ORANGE : Mayor’s Salary-Cut Plan Stirs Dissension

Sixty-nine dollars may not be a lot of money to some people, but it was enough to cause a flap on the City Council when Mayor Gene Beyer announced plans to return 10% of his $690 monthly salary to the city.

City officials, who are facing a budget crunch, have proposed a plan in which municipal employees would be furloughed for eight hours every two weeks--effectively cutting their salaries by 10%.

Beyer said council members should be willing to make the same sacrifice. “I propose that the mayor and City Council lead by example,” he said.

But Councilwoman Joanne Coontz, who is also running for mayor, said the council should not vote on the mayor’s proposal until its next meeting, since neither council members nor the public knew about the proposal before Tuesday.

“I think we should give advance notice of any proposals like this which affect us or the public,” Coontz said.

City officials should take a closer look at ways to trim costs, he added.

“We need to do a 10% reduction across the board,” Coontz said. “Let’s truly be stringent about what we do.”

Coontz suggested that council members consider cutbacks in their permitted expenses. Currently, each council member is granted a $1,600-a-year expense account.

Meanwhile, Councilman William G. Steiner said he supported Beyer’s suggestion for reducing council salaries.

“It’s a fine statement,” Steiner said.

However, he said that persuading employees under contracts to accept the furlough program will require touchy negotiations.

Echoing his views, a union representative told council members that all furlough plans and salary cuts must be addressed through the union.

“We understand the problem and want to work with the city,” said Richard Brown of the Orange County Employees Assn., which represents city workers. “We are prepared to negotiate.”