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The bad news on the economy just keeps rolling in. The national unemployment rate hit 8.1%, the highest in 26 years, and in California the numbers were even worse, topping 10%. There was plenty of bad news floating around locally:
CUSD LAYOFF NOTICES APPROVED
More bad news from the Claremont Unified School District. The CUSD Board of Education voted Thursday to issue 34 layoff notices to CUSD teachers and nurses. The notices aren't final, but they are the necessary first step if the district has to go through with the layoffs in June.
Wes Woods II reports on the layoff notices in the Daily Bulletin, saying that CUSD is facing a $3-4 million budget deficit through the end of the 2009-10 school year. Woods article said that boardmember Steven Llanusa was the only one to vote against issuing the notices.
Woods also explained some of the actions the CUSD board has already taken:
[CUSD Assistant Superintendent Devon] Freitas said there was already 12 staff position cuts from the district in February.
Among those positions eliminated then were the director of an adult school, director of a child development programs and director of secondary educations, Freitas said.
Lisa Shoemaker, assistant superintendent of business services, said the cuts and reductions were being used to address a $3 million to $4 million deficit for the district in the 2009-10 school year.
JOURNALISTS TAKE THEIR HITS, TOO
Print journalism continues its bleeding. You may have noticed the Los Angeles Times California section disappeared, getting folded into the main, front page section. The Times advertised this as good thing, saying that you can now get all your local and national news in one place, but the fact is it was a cost cutting measure.
LA Observed blogger Kevin Roderick gave the reasons for the Times' decision to ax the local section:
The backdrop, of course, is the economy and the Times' continued free-fall in ad revenue. By getting rid of California, the Times can print the more profitable Calendar section at night and eliminate the expense of a second, earlier daily press run. (Times presses can only handle four sections per run, as this post from last Friday discussed. Note, too, that pressmen are the Times' only unionized workers.)
The move will apparently be spun as an enhancement in local coverage, but Times officials are bracing for howls of protest from print readers who already have been canceling subscriptions over the paper becoming thinner and less well edited. Some LAT officials fear this might be a tipping point. "We can't keep alienating our core readers," a senior person told me. Papers that have tried doing away with just their Business sections have been stunned by the backlash; the Orange County Register reversed its decision to mollify readers.
The added efficiency the Times gained by eliminating the California section allowed the paper's management to show some love for their press workers by eliminating 63 pressroom jobs, reports Ed Padgett.
The Times seems to be giving new meaning to the phrase "Stop the presses!"
And Gary Scott's blog informs us that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wants to top the LA Times and completely eliminate its print edition, along with 75 percent of its staff.
Meanwhile, over at the Daily Bulletin and at other Dean Singleton-owned LA News Group papers, employees who have survived layoffs have been forced into mandatory furloughs. David Allen had a seven-day unpaid break but was back in the media mix this week with new columns and a few posts about what he did on his forced vacation.
CLAREMONT STILL WAITING ON THAT $850,000
In case you were wondering if the state's $42 billion budget fix was going to free up that $850,000 grant for Claremont's Padua Ave. Park, Magic 8-ball's answer would be, "Ask again later."
You may recall that the San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC) grant to Claremont was approved but never delivered because California placed a moratorium on issuing new bonds.
October 14, 2008, Claremont City Councilproudly receives $850,000 rubber check from RMC
Although the state has balanced its books (for the moment), Claremont will have to wait a while longer before California can go back to issuing voter-approved bonds for projects like Padua Ave. Park. The RMC's website had a notice:
BUDGET IS SIGNED
BUT THERE IS NO IMMEDIATE CHANGE FOR RMC PROJECTS
Updated March 2
While adoption of a state budget is a critical step in addressing the freeze on sate bond funds, the Department of Finance has advised state agencies that: the cash flow results of the solutions adopted in this budget agreement need to be analyzed. After this process, the State Treasurer’s Office will begin to proceed with bond sales. But it will be some time before we know the amount of cash available to address past and future obligations for these projects, as well as past obligations for the nearly 5,400 projects and grants that have been stopped. It will be some time before the projects and grants that have already shut down will be able to restart. It will also take time to determine when any new projects will be able to start.
As a result of the bond freeze, on December 18, 2008, the RMC notified all grantees to stop work on all bond funded projects and laid off several consultant staff. The remaining staff continue to work with our grantees — in particular to update files and prepare billing for all work performed prior to December 18, 2008. In addition, the Governor has declared that all state employees will be furloughed two days per month; it is expected that our offices will be closed on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month beginning February 6, 2009.
At this time we do not know when payments for expenses incurred prior to December 18 will be released, when the freeze will be lifted on existing projects, and when we will be able to authorize new grants. For information on the status of a specific project, please contact us directly.
Needless to say these are challenging times and there are no certainties regarding when the freeze will be lifted. Although updates to this website will be done irregularly, we will update this page with new information as it becomes available.
Among the laid off staff was Claremont's own Tim Worley, a former city Traffic and Transportation commissioner, who was the RMC's water policy director.
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