City Weighs Layoffs of Staffers, Police

Hawaiian Gardens’ precarious financial condition has forced the City Council to consider laying off the entire Police Department and about a third of the City Hall staff.

In executive session Tuesday, the council voted to ask the Sheriff’s Department how much it would charge to patrol the one-square-mile city. Council members also decided to pass out pink slips to 20 city staff members, most of them recreation workers.

No layoffs are final, Mayor Pro Tem Ralph Cesena said, but something must be done soon to bridge a budget shortfall that is expected to reach $2.3 million by the end of June. He added that city voters’ rejection of an existing 6% utility users tax this month worsened the situation.

“We’re getting behind in all our bills,” Cesena said. “It’s a matter of economics.”

In a politically rough fiscal year marked by the recall of three council members, Hawaiian Gardens’ elected leaders had been hesitant to speak publicly about the possibility of cutting the popular 18-officer Police Department, especially in light of reports that the 2-year-old, $2.4-million force had been credited with chasing gang members out of the city.

Police Lt. Steven Frazier said he and other department staff members were disappointed, even though he had anticipated such a decision. Still, he said, the move to negotiate with the Sheriff’s Department should have been discussed in open session.

“People really didn’t know about it because it wasn’t on the agenda,” he said.