Oakland Shuts City Offices, Services For The Day
OAKLAND (KCBS) - Friday the 13th was a business closure day in Oakland - agreed upon by city employees to help balance the city's budget.
It's nothing new, actually. For several years now, Oakland has been suspending the majority of services roughly one day per month, saving tens of millions of dollars in employee salary costs.
"We won't do any street sweeping as part of public works, the main library will be closed, the animal shelter will be closed, our senior centers will be closed," outlined city spokeswoman Karen Boyd. "It's minimized our layoffs and our employee reductions by employees being willing to give up roughly a day a month of pay."
Based on the budget passed by Oakland leaders in June, similar closures will continue until at least next summer, as part of an employee union agreement to contribute 9% of compensation to help balance the city's budget.
KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:
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