Beth Bandy Deputy Director of County Personnel explains: "If the budget goes as proposed and all the people who received layoff notices are actually laid off and there's no other job concessions or vacancies or any other funding then we know about 190 people could lose their jobs."
The layoff notices target:
The Sheriff's OfficeThe District Attorney
Probation
Public Works
Public Health
Sheriff Margaret Mims has been bracing for the cuts to her department. It will be horrible to layoff that many sheriff's However we're working to see what we can do to mitigate that." Mims said.
Cutting law enforcement officers is politically unpopular, and members of the Board of Supervisors have indicated they will do whatever they can to avoid those cuts. Eric Schmidt, a deputies union representative thinks the deputies jobs can be saved. "I'm optimistic, I feel pretty good that we can bridge the gap with the Sheriff's Office, the board has been true to me that they are committed to preserving public safety."
But the District Attorney's office is also facing cuts. DA Elizabeth Egan says that without enough prosecutors to handle cases, public safety is also jeopardized. "There are consequences when you don't have deputy DA's there to get those cases filed, if we don't file them in 48 hours the person's released."
The Personnel department says many laid off workers will have the option of moving to positions in other departments.
