Denver’s layoffs of 171 employees — and elimination of vacant positions — helps cut budget gap in half

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston s administration mentioned Monday that city officers would lay off employees slash vacant positions and shift costs for dozens of jobs as they begin to address a gaping budget shortfall for next year The announcement gave firm details of the scale of the cuts to employees for the first time and about three months after Johnston informed the city they would be necessary The layoffs represent less than of the city workforce covered by the general fund City leaders also eliminated another vacant positions Hopefully we can get through this council President Amanda Sandoval revealed of the impact playing out inside city buildings during the council s meeting Monday afternoon But it will be a time of adjustment The layoff notices which were expected to be delivered through Tuesday come as the city attempts to fill a million budget shortfall next year that s caused by shrinking sales tax revenue and increasing costs The city s reserve fund is also running critically low The employee cuts and other reductions or shifts of positions out of the general fund are expected to generate about million in savings according to the mayor s office RELATED Were you laid off by the city of Denver Tell us about your experience About jobs have been supported by the general fund the mayor s office revealed A news release didn t distinguish how numerous full-time versus part-time workers the city was laying off Another positions will be moved to other funding sources to reduce costs The mayor s office enacted a hiring freeze earlier this year which on top of past belt-tightening had caused multiple of the vacant positions The scale of the layoffs was lower than a great number of had anticipated before Monday In an information vacuum after the layoffs were reported chosen observers and employees had speculated that hundreds of jobs or even more could be at vulnerability The high number of vacant positions was one factor that reduced the impact on current employees the mayor s office explained The layoffs were the first major job cuts to play out in Denver city cabinet since Scott Gilmore a longtime manager in the city s Department of Parks and Recreation was among the people laid off Monday I got a call that basically mentioned Thanks but we don t need you anymore he announced in an interview I committed my life to this city Gilmore who is married to Denver Councilwoman Stacie Gilmore was a deputy executive director in the parks department for years starting before Stacie Gilmore was first elected in Last year he became the deputy executive director of mountains parks and special projects a position he disclosed isn t paid for out of the city s general fund which is where the layoffs were targeted Jordan Fuja a spokeswoman for the mayor s office reported the shifting of selected expenses to special revenue funds impacted various non-general fund positions Gilmore had hoped to retire in his position I take my daughter back to college in two weeks he stated I don t have a job How do I pay for my daughter s college A document provided by Gilmore to The Denver Post proved that he was among eight Parks and Recreation employees set to be laid off Nearly four years ago during then-Mayor Michael Hancock s final term in office the positions of Gilmore and the department s other deputy director were shifted from mayoral appointee jobs to career facility positions which insulated them from a change in the mayor s office But that didn t protect them from being affected by broad-scale layoffs Related Articles Denver begins laying off employees eliminates hundreds of vacant positions Salvation Army won t run three large Denver homeless shelters amid council pushback protests Denver City Council waits to send Xcel Vigor franchise plan to voters V-J Day through the eyes of a Colorado -year-old Letters M motel bought by Denver for homeless still empty two years later Stacie Gilmore commented on her husband s layoff during Monday s council meeting at times getting emotional as she shared why she thinks he lost the position She s been critical of Johnston and specific of his initiatives Because of his sassy loudmouth wife he got let go she stated Other council members also spoke out about the layoffs expressing frustration that the mayor s office made the staffing decisions before the upcoming budget process could play out Johnston s proposed budget is due in mid-September and the council will then conduct budget hearings and vote on a final budget by November I m sorry we couldn t do more declared Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez I m sorry that City Council didn t get to vote on this and that we didn t get our voices heard Authorities plan to release a detailed department-by-department breakdown of the layoffs later this week after all affected employees have been notified according to the mayor s office release Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot