Missouri cutting jobs today in Division of State Parks
JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is cutting jobs in the state parks division today as a result of continued economic problems, according to a memo obtained by the Post-Dispatch.
The memo from deputy DNR director Bill Bryan says that employees in the parks division are being told about the layoffs at meetings in the central office in Jefferson City or various district offices today.
Notices to the workers facing layoffs went out late last week, and one of those employees, Dale Hallett, of Festus, said employees are wondering if the cuts have anything to do with E. coli controversy that has dogged Gov. Jay Nixon.
“We’re suspicious,” said Hallett, 40, who works as an interpreter at the First Missouri State Capitol Historic Site in St. Charles. “It looks like they’re just beating DNR up.”
Nixon has made a variety of cuts to the state budget this year because of lagging state revenues, and state budget director Linda Luebbering has hinted that more might be on the way. The state borrowed from its reserve fund earlier this month to meet its cash flow needs.
Bryan’s memo doesn’t say how many jobs will be cut, but Mallett said he believes many of them are low level parks jobs such as his, and he suggests the cuts will make it hard for Nixon to meet his goal if increasing visits to state parks.
“If the showers are dirty in the campground, people won’t come back,” said Hallett. “We’re the lifeblood of state parks.”
In his memo, Bryan cites the “recession” as the need for the cuts.
“These actions are the result of revenue shortfalls and the need to balance the budget,” he wrote. Bryan’s memo was dated the same day that Vice President Joe Biden and Nixon were in St. Louis touting the benefits of the federal stimulus spending for saving state jobs.
DNR spokesman Travis Ford said he would provide more details about the cuts later in the day.
What a shame! The people who are thr “life blood of state parks” gets the can (two months before Xmas)while Jack Cardetti keeps his job after admitting lying to the public. Great. Have these people any shame? http://mopns.com/2009/10/19/new-feature-cardetti-job-watch-clock/
The state should put out a call for volunteers to take care of some of the more mundane and easy tasks of MO park maintenance. They have something in place for taking care of a few miles of highway, why can’t somthing like that program be implemented with park?
Kinda sorta goes against his proclamation of less than a few weeks ago:
http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/2009/State_Parks_Key_to_Tourism_Growth
How long have open positions been frozen? Aren’t parks already working with less than adequate staff? And, working short-staff when many parks and sites are having upswings in visitation due to “stay-cations”?
AJ, are you seriously comparing the continuous work at a park (think just the picnic grounds and restroom facilities to safety responsibilities to nature and history programming) to be comparable to picking up litter once in a while on the highway?
Additionally, the three big problems with relying upon volunteers:
1. Many do not take it seriously–if something comes up, like a visit to the grandchildren or a luncheon date, they cancel
2. Volunteering at state parks is hard work (I know, I am one.) Those who volunteer often think that they will simply sit at a desk and greet people. That is certainly not the case, and many volunteers “fade away.”
3. Volunteers do cost–they require police background checks, training, processing, scheduling, etc.
I think it is disgraceful that the idiots in the whole ecoli deal still have jobs, but the hard working state parks and historic sites do not. I wonder why they didn’t consider buyouts for those close to retirement or across the board percentage pay cuts. Oh, gee, that might make sense.
AJ — We have a friend who is already a volunteer at Lake of the Ozarks State Park — no pay but he has responsibilites almost every day.
AJ,
I like that idea BUT the government shouldn’t have it both ways-taking tax payers money and mismanaging it. I believe more people would be willing to jump in and volunteer to clean up our own backyards, etc. IF there was relief on the other side(less taxes)
If the state of Missouri wants to cut money–they need to look at the National Guard. In the National Guard the state is paying rent on building that is not on government property. THis can be alleivated by moving troops onto government property. Also in the funeral honors program there is more fraud, waste and abuse then taxpayers know about. A full investigation of every item in the program needs to be reviewed. e.g. St Louis SUpervisor goes grocery shopping on a daily basis
Increase the number of minimum security inmates and community service probationers out to work in the parks.
Missouri also needs an income tax increase on the top earners. They need to quit living off the backs of the middle and lower income people.
Too bad some of the money that Conservation gets from their dedicated sales tax couldn’t go to help maintain, or conserve, the state parks.
And how come the anti-spam text has to be reloaded so many times to get a message on the blog?
Cut YOUR staff..Jay or put them in the parks.
The Tourism Department has ‘ridden’ our natural resources destinations
and Branson horses for decades. That doesnt work anymore. People are going elsewhere. MIssourians are taking their vacation and discretionary spending out of Missouri..and fewer are coming in. Check out how few come to
St. Louis during the wintertime. There’s your lost tax revenue.
And who manages the volunteers? Paid staff. Many of the people who lost jobs today were at the end of a long season, with less than allotted time off to begin with due to short staffing. I know of one who worked 13 hours (on salary) Saturday, knowing there was a pink slip waiting on Monday. He did it cheerfully, anyway. I know another who has to “donate” to the state emergency leave every year, and hasn’t been allowed to have an actual week off in 3 years.
Have you ever tried to manage minimum security/community service workers? Who will manage them? The volunteers? The former are forced labor; hence, they do the minimum they can. The volunteers have no legal authority as decision makers. And are they the people you want your kids to go up to in order to ask about a flower, or where to swim? Not me.
I’m a long time Missouri VIP, and I cried a little this morning: nearly all of those laid off have advanced degrees or trade skills (required to even GET the job) and should have been treated more professionally in these hard times, involved in the options available, and so forth.
If you think park work is so easy– to be caught at the center of public expectations, political pressure from above and professional pride in doing a good job just because you were raised to do so — try it. It’s not a walk in the park.
Do I understand what the state is doing correctly? If a person who was in an eliminated position has enough senority, that person can then take a job from another employee? So some park staff won’t know if they are affected for another couple of weeks? Worse, does this not mean that if one is in an affected position, one has to decide to either lump it or cause someone else (often a friend, not only a colleague) to be the one to lump it? Is this ethical? Should individual staff be the ones causing some of the layoffs?