--
Apparently, without even a vote by the Oro Valley Council, the town's "Hiring Freeze" has gone "poof"! The hiring freeze started in November 2008 and was extended on May 27, 2009 in a special session of the Town Council. It was implemented by the previous council as one way of balancing the Oro Valley budget. Now, two years later, the "Hiring Freeze" is suddenly gone!
Apparently the Town's Interim Town Manager, Greg Caton, feels that the hiring freeze doesn't apply to him! So, unlike his predecessors, David Andrews and Jerene Watson, he will be hiring people as he sees fit. And that's that!!
How did all this happen?
November 15, 2010: Greg Caton, Assistant Town Manager from Durango Co, becomes Assistant Town Manager in Oro Valley.
June 12, 2011: Town Manager Jerene Watson resigns to take the deputy city manager position in Flagstaff. By the way, Watson was making a whopping $155,000 per year. (I gotta get me one of them Oro Valley jobs!)
June 30, 2011: Greg Caton, the Town's Assistant Town Manager becomes the Towns' Interim Town Manager.
August 11, 2011: Caton hires Misti Nowak for the "critical position" of communcations director. (We need a communications director like we need a hole in our head). The cost is $72,000 per year. (Man, I really do gotta get me one of them Oro Valley jobs!)
Here's a hoot: "Caton estimated the town is saving $240,000 this year by having Nowak take on several duties, and by not filling the assistant town manager position." (Explorer). In other words, the town is not going to fill the position that Caton formerly had, assistant town manager, because it isn't needed. Makes sense to us. We ponder: What was Caton doing for the six months he had that job if the job he was doing wasn't needed?
We understand that Caton has every intention of hiring more people.
Although we believe that the Town Council is the ONLY entity that can remove the hiring freeze, it appears that the Town Manager AND the Police Chief do as they wish.
So, while you were sleeping:
1. Oro Valley Town Manager Jerene Watson resigned
2. Greg Caton, former six-month Assistant Town Manager, became the Interim Town Manager
3. The Hiring Freeze, put in effect in 2008, confirmed in 2009 and never rescinded, went "Poof"
And, you, dear Oro Valley tax payer, will wind up footing the bill!
----
2 comments:
Maybe YOU were sleeping and are just now trying to catch up, Mr. Van Winkle.
You want to be informed. You bitch because you don't know what is going on and then you bitch when a communications person is hired. Hmmmmmmmmm.....seems a bit strange.
All you have to do is apply. Maybe you could get a job in the police department and go 'under cover' and be a whistle blower.
OV Objective Thinker (a.k.a Don Cox) does nothing to analyze the point that this article is trying to make: That the Interim Town Manager, Greg Caton is ignoring the hiring freeze and trying to make it go “POOF”. Don Cox tries to be “cute” and calls the Zeeman, Mr. Van Winkle, and babbles about the Zeeman going undercover in the police department. What does that have to do with the subject of the hiring freeze?
Greg Caton was not around in November 19, 2008 when the Town Manager, Dave Andrews, presented a possible action to implement a hiring freeze. If Greg Caton had bothered to go on his own Town Web Site he could have read the minutes from that meeting where the hiring freeze was put into effect by a motion of the Council 5-2
3. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO IMPLEMENT A HIRING FREEZE
Town Manager David Andrews stated the importance of taking a proactive approach during the current economic situation. He explained that it would need to be implemented on a case by case basis where the Town Manager would evaluate whether or not a position should remain unfilled.
He noted that the hiring freeze if approved would be in effect from November 19, 2008 through April 30, 2009.
MOTION: A motion was made by Council Member Gillaspie and seconded by Council Member Garner to approve the hiring freeze as presented by the Town Manager with the condition that any offer or need to extend an offer be immediately referenced to the Town Council for possible action. MOTION carried, 5-2 with Mayor Loomis and Vice Mayor Kunisch opposed.
Of course, Greg Caton and Don Cox will challenge that the hiring freeze is not in effect.
However, if they would do a little further research they would see that the hiring freeze was still in effect after April 30, 2009 in the Audio Recording of the May 27, 2009 Special Session of the Town Council.
Item L.* Discussion and possible action to continue or modify the Town's hiring freeze policy as adopted in November 2008
Mayor Loomis asks Dave Andrews (Town Manager) if he wants to continue the town policy of the hiring freeze.
Dave Andrews replied to Mayor Loomis that he would continue the town policy of a hiring freeze.
In the budget messages for the FY2009/2010, FY2010/2011, FY2011/2012 the Town Managers all state that the hiring freeze is still in effect:
• In the budget message for FY2009/2010, Dave Andrews states: “A hiring freeze was implemented in November of 2008, resulting in 8.96 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions being eliminated from the FY 2009/10 budget, saving $393,000.”
• In the budget message for FY2010/2011 Jerene Watson states: “ With a staff reduction over the past two years approaching 12 % of the workforce, we continued a hiring freeze implemented in November 2008 leaving most positions vacated in 2009 unfilled along with some new vacancies not beibg filled”.
• In the budget message for FY2011/2012 Jerene Watson states: “Eliminated 36 positions in this budget, of which 23 were vacant due to the 2008 hiring freeze, bringing total employee reductions to 60 over three years for a 15% reduction organization-wide”.
Post a Comment