Not really much of a plan – turning the dial not flipping the switch, plus budget info.
Here’s the email, also includes budget info.
From: Mayor <Mayor@cityofmadison.com>
Date: May 12, 2020 at 10:12:23 AM CDT
To: All Email Users <AllEmailUsers@cityofmadison.com>
Subject: Update on reopening and budget processes
*please share this message with people who do not regularly check city email*
Colleagues –
With the pending Supreme Court ruling, there is potential that we may find ourselves under increasing pressures to move toward pre-COVID levels of service. As such, I want to emphasize a few key points:
First – we will not reopen City offices or bring our employees back to the work any faster than we can do so safely. At this point it almost sounds cliché, but reopening will be like turning a dial – thoughtfully and slowly – rather than like flipping a switch.
Second – Our employees are our greatest asset, and it is up to all of us to ensure that we can continue to do our jobs safely. The City will do everything we can to keep you and the public safe. I encourage you to take good care of yourselves, including accessing EAP services as often as you need to.
Third – the Internal Recovery Task Force – a Planning team on the EOC – is doing some preliminary work developing recommendations on how to resume more of our day-to-day City services. While this group will be working to ensure some citywide standard, each department will look at services and processes, and develop plans for when and how to begin reopening our offices and expanding suspended City services in ways that keep our employees and the public safe.
I also want to be sure you understand what a difficult financial situation the City is facing now. Between lost revenue and unanticipated spending, we project a $30 million budget gap for 2020, and at least that much again for 2021. We have instituted spending controls and a hiring freeze, and are examining other options for 2020, including targeted use of the workshare program and furloughs. Putting together the 2021 budget will be even harder, as we balance our commitment to you, our employees, with our commitment to the community to provide both high quality service and economic relief as we head into a nationwide economic depression. I am counting on all of you to be creative and innovative as we move forward, and to help us find ways to meet our community’s needs with fewer financial resources.
We are creating a new normal – we will never be returning 100% to the way things used to be done, nor should we. This is our opportunity to create the kind of organization we really want.
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- To leverage some of the positive lessons we’ve learned about telework – about using technologies work more efficiently
- To create employee engagement and wellness support for all of our employees
- To examine all of our processes with an equity lens to ensure our internal processes and service delivery are equitable, fair and unbiased.
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These are stressful and challenging times but if there is one lesson this crisis has taught me well, it is that I am blessed with a talented, conscientious and deeply committed workforce in the City of Madison. We are going to get through this, and we are going to succeed because of our shared commitment to each other and to the communities we serve.
Be well –
Mayor Satya
