Oakland Reverses Dozens of Layoffs Amid Scramble to Close Massive Budget Deficit

Oakland is rescinding about a third of the pink slips it sent to city staffers last month as part of its plan to close a massive budget gap by the end of the fiscal year.

Twenty-four city workers who were issued layoff notices in January will now remain employed, City Administrator Jestin Johnson said this week, leaving 42 out of a job. Oakland plans to bump 34 other employees to different positions across its workforce.

“For all employees affected by these notices, I want you to know that you have my respect and appreciation,” Johnson said in an email to staff on Tuesday. “I know these layoffs will be difficult, and we will continue to provide support and resources to employees who are transitioning.”

The layoffs are the latest in a series of severe budget cuts Oakland is making to cure a $130 million budget deficit.

In December, Oakland announced plans to lay off more than 90 full-time equivalent employees to cut costs. At the time, Johnson said that Public Works, the Police Department and Human Services would be hit the hardest.

Just under 70 union employees received pink slips at the end of January, according to labor leaders. They pushed back, arguing that some of the cuts lacked thoughtfulness and respect for the unions’ collective bargaining agreements and employees who received less than a month’s notice of their terminations.

“The list of impacted employees contains many who have been with the city for decades, even when less senior staff are working in the same job,” the presidents of Oakland’s fire, electrical workers, engineers and public sector unions said in a letter to city staff earlier this month. “It also contains union members who are working alongside temporary staff and others where numerous vacant jobs exist in their classifications.”

According to Johnson’s update on Tuesday, six vacant positions have been eliminated, and updated notices have been sent to affected permanent employees with a layoff date of March 14.

He also said the budget team had finished its analysis for bumping permanent employees, some of whom will go back to previously held classifications, while others could be reassigned to different departments.

The city’s structural shortfall isn’t new, but its money problems were worsened last fall when the sale of its stake in the Oakland Coliseum stalled. Former Mayor Sheng Thao’s budget relied heavily on the one-time revenue to bridge this year’s funding gap — but now about $60 million in budgeted spending won’t be available until the sale is final, triggering a tight contingency plan.

The cuts — which some City Council members have called “draconian” — include reduced police spending, brownouts of two fire stations and other program cuts across departments.

Three council members have introduced legislation to reverse plans that would close four more firehouses through the end of the fiscal year, pulling revenue from the city’s self-liability and transportation funds, among other sources. While firefighters at the two stations shuttered last month have been reassigned, closing four more could mean layoffs and dire service interruptions, union president Seth Olyer previously told KQED.

The council will vote on that plan on March 4.