OPINION: City Of Redmond Should Lighten Up

Dear Mayor and Council - 

Strongsville, Ohio is a vibrant suburban city of 45,000, a short distance from Cleveland.  https//www.strongsville.org. They've taken the following measures to firm up their finances in response to COVID pressures.  The following is an excerpt from the Strongsville, OH website:

"To help combat the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the City of Strongsville’s tax revenues, all full-time city employees not covered under a collective bargaining agreement – as well as the mayor, department heads, service department workers and building inspectors -- will be placed on a 32-hour work week starting ___, resulting in an eight-hour weekly furlough (a 20 percent pay reduction).

The furlough will not affect police, firefighters or dispatchers. All three operations will remain ready to respond. 

Service Department personnel will be scheduled so that workers are available to respond to any potential emergencies.

The furloughs will stay in effect until at least ___. when the city’s finances will be evaluated and a decision made about returning to normal hours. We apologize for any inconvenience."

City Council, this is budget season - please take similar actions to steady our tax revenues. 

--Thank you, Bob

   10/30/2020