Palmdale Laying Off 6 More City Employees

Six city employees are being laid off because of a continuing slowdown in new housing and business construction, City Administrator Robert W. Toone Jr. announced Monday. It’s the fourth time in three years that Palmdale, one of the state’s fastest growing cities during the 1980s, cut its work force with layoffs.

Toone said that while preparing the fiscal 1994-95 budget, city officials determined that Palmdale would receive less money than expected in developer fees and would have less work to assign to some of its employees as a result of the economic downturn.

The layoffs will leave Palmdale with about 180 full-time employees.

Earlier this month, neighboring Lancaster, which has also been affected by a development slowdown, laid off four city workers.

Receiving layoff notices Monday in Palmdale were two public works inspectors, who check road work and other new projects; two building and safety inspectors, who check new homes and pools; a Planning Department secretary, and the assistant city engineer.

All of these employees will receive two weeks severance pay and compensation for any unused vacation or holiday time, said Sandra Lyn Jensen, the city’s director of human resources.

During the late 1980s, when new houses and businesses were built in Palmdale at a torrid pace, the city’s staff increased to more than 200 workers. But as development slowed, the city was forced to lay off 12 employees in May, 1991, 14 workers in February, 1992, and 11 more in June, 1992.

When City Council members review the proposed 1994-95 budget in the coming weeks, city staff members will also recommend the elimination of seven jobs that have been left unfilled over the past year, Toone said. Those positions are also in development-related departments.