Cuts Mean Good People Leave The City: THE VOTER

It’s not just the slashed employees who lose when city employee cuts are implemented. It’s us too.

When you have to cut as deeply as would be needed to salvage the budget, the sheer numbers dictate that you will cut people who were doing valuable work for the people of this community. When they go, you also cut off the corporate memory they have and, in many cases, remove experience and expertise that was teaching and leading new or junior employees.

One of the best ways to keep re-inventing the wheel and/or making the same mistakes over and over again is to remove the people who’ve been there, done that and learned from it. You also sever all the networks and connections they had with other areas of the city, within the ‘industry’ and with the community. Partnerships and trust that’s been years in the making are gone overnight and may be difficult to re-establish. If they can be resurrected, it will take time – time that the city doesn’t have.

I know a number of people, valuable employees, who were cut in the last round of slash-and-burn who would have otherwise stayed with the city until they retired. After they were cut, they went elsewhere and have, in several instances, risen to the top of their profession and/or been able to make contributions that might not have been possible had they stayed in the city’s employ. Definitely our loss and someone else’s gain.

The Voter is a respected community activist and long-time Bulldog commenter who prefers to keep her identity private.

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