Cranston mayor eliminates 21 city positions amid estimated $12 million deficit

CRANSTON — Mayor Ken Hopkins is eliminating 21 city jobs as part of what his administration describes as "cost-cutting initiatives to reduce the size of Cranston's government."

Nine employees have received termination notices, the mayor's office said in a news release sent out on Friday afternoon, just before the start of the long weekend.

Another seven employees will be retiring, and five will be voluntarily resigning, the release said.

“I take no pleasure in making this announcement today, but I have determined that it is in the long-term interest of the city’s fiscal health and Cranston taxpayers that we begin the formal process to reduce the size of our government," Hopkins, a Republican, was quoted as saying.

The move drew immediate criticism from Democrats.

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"I think the layoffs are a short-term fix to a larger structural problem," councilman John Donegan, who chairs the council's Democratic caucus, told The Providence Journal on Saturday. "We’re in a difficult spot, but I don't think that trying to balance the budget on the backs of hardworking Cranston employees is the way to do it."

Cranston officials estimate that the city has a $12-million budget deficit. Cutting 21 positions will result in saving $1.5 million in salaries and benefits, the Friday announcement said.

Hopkins, in an email to The Journal, questioned whether critics had any alternative solutions, and dismissed the pushback as "political chirping while my staff and I are working tirelessly to solve the deficit."

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The city's financial woes could become an issue in the race to replace Rep. Jim Langevin in Congress: The Republican nominee, Allan Fung, served as mayor of Cranston for more than a decade before Hopkins took office in 2021.

"Cutting jobs at a time when people are struggling to pay for gas and groceries …If only former Mayor Fung had cared about Cranston taxpayers and the city’s long-term fiscal health," Democratic contender Joy Fox, a Cranston native, wrote on Twitter on Saturday. "We can’t afford to have this kind of leadership in Congress."

Fung's campaign, in a statement, said that he "left the city of Cranston in strong financial shape" and that other factors, including inflation, were to blame for the deficit.

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Maintenance and clerical jobs will be eliminated, not police or fire

In the Friday announcement, Hopkins' administration pledged that there would be "no eliminations of personnel in the emergency services departments of police and fire," which currently make up a major chunk of the city budget.

The release also said that the "confidential assistant" position within the mayor's office would be among the jobs eliminated.

“I have proposed one of my assistants to be the next Director of Community Development to fill a necessary vacancy," Hopkins was quoted as saying. "After this person is confirmed, I will operate the mayor’s office with one less person whose workload will shift to my remaining staff.”

It wasn't immediately clear which other employees would be affected: City employees represented by Teamsters Local 251 are guaranteed "bumping rights," Anthony Moretti, Hopkins' chief of staff, told The Journal.

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Workers who receive a layoff notice can choose to "bump" employees who hold a similar position but have less seniority, meaning that the junior employee would be laid off and the senior employee would take over their job.

Layoff notices were issued on Friday, so that process "won't finish shaking out for a while," Moretti said.

Departments where positions are being cut include the building maintenance department, highway maintenance, and parks and recreation, Moretti said. He said the cuts were split about 50-50 with the Teamsters, which represents clerical staff, and Laborers International Union, which represents some workers in the public works and parks and recreation departments.

Hopkins says he tried to work with unions to avoid layoffs

Hopkins, in his Friday statement, said his administration had spent the last month in discussions with union leadership.

“We first asked each group to consider reopening their contracts and work with us to reduce some costly benefits, including scheduled pay raises,” he said. “As is their right, no union, after consulting with their members, was willing to do that.”

“I respect that it is their right to take that position but I have an obligation to find savings in our budget and, unfortunately, salaries and related benefits consume approximately 70% of Cranston’s municipal budget.”

Donegan said on Saturday that he believes that the unions would be willing to revisit their contracts if the administration "negotiated in good faith."

The workers "care deeply about our city," he said. "They want Cranston to succeed just as much as all of us."

In an email to The Journal, Hopkins responded: "We worked all week with each of the unions to try negotiating. It was a full week of trying to avoid layoffs. I was the last person who wanted that to happen."

As of Saturday night, the unions had not commented on the layoffs.

Cuts come amid rise in property taxes

Cranston homeowners received a letter from Hopkins last week stating that he was "reluctantly" raising property taxes by 2.85%, after three years in a row with no increase.

"I have directed a top to bottom financial review of all aspects of city government," the letter said. "While we will continue my commitment to deliver essential services, I am committed to reducing the size of our government."

In addition to eliminating more than 20 positions in city government, Hopkins has ordered $1.1 million in spending cuts, Friday's announcement said.

His administration plans to continue to explore options, including "targeted cuts of programs deemed non-essential," "scrutinizing of employee overtime," and "exploring public-private partnerships for some services or programs," according to the news release.

Donegan said that Cranston city government was already a "very, very lean operation," and that eliminating jobs would "have a detrimental impact on the services that people receive here in Cranston, which I don’t think people will be happy about, especially considering the tax increases."

"People can say the layoffs aren’t going to impact city services — that’s just not true," he said. "It’s impossible."

Spending will be tight, Moretti said, but "we believe we’ve trimmed government as much as we could without affecting city services." He acknowledged that the city "is not overstaffed by any means," but said that "the size of city government" was a major reason for the deficit.

Who's to blame for city's deficit?

The Cranston Democratic Party, on Twitter, described the cuts as "a bandaid proposal" to problems that are "of the Mayor's creation."

Moretti said that Hopkins is faced with factors outside his control, such as the fact that the city is going to lose $2.7 million in state funding for distressed communities over the next two years, and is faced with increased tipping fees at the landfill.

"If people want to politicize and take advantage for their own political careers, they have that option," he said. "The mayor is stepping up."

Moretti added that the the mayor had asked the council to propose alternatives to layoffs, "and they came up with nothing. I don't understand how people can be critical of the mayor when they have no suggestions."

Hopkins, who is widely seen as Fung's hand-picked successor, has steered clear of blaming the $12-million deficit on his predecessor.

Moretti acknowledged that there had been "some budget catch-ups" when Hopkins took office, but also pointed to other factors, such as an increase in debt obligation payments for the construction of the new Garden City Elementary School.

"We’re not placing blame on anyone," he said.

Fung's campaign, in a statement, said that when he left office, "The city's credit rating was high, its rainy day fund was large, and the city was making 100% of its annual required contributions to its pension fund."

"Since Mayor Hopkins took office, he has budgeted millions more for school construction and school department programming," the statement said. "Unfortunately, the state has also reduced aid to distressed communities at the same time. Additionally, inflation has caused some city expenses to increase quickly. Under these new circumstances, Mayor Hopkins is taking steps now to continue Cranston's fiscal stability."

Moretti said that school funding makes up slightly over half of the city’s budget, but that the school committee, and not the mayor, controls individual line items.

Employees offered $10,000 to resign or retire

Moretti told The Journal that employees who agreed to voluntarily resign received a $10,000 stipend. Those eligible for retirement received the same stipend, and an additional year of health care benefits with a 30% copay.

The administration also worked with union leadership to try to find other jobs for employees, including comparable positions in other cities, he said. He couldn't immediately cite the total number that had found alternative employment, but said that a few had found jobs in Cranston's school and fire departments.

The city turned to layoffs as "an absolute last resort," Moretti said, and gave workers a heads up earlier in the week that they would be receiving a formal termination notice on Friday.

"We were, I would say, as kind and compassionate as we could be," he said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Cranston RI: $12 million deficit sparks layoffs, political battle