Workers Turn Thumbs Down on Pay Cuts : Budget: Survey by Oceanside City Council sought backing for 7% cut as an alternative to layoffs of some city employees.

Would you be willing to take a cut in your paycheck to save someone else’s job?

Asked that question in a recent survey ordered by the City Council, Oceanside city employees said, essentially: “Hell, no.”

“In reality, a lot of the comments aren’t printable,” interim City Manager Jim Turner said Wednesday of the anonymous responses to the survey. He has not made copies of the survey public, saying he had not finished reading them. But, judging from what he had read so far, “I would prefer not to release them.”

The survey asked all 861 city workers a single question: Would they be willing to take a 7% pay cut to save the jobs of those slated to be laid off or demoted?

About 20 city workers are scheduled to lose their jobs and many others could be demoted after July 1 to balance the budget. Turner has said he needs to slash the city’s operating budget--$57.5 million this year--to $54.2 million for the 1992-93 fiscal year because of shrinking revenues during the recession.

A summary of the survey results released Wednesday said 68% of the work force answered the question. Of those, 88% said no, 11% said yes, and 1% responded “maybe.”

Turner said he was not surprised.

“I had predicted it,” he said. “I would say a lot of it was just venting by employees who are frustrated by what’s happening with the economy and with the city finances.”

Around City Hall, employees were reluctant to say what they think of the budget cutting plans or the survey. “We’ve been told not to talk to the press,” said one.

But several workers said city employees are extremely bitter about the city’s budget problems and the way they are being handled, both by top managers and the City Council majority of Melba Bishop, Nancy York and Don Rodee.

“Most of the people I talked to said, ‘Why say yes?’ ” said one employee who asked not to be identified, “Because, if you do, a bunch of people will still get fired.

“It wouldn’t do any good . . . because they (the council majority) would still go ahead with their hatchet jobs, doing what they wanted to do.”

“There was a point where people were willing to do their part,” said another. But the council and top managers “are not even considering any creative alternatives. They just want to get rid of people.”

Council members Wednesday said they had not yet seen the survey but were not surprised by the results.

“I expected it,” Bishop said. “My husband said, if you asked if he’s going to cut his pay, he’d give the council an earful.”

“Obviously the employees are upset,” York said. ‘They are upset that the money isn’t there . . . but it is not realistic for the employees to expect us to raise taxes. We are not going to do that.”

Council members said they ordered the survey because, during budget workshops, citizens had suggested asking city workers if they were willing to take a pay cut.

Longtime city workers say morale is at an all-time low, with many angry not only at their bosses but at the council. The council has been deeply divided since November, 1990, when York and Rodee were elected and formed a voting bloc with Bishop.

An anonymous cartoon circulating around City Hall on Wednesday, entitled “Melba’s Reign,” shows Bishop reclining on a cloud while she is being fed grapes by her legislative assistant. Puppet strings extend from her hands to figures representing Rodee and York. Raindrops are falling on the figures of Mayor Larry Bagley and Councilman Sam Williamson Sr.

Bishop said she had not seen the cartoon, “but it sounds a little childish.” However, “if taking pokes at us makes them feel better, I think we’re big enough to handle it.”

Another cartoon shows a clerk frantically answering telephones, telling callers: “I’m sorry, but there’s no answer.” Surrounding her are the doors to city parking, waste disposal, building superintendent, public services, streets and parks offices. Each has a sign hanging on the doorknob saying, “Laid Off.”