City to Attack Smog With New Schedule : Santa Clarita: Workers cheer a plan giving them some 3-day weekends in a bid to cut commuter trips.

Morale at Santa Clarita City Hall is at an all-time high, and not just because of the holidays.

Beginning early next year, the city’s 160 full-time employees will get every other Friday or Monday off in exchange for working nine nine-hour days in each two-week period, officials said Monday.

The program, designed to help fight smog by reducing the number of commuting trips, sent holiday spirits soaring even higher Monday at City Hall.

“You mean it’s true? I’m so, so excited,” said Debbie Porter, a city receptionist who drives the eight miles from Castaic alone each day.

Santa Clarita is the first mid-sized city in northern Los Angeles County to institute the program for all full-time employees in order to comply with commuter-reduction regulations established by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Other cities in the area--including Palmdale, Glendale and Burbank--are pursuing more traditional means of reducing commuter trips, such as bus subsidies and van pools. Cities in the western San Fernando Valley--such as Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Westlake Village--are not required to reduce the number of commuting trips because they employ fewer than 100 people at a single site.

Lancaster is the only other mid-sized city in the area to offer employees the option of working shorter weeks, a city spokeswoman said. However, only 75 of the city’s 250 employees are eligible, she said, and 50 participate.

Elsewhere, the compressed workweek is gaining popularity among organizations that employ more than 100 workers at a single site in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, said Paula Levy, an Air Quality Management District spokeswoman.

About 26%, or more than 2,000, of the 7,900 major employers in the four counties have submitted commuter-reduction plans that include shorter workweeks, Levy said. The list of employers includes the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County as well as many private companies, she said.

By instituting the compressed workweek, the city of Santa Clarita hopes to reduce the number of commuting trips by at least 50 per week, said Jenny L. Roney, the city’s personnel director. A survey of 104 employees conducted in September showed that most workers commute alone, making 416 solo trips weekly, she said.

Some cities have been reluctant to offer a shorter workweek because they fear that it will disrupt services and “lead to administrative headaches,” said Mike Mischel, an associate engineer in Palmdale who prepared that city’s plan for the district.

“We’ll be watching Santa Clarita closely to see if their program is successful,” said Nancy Walker, a Lancaster spokeswoman. Lancaster now allows only maintenance workers to opt for shorter weeks, hoping that will improve efficiency in jobs that require much preparation and cleanup time, such as restriping city streets.

Santa Clarita officials said they hope to avoid reducing service to the public by staggering the days off so that only half the employees are absent each Friday or Monday. In addition, another 70 part-time or temporary employees will work a traditional 40-hour week, they said.

The program is also intended to improve morale, City Manager George Caravalho said. City employees are generally happy with their jobs but often request compressed workweeks in meetings with administrators, he said.

As the news spread Monday around Santa Clarita City Hall, morale indeed seemed to improve markedly.

Bob Nelson, a building engineer, said he welcomes the opportunity to eliminate a two-hour round-trip commute from Lancaster every two weeks.

“I teach building-related courses at a community college, and this will give me a chance to prepare,” Nelson said.

Bruce Abbott, an associate city planner, said he will spend his extra days off bicycling. Like many city employees, he said he already works 10-hour days and will not mind coming in at 7:30 a.m.

The city also plans to make sure that the new program does not interfere with that most important aspect of work: getting paid. Roney said employees who are off on payday may pick up their checks the night before.

Times staff writer Aaron Curtiss contributed to this story.