Navarro, Golding to Reduce Staffs

Seeking to conserve cash during a lull in the election season, the mayoral campaigns of Peter Navarro and Susan Golding are mapping plans to cut paid staff members for the coming months.

The Navarro campaign is considering plans to furlough many of its seven paid staff members and convert others to part-time status, campaign manager Becky Mann said Thursday.

The campaign, which had spent $243,000 by mid-May, according to the most recent financial disclosure statements, is seeking to cut payroll expenditures totaling about $15,000 per month, Mann said. Navarro, founder of the managed-growth organization Prevent Los Angelization Now!, contributed $164,000 to the effort from his own pocket.

Already, field coordinator Peter Andersen has been furloughed until Aug. 15, fund-raising has been handed over to a volunteer, and two other staffers will take the month of June off without pay, Mann said. Further decisions will be made in coming days.

Navarro placed first in the mayoral primary with 38.2% of the vote. He will face Golding, a county Supervisor who took second place with 31.1%, in the Nov. 3 runoff election.

Golding will also be taking steps to reduce personnel expenses that totaled about $14,750 monthly, though specifics will not be available until next week, said Golding campaign consultant Tom Shepard.

Shepard said the campaign will continue paying a $3,000 monthly consulting fee, a fund-raiser’s $3,000 monthly fee and an accountant’s $1,250 monthly fee.

Golding had spent more than $275,000 as of mid-May, according to the financial records. A major fund-raising event is scheduled for the end of June, Shepard said.