By Aleasha Sandley, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
aleasha.sandley@heraldbulletin.com
ANDERSON - The facilities supervisor, landscape architect and Geater Center director are among 20 positions cut this week at the city's Parks and Recreation Department.
Other professional positions include the department's urban beautification manager and activities director. In addition, one secretary, three working foremen, three laborers, two technical assistants, one Grandview Golf Course part-time worker, one maintenance part-time worker and four temporary employees, parks Superintendent Fred Reese said.
"Of those positions, three have announced that they will be retiring, and we could have more to announce," Reese said.
By union contract, the department must lay off all temporary workers before it begins cutting the positions of full-time workers.
The layoffs come as the department is forced to cut 62.5 percent of its budget. Before cuts, the city was facing a $4.9 million budget shortfall in 2010 due to statewide property tax caps.
Reese said his department has faced the most cuts out of any in the city.
"This is where I'm going to earn my money," he said. "I'm the only department head that's faced as many cuts across the city. I'm the only superintendent that went through all those cuts in the parks department."
Reese said he spent Thursday delivering layoff letters to many of his employees. As of June, the department had 25 full-time workers on its roster, including those funded by the parks non-reverting fund.
"How many complaints have we received from parks not being able to provide services since I've been in? None," Reese said. "We've done a good job. My people believe in me, they respect me. I'm a leader, not a follower."
Reese said if the department is able to come through the cuts without a significant decrease in services, it could serve as an example to other city departments that could cut more and save the city more money.
"It might be that we were put in a position to fail," he said. "We're going to have to come and we've got to revamp. We've got to figure how we can do this."