CA cities' hiring practices for services

from today's Sacramento Bee (3/2):

Cities spared pain of layoffs
Citrus Heights, Elk Grove and Rancho Cordova hired firms, not staff, that are easier to cut.
By Ed Fletcher - efletcher@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, March 2, 2008

"While Sacramento already has delivered pink slips to two dozen employees – and hundreds more may soon join them in the unemployment line – the cities of Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova and Citrus Heights aren't sweating layoffs.

That's because they didn't form large city work forces after they incorporated – they hired out.

Established over the last decade, the three cities adopted a different model than traditional cities: paying firms – not city workers – to handle city services.

Joe Chinn, Rancho Cordova assistant city manager, said contractors give the city short-term labor without long-term labor costs." ...

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