Should Water Departments Suffer in the Economic Crisis?

Many cities across America are in a similar situation right now. Poor planning, poor economy, and poor decision making has added up to poor cities. Some local governments are scrambling to stay afloat and most are instituting major cutbacks. Unions for city employees are rarely influential and the city councils are driven by political agendas. That leaves many city personnel in a very precarious position.

Most common city employees are paid out of a General Fund which gets its money mainly from tax dollars. This General Fund pays for public safety employees like fire and police, but also less noticeable employees like park and street maintenance workers and city hall staff. What the General Fund does not pay for are Water Department employees, and herein lies the problem with the way cities and unions are handling this economic crisis.

The biggest issue is with the fact that Water Department employees are not part of the General Fund and therefore not part of the "general problem". Not one penny of the cutbacks Water Department personnel may take will ever see the General Fund. In fact it is illegal to transfer funds from the Water Fund to the General Fund without voter's approval. If the Water Fund has a shortfall and the only way to make up a deficiency is by employee salary and benefit reductions, then so be it. However the only justification for Water Department cutbacks has been to say that employees need to take cuts for the good of the city, or to show team spirit, or to prove they are all working towards the same goal, or some other canned line.

On the other hand, the company line these days is also "We are running this like a business!" Fine, run it like a business then. What company would ever penalize a money making department just to save face with the non money making departments? Did Ford make cuts in the F150 department just to make the Pinto department feel better? No, they cut the Pinto department. That's how business works!

In a similar philosophy of team spirit, unions have not come to the aid of Water Departments. Unions have tried their best to negotiate for city personnel as a group. However, if a General Fund has a shortfall then that deficit has to be made up with either less employees in that fund or by all employees taking wage and benefit reductions. If the union wants to save jobs then they convince the people they represent that the right course to take is to accept reductions. Again this is a problem for the Water Department. If the union would endorse the cutting of jobs then the Water Department would not be affected. But when it's all for one and one for all then everyone suffers the consequences instead of an unfortunate few.

We don't envy those making decisions in the current economic state. Plus it's easier to complain about the choices they make then it is to stand up and plead a case. What we expect is that these decision makers put some thought into it though. If they want to run it like a business, then run it like a business. If they want to run it like a big happy family, then run it like a big happy family, but don't change the story to fit the crowd. Make some logical decisions. Give some reasonable justification for the decisions made. Only then will you have a business that functions or a family that succeeds.