know they're not going to lay off? Talk about irresponsible!

How is that good employer-employee relations? Carty warned about media and others generating 'fear' over the lack of police, yet here he is generating 'fear' among his employees by telling them they could be laid off, even though he has no intention of doing so. He's also generated fear in Toledoans who are concerned that less than 500 officers is not enough to cover the city 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year long.

Carty often praises the employees of the city for the good works that they do - and appropriately so. However, creating fear and uncertainty by giving layoff notices to those whom he knows will keep their jobs is not the way you treat employees you value - or at least that you say you value.

No wonder he's unable to accomplish anything in negotiations with the unions.

Toledo issues layoff notices

This just in via email from Jason Webber:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 17, 2009

City of Toledo Distributes Layoff Notices

Today at 3 p.m., Mayor Finkbeiner released the following statement:

"These are not steps I wish to take, but they are nonetheless necessary to balance the City of Toledo’s budget. Contract negotiations will continue, but until our Union’s bargaining units recognize the need for concessions and shared sacrifice, these announced layoffs will continue as planned:

· 142 General Fund employees, which are ALL non-safety employees, paid 100% by the General Fund, effective May 15, 2009. While we do not expect the entire 142 to be laid off, the final number will be substantial and likely involve a minimum of 50% of our General Fund workforce. This will significantly impact many aspects of our General Fund Operations.

· 75 Police Officers in addition to the 75 previously notified, effective May 1, 2009.

· 17 Police Department Civilians, effective May 15, 2009.

· 6 Fire Command Officers will be reassigned to line duty, effective immediately.

If action is taken by Council to increase revenue, and all Unions grant concessions, the number of layoffs can be reduced.

Effective the week of May 4, all General Fund Executive Exempt employees will begin a 32-hour workweek, which amounts to a 20% pay cut. Many City of Toledo departments will abide by a Monday - Thursday operating schedule, with the exception of Public Safety, Refuse, and Public Utilities.



This is a time for leadership, and I ask our Union leaders to accept the challenge of resolving this fiscal crisis.

The layoffs can be significantly reduced. I am again respectfully appealing to our Union leaders and City Council to join with us in reducing the number of layoffs through revenue enhancements and across-the-board payroll reductions."

Jason Webber
City of Toledo
Public Information Officer
Office: 419-245-1016
Cell: 734-731-1114

"Toledo ranks third Top Ten Metro Area in America."
- Site Selection Magazine, March 2009

Toledo mayor issues layoff notices

If you live in the Toledo area, you've probably heard that Mayor Carty Finkbeiner issued layoff notices to more than 1,000 city employees. The layoff starts at the end of business Feb. 13, 2009 and the notice does not give a return date, though the mayor has previously said it will be for a week.

One city worker emailed me at WSPD with the exact text of his notice:

"The City of Toledo is experiencing serious financial problems. Unfortunately, in order to correct these problems, the City must reduce its work force through a layoff process. This action will be effective as of February 13, 2009. Your last day worked in your current position will be the close of business on February 13, 2009. A copy of this letter has been forwarded to your union."

Carty also issued a press release:

City of Toledo Issues Additional Layoff Notices

Additional layoff notices were sent out today to City of Toledo employees, announcing a Citywide layoff, affecting all non-Safety Service employees. This layoff will begin on Friday, February 13. All layoff and recall procedures relating to the City's union contracts will be scrupulously followed.

Yesterday, while filling in for Brian Wilson from 3-6 p.m. on WSPD, I interviewed Alan Cox, the president of AFSCME Local 2058 which represents the supervisory staff in the city. He said that the layoffs are supposed to be 'non-essential' personnel, but that 'non-essential' is not defined in any of the city contracts.

Ken, the city worker who emailed me, works in the Water Reclamation Department. Cox said even the chemists in the lab at the Water Department are getting notices. Many would say that Water Reclamation is an 'essential service.'

City leaders are bemoaning the lack of revenue as a result of the economic conditions. However, the economic conditions are just a small part of the problem.

Recently, there have been major news stories about our unemployment rate. In the most recent numbers, it shows Lucas County as having the highest unemployment of all the urban counties in Ohio. That's bad - I agree.

However, what's worst is that, for the last 20 years or so, Lucas County has had the highest unemployment rate of all the urban counties in the state. This was nothing new! And it calls into question the local political leadership that has 'led' this county into this situation and keeps us there.

Despite facing budget deficits for a number of years, city council and the mayor still spent money frivolously in 2008: pools, Easter Egg hunts, hip-hop concert, flowers, banners, contests, etc. And we did not have a new police and fire class, despite their plans for starting such classes as the end of this year.

Now, Carty is planning on shutting down the city for a week in February. While many might not see a difference in their daily lives if the city was closed for a week, that's a problem. The work that would be performed during those five days will still need to be done and there is the inevitable clash with unions over what constitutes an 'essential function.' On the other side of the argument, if we have 'non-essential' tasks that we can go without, why do we have them in the first place?

If a department can go without a receptionist by having other staff members cover the desk and phones while doing their regular jobs, why do we even need the receptionist in the first place?

Instead of laying off a multitude of people for a week, why not actually do a complete review of all city positions and eliminate - permanently - the ones we can truly do without? Can positions or tasks be consolidated or realigned to permanently reduce the size of the government payroll? I know - that's a good question.

Toledo is also going to change its garbage collection schedule. Instead of using overtime on a Saturday 13 times a year to cover for the holidays, we'll just "LEAP" ahead a day in our garbage pickup. Other cities do this and it works well for them, so I don't have much of an issue with the plan. But if we can save millions by going this route, would we save even more by privatizing the service? What about offering it out to bid just to see how much we might save as a result of letting a private contractor do the work? If we're really looking to save money, why only save a little when we could save a lot?

The biggest problem with all the things being suggested or promoted by the city as ways to save money is that they're only little steps when what we truly need is a complete overhaul.

Such an approach would require several things: 1) the ability to recognize that a complete overhaul is exactly what is needed, 2) the ability to communicate the need and the benefits effectively to the public, 3) the strength of conviction to actually follow through with such a review and implementation and 4) the political will to stand up to opposition and make it happen.

Sadly, I don't think we have such abilities in Toledo - at least, certainly not in our current elected officials or even in the individuals who have expressed an interest in being mayor. So what we'll get, instead, is a piecemeal approach that ends up alienating just about everyone while potentially costing us more in the long run than the individual efforts purport to save.

And citizens, frustrated with the perpetual state of our city, will continue to quietly leave.