EXCERPT FROM: Times Press Recorder
By Mike Hodgson
Arroyo Grande plans to end its subsidy of the Children in Motion before- and after-school child care, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the program will end.
On a 4-1 vote Tuesday, the City Council approved a plan to increase program revenues and decrease costs.
But whether the efforts will offset the estimated current year’s $50,000 to $55,000 subsidy may hinge on whether a recreation employee decides to retire in December, allowing a staff reorganization.
Doug Perrin, director of Recreation and Maintenance Services, emphasized that the employee considering retirement will only do so if it’s in the employee’s best interest.
If that doesn’t happen, the council might decide to eliminate the child-care coordinator position to make up the difference.
That could also mean dropping the program’s service at one site — probably Branch Elementary School — as well as a variety of other special events because of the resulting increase in the recreation supervisor’s workload.
Tuesday’s decision delayed action on the child care coordinator’s position until August, when the city may know if the other employee plans to retire.
Eliminating Children in Motion altogether wouldn’t offset the subsidy’s impact on city finances because program revenue pays about 60 percent of the recreation coordinator’s salary, and that $58,300 would have to come out of the General Fund.
Council members said they don’t want to see the program end because of its importance to the community.
“Personally, I would really hate to see this program go away,” said Councilman Joe Costello, who served on a subcommittee created in April to find a way to increase its revenues and reduce costs. “I understand the need to cut back (but) I hope this will be something that continues.”
Councilman Chuck Fellows, also assigned to the subcommittee, agreed and said the benefits to the community far outweigh the disadvantages.
“We can’t keep shortchanging the children in our community ... and not suffer consequences later on,” Fellows said.
Mayor Tony Ferrara and Councilwoman Caren Ray supported the subcommittee recommendations, which are expected to raise $10,000 to $15,000 annually in revenue.
Those include holding fundraisers through a Friends of Children in Motion group, which has already formed and is planning benefit events, and asking businesses to donate supplies.
Increased revenue is expected by offering more specialized after-school enrichment programs and sports.
A stepped-up marketing program, already under way, is aimed at raising revenue by increasing enrollment at the four program sites.
Cost-cutting measures include reclassifying the program’s permanent part-time employees as temporary part-time personnel, thus eliminating sick time and vacation benefits for those jobs.
The city also will look at dropping Recreation Division special events that no longer serve unmet needs, such as the annual talent show.
If the employee considering retirement decides to do so, that person’s responsibilities could be redistributed, saving $31,000 in the 2010-11 fiscal year and $62,000 in the 2011-12 fiscal year.
But Mayor Pro Tem Jim Guthrie, who voted against the recommendations, objected to relying on a possible retirement to cover costs.
He favored simply eliminating the child care coordinator’s position, handing her duties to the recreation coordinator and dropping the program at Branch Elementary.