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<br />6.1G <br />Page 2 <br /> <br />August 24, 2009 <br /> <br />Hon. George A. Miram <br />Judge of the Superior Court <br />Hall of Justice <br />400 County Center, 2nd Floor <br />Redwood City, CA 94063-1655 <br /> <br />Honorable George A. Miram: <br /> <br />On behalf of the City Council of Redwood City I am pleased to submit Redwood City's <br />response to the Grand Jury's report "Reversing the upward trajectory of employee costs <br />in the Cities of San Mateo County." <br /> <br />First, on behalf of tbe entire City Council I applaud the grand jury for examining what <br />has become a very significant issue for Cities in the County..The grand jury's analysis of <br />the situation and recommendations included in tbe report are outstanding and we <br />appreciate the quality of the overall report. The recommendations also supports our <br />City's goal of having our structural budget defteit balanced within two years. <br /> <br />I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight various initiatives that have been <br />underway here in Redwood City that are consistent with some of the recommendations in <br />the report. First, employees in the City's five bargaining units and the executive team <br />agreed to a salary freeze in the current fiscal year. Although some of the units had fixed <br />, increases scheduled in their labor contracts, they waived those increases in the current <br />fiscal year due to the City's financial situation. Additionally, the City has been managing <br />vacancies by redistributing work or examining new ways to deliver services to save <br />money. This includes contracting out the City's electrical shop to automating some of our <br />internal processes such as personnel changes and applicant tracking. The City has been <br />forced to eliminate fourteen vacant positions and eleven filled positions this fiscal year so <br />process re-engineering will continue. <br /> <br />In addition to these advancements, the City Council has led a pioneering effort by <br />developing and adopting a strategic plan. Similar to what is developed by corporate <br />America, the strategic plan is designed to align fmancial and human resources around <br />Council's strategic initiatives. Those initiatives have clear objectives to be carried out by <br />staff. One of those initiatives includes long-term planning which includes the objective of <br />creating wage and benefit plans that attract and retain a competent workforce while being <br />fiscally responsible to the taxpayer. Council has begun to discuss our long-term <br />philosophy as it relates to compensation and we have directed staff to continue to work <br />