The San Diego City Attorney's Office released a list today of what it says are specific employees targeted by Mayor Bob Filner for layoffs. The list was requested under the California Public Records Act.
No names of specific employees are included on the document. Instead, job titles and three position numbers are listed. The City Attorney's Office included a supplemental document that matches the three listed position numbers with three specific employees: Assistant City Attorney Andrew Jones, Deputy Director Tanya Tomlinson and Communications Director Jonathan Heller.
Position numbers of 10 other employees were redacted by the City Attorney's Office because they are not the City Attorney's personal staff, said an email from Deputy City Attorney Bill Gersten.
The list was a supplemental document to Filner's budget, released Monday, called "Budget Adjustment Form Position Detail," according to the City Attorney's Office.
Heller said the individual position numbers are unique to each person.
"So, if the City Council sustains the cut, the person is laid off and his/her job position is eliminated from the budget," he wrote in an email.
Filner's budget proposal suggests cutting $1.4 million from the City Attorney's office, equivalent to 13 jobs. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith has engaged in numerous public clashes with Filner.
Filner's office did not return requests for comment.
In a prepared statement Monday, Goldsmith said the supplemental document identified specific employees in the City Attorney’s Office who should be laid off.
"While we understand the Mayor has made public statements to the effect that specific cuts to the City Attorney’s budget would be up to the City Attorney, those statements don’t explain why the Mayor has taken the unusual step of identifying people by name to be laid off and eliminating their job positions," Goldsmith's statement said. "We are certainly willing to work with the City Council on our budget, as we have each year. But, if we need to reduce our budget, we will not allow the Mayor to decide who gets laid off. Under the City Charter, we are an independent office and we will make those decisions."
In a prepared statement on Monday, City Council President Todd Gloria said the cut to the City Attorney's Office was "curious and unlikely to be implemented as proposed given the Council’s preference to limit the use of outside counsel.”
