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Gloria Mercado reads a sign on the doors of the Finance Department after reading the sign stating that the office was closed due to furloughs Friday. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

City of Lodi furloughs have some residents scratching their heads

By Maggie Creamer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Saturday, March 28, 2009 8:19 AM PDT

Comments (23 comment(s))

While holding a utility bill in her hand, Stella Rodriguez walked toward the Lodi Finance Department before she noticed a bright yellow sign on the door. Stopping in front of the door, she asked, “Is it closed?”

Rodriguez is one of seven people who went to the finance building to pay bills during a 20-minute period on Friday afternoon.

With city offices locked and workers off during the first city furlough, residents had to either put payments in the drop slot or simply leave and wait to return Monday.

“I feel sorry for people who work here because if you are not working 40 hours a week, it’s tough,” Rodriguez said.

The Lodi City Council has already approved another three furlough days — April 24, May 29 and June 26. The council’s next yearly budget starts in July, and council members have indicated they will consider extending the furloughs.

City staff has been preparing for the furloughs in advance to cause as little disruption in services as possible, Parks Superintendent Steve Dutra said.

“Hopefully, the employees are getting some rest and relaxation going into the busy season,” Dutra said.


Mike Schneider, of Lodi, paid his utility bill using the drop box Friday. "I had to go buy a money order because I normally pay with cash," Schneider said after learning the finance office was closed due to the city's first furlough. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

Personally, Dutra said, he was using the day to work in his small vineyard and visit two family members in the hospital.

For management analyst Janet Hamilton, it was a day to get things done around the house.

“It’s a good day to catch up on things that need to be done, like running errands and picking up dog food,” Hamilton said.

With the sound of voices in the background as she spoke on the phone, Deputy City Attorney Janice Magdich said she was enjoying her day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium with her husband and 5-year-old twins. And that was just the beginning of a weekend spent at the beach.

City Attorney Steve Schwabauer also took the opportunity to hang out with his children at home. He said that in the morning he also enjoyed the weather during a bike ride.

Furloughs at a glance

  • Other furlough days: April 24, May 29 and June 26
  • What is still open: Emergency services and Hutchins Street Square, including the pool
  • What is closed: Finance Department, City Hall, Lodi Public Library, Parks and Recreation, the Lodi Animal Shelter, code enforcement, police records and property divisions.
  • City savings through the furloughs: At least $109,456.
  • Variations: Firefighters are doing staggered furloughs so as not to disrupt service. Police officers are not doing furloughs, but instead are taking other cuts. The maintenance and operations union also voted to take an extra two-day furlough instead of no longer having the city match the employees’ retirement plan.
    News-Sentinel staff

    • And Lodi Utilities Director George Morrow said he was spending most of the day driving back from a California Municipal Utilities Association meeting in Southern California,

    “I’ll stop off in Pasadena to remember the old country,” he said in reference to where he worked from 1988 to 1994.

    And while the city’s employees tried to keep themselves busy, Angelo’s employee Jesus Rivera wondered if the furlough day was one of the reasons the restaurant was slow.

    “Usually, we have this whole section full,” he said pointing to about 10 empty tables at the front of the School Street restaurant.

    Contact reporter Maggie Creamer at maggiec@lodinews.com or read her blog City Buzz.

    Reader Feedback

    Lodian wrote on Apr 2, 2009 9:36 AM:

    " Observer wrote on Mar 29, 2009 6:33 PM:

    " I'm curious......was there anyone who was incovenienced by the work furlough day. "


    No. "

    Report Abuse

    dyan wrote on Apr 2, 2009 8:06 AM:

    " No matter how hard a public employee works, the bottom line is they produce no income. It's the workers in the private sector that have to make a profit for themselves as well as support all those sucking on the system.
    Now Obama and his gang just want to add more suckers - even 250,000 just to "manage this insame "stimulus" package! "

    Report Abuse

    S & W 500 wrote on Mar 31, 2009 5:30 PM:

    " Thanks OTH! "

    Report Abuse

    2much wrote on Mar 31, 2009 1:32 PM:

    " I often hear how worthless City employees are. Have you ever tried to get waited on in a Lodi store?

    Maybe its the town. "

    Report Abuse

    getalonglodi wrote on Mar 30, 2009 9:11 PM:

    " It must be the gnomes. Otherwise how did I flush the toilet, dry clothes, draw water for a bath, drive down a street, take my kids to the park, ride the bus, check out the latest novel, pay my bill online or in person, and read about a house saved from fire with the aide of a truck kept operating by a mechanic, or a judge saved from a murderous attack with the aid of a dispatcher waiting for my emergency call. Certainly not the work of work force predisposed to sloth so again it was clearly the gnomes! Thanks Lodi employees. Your patrons are not all ingrates! "

    Report Abuse

    yeah you wrote on Mar 30, 2009 7:42 PM:

    " I washed windows of cars stopped at the Kettleman Lane offramp and stole some copper. "

    Report Abuse

    peek wrote on Mar 30, 2009 10:43 AM:

    " I huddled in the corner of my room and cried all day on my furlough day. Feel vindicated now? "

    Report Abuse

    ameriCAN wrote on Mar 29, 2009 7:34 PM:

    " So i guess all firemen, police, teachers, butchers, iron workers, water, sewer, park rangers, ect.. are all lazy and dont work at all remember that next time you need one. I bet you have a few in your family tree. "

    Report Abuse

    Observer wrote on Mar 29, 2009 6:33 PM:

    " I'm curious......was there anyone who was incovenienced by the work furlough day. "

    Report Abuse

    LodiSafeway wrote on Mar 29, 2009 6:25 PM:

