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Dingfelder Plays Emotional Games With Necessary City Cutbacks

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder wants to kill Mayor Pam Iorio's initiative to make city government more efficient.

To this end, he's written city janitorial workers and urged them to appear at Thursday's City Council meeting, where he plans to attack the mayor's proposal to cut 100 city jobs, mostly in janitorial and security services. He's upset that the city would consider eliminating jobs at the "bottom of the rung." He's demanding a list of everyone who might be affected, despite concerns that creating such a list for him could land the city in court.

"The administration looks at these positions as a business would," Dingfelder says without apology. "I think you should look at them as people."

If only Dingfelder cared as much about taxpayers as he does about government workers.

Taxpayers are people, too, and they deserve to have their hard-earned dollars spent wisely. If government didn't dock their paychecks so much, perhaps they could spend more in the local economy and create jobs from the bottom to the top of the ladder.

Instead, the councilman is attempting to turn necessary cutbacks into, as Iorio says, "an explosive situation."

Citizens deserve better.

Dingfelder's addled attitude toward spending helps explain why local governments cannot curtail costs.

The mayor wants to cut spending without affecting what the public sees or gets. To that end, she asked a committee of employees from across City Hall to study internal processes and recommend efficiencies. The group came up with ways to save money - as much as $3.4 million - in 11 areas.

The team found the biggest possible savings in janitorial services. The city currently contracts with 14 companies to clean city-owned buildings, mostly recreation centers. The contracts pay cleaning companies between $1.35 per square foot and $1.98 per square foot. By contrast, in-house janitors cost the city as much as $3.28 per square foot. By laying off 38 janitors and reducing the contracts to a manageable two or three, the team said the city would save $950,000 a year.

Similarly, the city employs 50 security guards, but also has contracts with three security companies. The contract guards cost between $11 and $13 per hour, while in-house guards cost between $17 and $27 per hour. The team found that outsourcing all security services would save the city $355,000 a year.

As Iorio stresses, these cuts affect only the city's internal operations, not what the public gets. Many private companies similarly outsource these functions.

The cuts are not imminent. Employees will have six months to find another job. But any public official with the slightest regard for fiscal stewardship should embrace an opportunity for savings that was suggested by employees.

Make no mistake, the city is going to have to cut its spending. State-mandated spending restrictions this year already forced the city to cut $20 million and eliminate 123 jobs. Those mandates will require millions more in cuts next year. And if voters approve a state constitutional amendment revamping property taxes, the city might be faced with cutting another $14 million or more.

Dingfelder, who doesn't believe government should be run as a business, says, "I haven't been shown we are in another crisis situation."

He is living in a financial fantasy world. No good manager waits for a crisis to arrive before attempting to head it off. He offers no plans to reduce spending other than to have the council and mayor work together.

He doesn't seem to understand that cutting costs requires making tough decisions.

It's understandable to have sympathy for people who stand to lose their jobs, but Dingfelder's indifference to taxpayers and government efficiency is puzzling.

Council colleagues should not let this councilman's histrionics detract from the serious business of making city government run as lean possible.

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