Clayton's Mayor Discusses City Budget and the Fate of Patch

As I write this, I am not sure it will actually be posted.  Those of you who visit Patch regularly know that the future of the site is in question.

To top off the trauma that the Patch employees are going through, the CEO of Patch (an AOL Company) fired one of the top managers during a live conference call the other day – if it’s not the first time that has happened with 1000 people listening in on a conference call, it certainly is the most publicized. So those of us who enjoy a daily dose of Patch await its fate with the 15 local Patch employees. 

I bring this up because Clayton is going to experience a reduction in staffing effective January 1, 2014. In the course of resetting the city’s expense structure, the decision was made to offer a one-time opportunity to employees near retirement age. Nineteen employees have taken advantage of this early retirement opportunity known as the DROP program, and while a small number have already left, the majority will be leaving at the end of the year. With them will go many hundreds of years of service to our community – several individuals with over 40 years. We will clearly miss them all. Of the 19 positions, we have determined that 10 must be refilled, so on a net basis, we will have 9 fewer employees, a 5 % reduction in the work force. The 10 new employees will be earning much less than their predecessors, so the overall affect will be a substantial reduction in payroll.

The challenge, of course, has been how to manage this reduction in staff without affecting the services to which Clayton residents have grown accustomed. With the diligent efforts of the City Manager, the city staff and the Board of Aldermen, we believe we can pull this off with little noticeable change in service levels. Kudos to those employees who will be taking on additional responsibilities – we are very proud of the can-do attitude of our personnel.

With the DROP program and a host of other expenses that have been reduced, the deficit will be cut in half for the fiscal year starting October 1, 2013. How we cover the remaining deficit will be the subject of a future posting – if indeed there will be a Patch to carry it. If not, please check the Clayton website www.claytonmo.gov or future issues of the city’s  newsletter.

In the meantime, if you see a resume coming your way from any of the great Patch people, I am sure they would appreciate a look.