    " dragonfaire - basic human nature dictates that public employees do not work "every bit as hard as the private sector," as you contend. There is no requirement on the public side for results; that stimulus doesn't exist, therefore psychologically people who hold these jobs are not compelled to do their very best, every day. Are there exceptions to this "rule?" Of course there are, just as there are many private sector workers who are lazy and lack the requisite motivation to work hard. But no one can deny that it is very difficult to unload a "civil servant" who doesn't produce; the paperwork alone is staggering. On the private side, at least in California, one can be let go for no reason at all - that alone is sufficient motivation for many. "

    Report Abuse

    OTH wrote on Mar 29, 2009 3:26 PM:

    " S & W 500

    Rolling on the floor laughing my a$$ off. "

    Report Abuse

    S & W 500 wrote on Mar 29, 2009 9:55 AM:

    " Why not fire the non-productive city employees, if they exist, to free up funds to keep services available that WE pay for! "

    Report Abuse

    S & W 500 wrote on Mar 29, 2009 9:54 AM:

    " what is roflmao? "

    Report Abuse

    native wrote on Mar 29, 2009 8:49 AM:

    " I just have a hard time feeling sorry for some of these workers when you drive by a job they are doing per say on a street or a city improvement site and 8 out 10 are standing there with coffee mugs watching one guy on a shovel.... "

    Report Abuse

    Whoa Nellie! wrote on Mar 28, 2009 11:07 PM:

    " Citizen, nice jabs at Dragon.

    Just think, according to Dragon, the good ol' USofA would be a third world country if not for unions.

    Yes, because all great inventions of the last 100 years were done by union members, right? roflmao... Just look at all of the great strides union workers have done to develop software for the new field of personal computers (insert sarcasm here)... Great union men like Wozniak & Jobs, Gates, the list goes on and on...

    Third World County? Pleeeezze. "

    Report Abuse

    citizen wrote on Mar 28, 2009 5:27 PM:

    " wow dragon your comments make you sound like a spoiled overpaid govt worker. You think other people besides city workers might also be hurting? You cant possibly think that people really beleive that city workers really work just as hard as private sector workers? My god I beleive it is almost impossible for city workers to lose their job unless they just totally screw up then I am sure the union would do everything to save your job, even if you deserved to be fired. "

    Report Abuse

    Whoa Nellie! wrote on Mar 28, 2009 2:52 PM:

    " My first impression of this article was, "What rock did these 7 just crawl out from under?" Sure, not everyone reads the paper, I know that. The story was a stupid idea, and I agree that just interviewing Management types is very misleading.

    AmeriCAN, your comments are so typical of pro union flag wavers (hello Loadeye!). Those service workers you speak of who are about to lose their homes because they will lose a day a months pay are the same people who should not have been given loans to begin with, let alone adjustable rate type of crap. If you can not afford a fixed rate loan don't buy a home... it's a huge gamble, and now all of these "American Dream" pie-in-the-sky folks are going down the foreclosure road. It's a shame. And those "mortgage brokers" are nothing but crooks. Many inflated applicants earnings, knowing they could never afford the home, but they made their commissions. Crooks, all of them. "

    Report Abuse

    lynn wrote on Mar 28, 2009 1:37 PM:

    " Maybe they should run for city council and get that extra $900 a month. That could help. ameriCAN it is tough for everyone right now, not just the service workers. The gov't says they need more money and the taxpayer is tired of paying. What the state did with tax increases instead of spending cuts across the board will delay California's recovery and that hurts everyone. "

    Report Abuse

    ameriCAN wrote on Mar 28, 2009 12:47 PM:

    " Talk to the service workers with young families who had to take 6 days off in the next 4 months and will be loosing their homes. Most of them already had extra jobs after work to keep up and now those second jobs are hard to find. I bet they wish they got nice raises like the council and upper management to help with the fridays off to go to the beach or work around their estates that we tax payers help pay for. "

    Report Abuse

    lynn wrote on Mar 28, 2009 11:29 AM:

    " dragonfaire: Union membership for 2008 was 12.4% of employed wage and salary workers in the United States. Your claim that we would be on par with a third world country without them is not correct. I think the furlough days are better than lay offs. "

    Report Abuse

    reader wrote on Mar 28, 2009 9:33 AM:

    " After reading this article I'm left with the impression that all city employees are working in their vineyards or vacationing at the beach. I think that this was the wrong impression to give and irresponsible of the author to not interview employees other than management. I believe if that had been done you would have discovered that the furloughs are hurting the budgets of most city families. "

    Report Abuse

    dragonfaire wrote on Mar 28, 2009 9:17 AM:

    " The idea is not to punish the workers, but to save money in the budget. The public has taken it upon themselves to use this financial crisis, caused by the failings of the Bush Administration, to take out their frustration on all Government workers. What the public is missing is that many workers' rights are strengthened at the insistence of unions. Regardless of what you think of any union, this Country would be on par with the third world countries without them. I am not saying that unions haven't gone over the top, the unions are now learning moderation as well. But every single time the Government stips away more rights of American workers, EVERY AMERICAN and Californian pays the price. Full time jobs above minimum wage can be replaced with unskilled minimum wage workers without justification. Your employer can now reduce your work week, cut your pay to minimum wage, and point right to Arnold and say it's fine. Please keep this in mind when you begin to criticize Public employees, who work every bit as hard as the private sector. Many of us left the private sector after losing jobs when CEO's ruined our companies. "

    Report Abuse

    native wrote on Mar 28, 2009 9:04 AM:

    " From the sounds of it most of them enjoyed the day off. No one was complaining and some even treated it as a small holiday. HHHMMMMM.... "

    Report Abuse

    Comments on this story are now closed.

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