HIRING FREEZE MELTS CITY HAS 239 MORE CIVILIAN WORKERS SINCE HAHN DECLARATION.

Byline: Beth Barrett and Rick Orlov Staff Writers

The city of Los Angeles has hired 239 more civilian employees than left their city jobs since Mayor James Hahn imposed a ``hard'' hiring freeze on nonemergency workers in January 2003, the Daily News has learned.

In all, the city hired 1,136 civilian employees since Jan. 1, 2003, costing about $77 million a year in salaries and benefits. In addition, the city has awarded pay raises of about 3 percent - for a cost of $47 million - to all its employees during that period.

Together, those costs account for about 40 percent of the $300 million shortfall Hahn faced in drawing up his $5.3 billion budget for the coming year. The shortfall was largely covered by raiding $134 million from reserves and $60 million extra from the Department of Water and Power.

Councilman Dennis Zine - who as head of the Personnel Committee vowed 16 months ago that jobs will be filled only in an ``extreme emergency'' - was critical of Hahn and the City Council for granting number exemptions.

``Either we have a hard hiring freeze or we don't,'' Zine said. ``From what I've seen, we don't have much of a freeze.''

A computer analysis requested by the Daily News from City Administrative Officer Bill Fujioka shows that 897 civilian workers left their city jobs in 2003. The overall number of city workers stood at 33,851 in December, the latest figure available.

During the same time, 253 sworn police officers and firefighters left, while 679 were hired for a net gain of 426. Sworn positions, along with trash collectors, were exempt from the hiring freeze. The increase in sworn personnel costs the city about $42 million annually.

``There is a balance,'' Fujioka said. ``Yes, there is a need to save money, but there also is a need to continue critical services.''

Councilman Bernard Parks, who heads the council's Budget and Finance Committee that also reviews hiring exemptions, said he was satisfied that recent hires were justified.

``These are all for critical jobs,'' said Parks, who is exploring a run for mayor. ``Most of them have been only in the past few months, so the costs aren't that great, or we are talking about jobs like police officers, firefighters and sanitation workers.

``One of the reasons we built up the reserve fund like we did was to be able to afford to hire for critical jobs.''

Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, who is challenging Hahn for mayor in next year's election, said it was an issue of being candid with the public.

``Either you have a freeze or you don't,'' Hertzberg said. ``I'm not going to quibble over whether the jobs filled were needed or not, but you have to make the case with the public about why the jobs are needed. You can't talk out of both sides of your mouth.''

State Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, another candidate for mayor next year, questioned the city's commitment to the freeze.

``You'd have to say it doesn't sound like much of a hiring freeze. If they are doing something like this, it further diminishes the level of trust the general public has with the city.''

Deputy Mayor Doane Liu said only a fraction of the vacant positions were filled, noting 3,900 jobs remain open.

``The hiring freeze is a very nonsurgical way to cut personnel costs,'' Liu said. ``(We) have to lift it every now and then to fill critical positions. But we've been very careful to encourage hiring into direct-service positions and not so much mid-level management.''

Liu said many of the new employees were in areas that pay for themselves through fees or fines, like building plan checking and parking enforcement.

Other jobs are paid for through bonds or grants.

And some hiring, such as for recreation and parks or the library, is necessary for summer programs.

``You have to have referees and coaches; there are a lot of summer hires.''

Fujioka, whose office oversees department heads' requests for the hiring freeze exemptions, also emphasized many positions were funded out of special revenues, but he could not immediately provide a breakdown.

The fiscal 2003 freeze was quietly allowed to lapse at the end of June when the council approved this year's budget - amid assurances revenues appeared sufficient - and was not reinstated again until late October.

In July, as soon as the freeze came off, the council hired 42 people for their own staffs as new members took office.

The Bureau of Sanitation hired 163 people while losing 129 - a net gain of 34. Fujioka said those positions are supported by special revenues.

The General Services Department added 115 people, while 90 left the city, a gain of 25. The department is doing more in-house work on new police and fire stations, and animal shelters paid for through bonds because the strong construction market has driven up prices.

The Library Department hired 15 people in June when the freeze was in effect, and 12 more the following month to staff up for its summer programs.

The Department of Transportation hired 43 people in June and July in part because the city added a new class of parking enforcement officers.

``The big pop came on July 1,'' when the new budget took effect, Fujioka said. ``A lot (of department heads) wait until then to make the appointments.''

Despite the three-month window when employment was unfrozen last year, more than 60 percent of the new hires were made during official freeze periods, CAO records show.

In January 2002, Hahn ordered a freeze on hiring, and while it was never officially rescinded, it became so watered down that thousands of exemptions were sought by department heads, and approved - for the most part unanimously - by the council.

In January 2003, Hahn once again vowed a tough hiring freeze - after the Daily News disclosed about 4,000 positions had been exempted over the previous six months, when 400 had been authorized. That cost the city about $28 million in salaries and benefits annually.

Hahn ordered the new freeze, which was to have wiped out all exemptions that had not yet been filled, in the face of an anticipated $300 million budget hole, driven in part by a series of budget cuts former Gov. Gray Davis had announced.

But while the January 2003 freeze signaled a harder scrutiny of requests, clamped down on equipment purchases and stopped hiring for grant-funded

positions, it did not close the door on civilian hiring.

Fujioka said city officials constantly monitor the state situation, and make adjustments to finish each year with a balanced budget.

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com

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LOS ANGELES HIRING FREEZE

SOURCE: Los Angeles City Administrative Office