1,052 jobs escape 'freeze' on city hiring

By Bob Young
Seattle Times staff reporter

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Related stories Examples of jobs that were exempted

The freeze has remained in place, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said, but city departments have received special waivers to hire people by making the case that positions need to be filled to deliver vital services. A panel of three executives who work for Nickels reviewed the waiver requests. To date, that panel has denied 140 requests, while approving 1,052.

As of March 23, the city had followed through and hired only 204 new employees since Nickels ordered the freeze. About half of those new hires were exempt from the freeze because they were police officers, firefighters, Municipal Court or public-utility employees. But Ceis said the city intends to fill all 1,052 slots that received waivers.

He said hiring is moving slowly in some cases because of lengthy advertising, interviewing and civil-service procedures. "It's a long process that can take three to four months," Ceis said.

The city has 10,150 full-time employees. In the past eight months, it has kept an average of 880 positions funded but unfilled.

Unfrozen positions include relatively lower-paying jobs, such as community-garden coordinator, which will cost taxpayers about $40,000 a year, and high-level positions, such as a light-rail strategic adviser, which is budgeted for $157,000 a year in salary and benefits.

Between those extremes, waivers have been granted for jobs ranging from transportation public-relations specialist, budgeted for $62,400, to purchasing manager, at $117,000 a year.

Ceis said he is not surprised by the large number of waivers approved or the relatively small number denied. He said the waiver process forces departments to be more disciplined about their hiring, so they try to fill only key jobs. That's why about eight waivers have been approved for every one denied, he said.

" 'Hiring freeze' is a bit of a misnomer. These are 'hiring controls,' " Ceis said.

When announced by the mayor's office in an Aug. 15 news release, the move was touted as an "immediate hiring freeze" aimed at making "city government live within its means."

Ceis stressed that the waivers do not mean city government is getting bigger. The total number of city jobs isn't growing, he said. Instead, people should balance the number of waivers granted against the fact that about 880 vacant city jobs have gone unfilled since the freeze was imposed.
 
"This isn't job growth. We haven't added 1,000 jobs," he said.

City officials were not able to say how much was saved by the freeze, or how much the waivers will cost.

But the fact the city has unfrozen so many positions troubles some City Council members, who note that the council hasn't played a part in granting freeze exemptions.

"I had no idea it was so extensive. Waivers are supposed to be the exception, not the rule," said Councilman Nick Licata. "This sends a signal that the city is not serious about running a lean machine because we're threatening to cut back on basic services and we're not willing to reduce our management levels."

In the past two years, Nickels and the council have cut $100 million in proposed city spending, including programs for homeless women and crime prevention on Capitol Hill, because Seattle's tax collections have not kept pace with rising labor and health-care costs.

When revenue forecasts looked bleak last year, Nickels ordered a hiring freeze with certain exceptions. Uniformed employees in the police and fire departments were exempt, as were positions in Municipal Court, which also deals with public safety. The law and legislative departments also were free to hire because they are overseen by elected officials other than Nickels.

Jobs funded by grants or voter-approved levies also were excluded from the freeze because their pay does not depend on the same mix of taxes that finances the $660 million general fund. Grant or levy-funded jobs do not compete against other general-fund positions, such as those in the police, fire, library, parks and transportation departments. But hiring for grant and levy-funded jobs still required a waiver as a bookkeeping control.

In October, Nickels also unfroze hiring in City Light and Seattle Public Utilities because those departments are financed by electric, water and garbage rates and don't compete for increasingly scarce general-fund dollars.

Since the freeze was put in place, waivers have been granted for 534 jobs that receive some general-fund support, including 376 jobs that are entirely paid for by that beleaguered fund. The other 518 waivers appear to be for jobs supported by grants or levies.

The unfrozen general-fund jobs were spread across virtually all city departments. Parks had the most, with 199 positions, many of which were for recreation leaders and attendants, who supervise programs at community centers on weekends and when permanent staff members are away on vacation, sick leave or training. Next was executive administration, with 59 jobs, followed by transportation with 45.

All waivers were approved by Finance Director Dwight Dively, Personnel Director Norma McKinney and Andrew Lofton, who was the mayor's chief of departmental operations until late last month, when he took a job at the Seattle Housing Authority.

McKinney said that even though the waiver committee handled an average of 40 requests a week and its three members were busy with their regular high-profile jobs, the general-fund positions for which waivers were sought received a thorough review.

In approving or denying a request, the three panelists rarely explained their decisions in writing. But the written arguments submitted by departments show what city government would have to give up if positions stayed frozen.

For example, consider the waiver granted for a "claims adjuster" position in the Executive Administration Department budgeted to cost $79,116 a year. The claims adjuster is expected to investigate and resolve about 450 claims a year against the city, ranging from minor property damage to catastrophic injuries. If the job stayed vacant, those 450 cases would have to be divided among the remaining two adjusters and their manager. This workload could lead to delays and delivery of "substandard customer service," as well as an end to training on loss prevention given to departments, "which likely would result in higher losses to the city."

But other openings seemed less crucial. For example, the Seattle Department of Transportation received a waiver for a public-relations position, budgeted to cost $62,400 in salary and benefits.

"This position uses the media, public meetings, mailings and even door-to-door visits to keep the public aware of SDOT's activities," said the department's waiver request. If the post remained vacant, the department would be "unable to convey information to the public beyond press releases" and "be unable to staff evening meetings in communities."

Councilman Peter Steinbrueck said the large number of exemptions "suggests that the hiring freeze is something of a sham."

Steinbrueck said the high percentage of exempted but still unfilled positions also suggested that either the positions were not linked to a "pressing need" or that there were other purposes served by getting a waiver, such as keeping a department's funding at a higher level. Having positions funded but unfilled might give departments money to spend on other things or provide a cushion against late-year unanticipated needs, he said.

Ceis maintained that was not true for the unfrozen slots — they eventually would be filled.

Licata said that still would fuel cynicism about government.

"What's the harm of approving positions and not paying for them? Nothing, except it doesn't seem to reflect a mentality of downsizing. It seems to reflect an attitude of maintaining things the way they are," he said.

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company