ORANGE : City Hall Shuts as Furlough Plan Begins

The doors were locked and the lights were off at Orange City Hall on Friday. The city’s four libraries were closed, and residents seeking aid went wanting at the Community Services Department.

Friday was the first day that City Hall shut down, and some people with city business seemed angry or puzzled over the closure.

The reduction in service is the result of a decision by the City Council to furlough city employees each Friday and cut their pay by 10% to close a $1-million budget gap.

Only essential police and fire services are unaffected by the furlough plan.

But all was not quiet at City Hall on Friday. People unaware of the furlough policy tried to enter City Hall, only to see orange signs announcing the new hours and a newspaper article detailing the city’s budget crisis.

At the Main Library at 101 N. Center St., would-be patrons encountered locked doors and other puzzled people.

The notice posted on the library doors contained the new hours but no explanation for the cutback in service.

Back over at City Hall, some city workers seemed unable to leave their jobs. Councilman Fred L. Barrera sneaked into his office through a back-door entrance to pick up an itinerary for an Orange Unified School District tour.

And while he was on the premises, Barrera decided to return some phone calls and take care of some pressing matters. In fact, he ended up calling City Manager Ron Thompson at home with a question that he decided needed a quick answer.

“I always try to stop in once a day,” Barrera said. “It will take a long time to get used to” the shutdown.

Despite the furlough plan, construction workers continued with the renovation of City Hall. And back in the computer room, contract employees from CMSI Inc. were busy servicing equipment.

“We’re down to a skeleton crew,” said Buddy Beall, the regional area manager of the group. “We probably won’t stay the whole day. We just have to make sure things are going.”

But most city employees found other uses for their new day off. Scott Morgan, assistant to the city manager, said that he planned to take his dog to the vet.

City Clerk Marilyn J. Jensen said she was going to spend the day baby-sitting her 1-year-old granddaughter.

And administrative assistant Patti Van Vorst was contemplating searching for a second job to make up for her 10% loss in salary.

“You don’t realize how tight your budget is till something like this happens,” she said.