Metro sidewalks plan draws comments, criticism

By MICHAEL CASS • Staff Writer (Tennessean) • June 10, 2008 A draft revision of Metro Nashville's strategic plan for sidewalks and bikeways has been released by Metro Public Works, which is accepting comments and questions - and getting some criticism - about the plan. The draft is available at the Nashville Public Library and at http://www.civicinc.com/MetroStratPlan/ProposedUpdatesSPSB_5-30-2008.pdf. To comment or ask questions, send an e-mail to info@nashvilleplan.com. Bell Lowe Newton, president of the Woodlawn Area Neighborhood Association, said some parts of the plan make little sense to her and her neighbors. Sidewalks are planned for some side streets where there's little vehicular traffic, but not for the busier roads that lead to them, she said. But city officials and consultants seem to be listening to the neighbors' concerns, Newton said. "We're looking forward to working with Metro," she said. The city completed its original strategic plan in 2003. Mayor Karl Dean called for an update last fall, and five community meetings were held earlier this year. The draft plan says Public Works has built or repaired 124 miles of sidewalks and constructed 94 miles of bikeways since 2003.Jim Snyder, who oversees capital projects for Public Works, said the city plans to start giving more weight to existing sidewalks' physical condition and the possibility of coordinating improvements with other Metro projects, such as schools and parks. Residents who attended the community meetings said they'd like to see more sidewalks near greenways, schools, retail centers, hospitals, parks and community centers, Snyder said. Here are some tips for viewing the plans: 1) Go to www.nashvilleplan.org and click on "View Sidewalks Project Information and Maps" 2) Click on "Funded Projects:Maps & Schedule" (right corner) 3) Click on "Project Search" (right corner) for proposed projects or "Interactive Viewer" to see what is already funded. 4) Once you're in Interactive Viewer:- Go to fourth box on left, "Find"- Click "By Address" 5) Go to bottom of page (scroll) and type in street and cross street 6) Hit the Locate button7) Go to magnifying glass icon

Employees warm up to state buyouts

Plan includes cash, college, health care By JENNIFER BROOKS • Staff Writer (Tennessean) • May 20, 2008 A fat cash payout, extended health benefits and free college tuition are part of the buyout deal the state plans to offer to its workers this summer as Gov. Phil Bredesen tries to balance the state's budget. New details released Monday about the buyouts — and a guarantee from the state that it would not consider employee layoffs until the state legislature returns in January — seemed to reassure state employees and lawmakers. "We're very pleased," Zoyle Jones, president of the Tennessee State Employees Association, said Monday after the governor, House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh and state finance officials emerged from a closed-door meeting with new details about the buyout package. "The plan as we have seen it today is a very generous plan." The $50 million buyout will offer employees four months' salary, plus an additional cash incentive equal to $500 per year for every year they've worked for the state. Workers who take the buyout offer also will be offered a six-month extension of their state health coverage, as well as two years' free college tuition at any public college or university in the state. The average payout per employee would range from $23,459 for someone with less than five years' service with the state to an estimated $46,132 for workers with 30 years' seniority or more, according to estimates by the state Department of Human Resources. Some workers 'ecstatic' Some employees who had been terrified of the job cuts are now "ecstatic," and eager to sign up for the buyout package, Jones said. The Bredesen administration is trying to cut $468 million from next year's budget before the new fiscal year begins in July. If 2,011 state workers accept the buyouts, it would save the state $63 million a year. If the state doesn't get enough volunteers, it would move on to involuntary layoffs. State legislators, particularly Democrats, had balked at the administration's initial request that they sign off on the job cuts. Retiring state Rep. Rob Briley, D-Nashville, said lawmakers had been ready to push through a bill that would have put a freeze on any layoffs for the next year unless they got more information about the buyout package this week. The details that emerged Monday will probably satisfy most members, he said. Letters offering the buyout will go out to between 8,000 and 12,000 state employees on June 5. State departments and agencies were asked to identify positions that could be eliminated permanently. Among the first offered a crack at the buyouts could be the estimated 160 employees of the Department of Children's Services who are about to be laid off as a result of separate federal budget cutbacks, Jones said.

Mayor's budget plan cuts 200 jobs

Few departments to get more funds.
By MICHAEL CASS • Staff Writer (tennessean) May 7, 2008

Metro Nashville's budget is expected to increase slightly in 2008-09, edging toward $1.6 billion.
But rather than adding a job here and a job there, the city will lay off 200 people and eliminate 127 vacant positions if the Metro Council approves Mayor Karl Dean's budget recommendations.

Most Metro departments would receive less money in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. The school district, Davidson County Juvenile Court and some programs for the homeless would get more, however.

Mark Naccarato, political director and spokesman for the union that represents many Metro workers, said Dean seemed to be "robbing Peter to pay Paul" by boosting schools' funding 4.8 percent at the expense of some employees.

"We think you can do both," Naccarato, with Service Employees International Union Local 205, said Tuesday. "It's about priorities. … What these people do is important to the city. You get what you pay for."

Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling said he and others in Dean's administration tried to limit the cuts to jobs that aren't involved in providing direct services to the public. Riebeling also said many of the 200 people who would be laid off would land in other Metro jobs.

"Technically, it's still a layoff, but the good news is that they won't be without a job," he said.
Whether those people will still make as much money remains to be seen, Naccarato said. SEIU represents more than 2,500 Metro employees, including some who work for the school district, he said.

Erik Cole, chairman of the Metro Council's Budget and Finance Committee, gave Dean and Riebeling credit for "an extraordinary job" of balancing competing priorities in a tight year. But he said the job cuts were his biggest concern.

"At this point, my inclination would be that if we do something (to adjust Dean's budget), it would be to try to ease the pain of the layoffs," Cole said.

School funds to increase

Metro schools would be the biggest winner under Dean's plan, reflecting his consistent statements that education is the city's top priority. The district's budget would increase by about $29 million, including about $10 million in state money, to reach $627 million.

It's not yet clear where the new money would go, said David Fox, chairman of the Metro school board's Budget Committee.

The school district is under great scrutiny from state education officials after years of failing to meet federal standards, and the state could take over the district if its performance continues to lag.

School board members are getting input from the state on how they should spend the additional money to address the district's most pressing needs, Fox said.

"We've been in a lull for a month," he said.

The Davidson County Juvenile Court's budget would increase so the court could start another education-related program, a $500,000 truancy center. The center would take teenagers who regularly skip school and work to get them back on track educationally.

Dean also would increase the budget for the city's homelessness commission by 18 percent, pushing it to $1.15 million. There would be more money for direct health care for the homeless and a $110,000 software package to help city and nonprofit agencies better manage and avoid duplicating services.

New jobs found elsewhere

Metro Human Resources Director Dorothy Berry said her office has placed at least 40 to 50 layoff victims in new jobs, mostly within the government. She said she expects to be able to place "a large number" of the eventual 200 victims.

But Berry acknowledged Naccarato's point about the possibility of reduced salaries.

"You can't guarantee everybody's going to stay whole when you're doing a reduction in force," she said.