The hallway to the mayor's office was empty Wednesday as city employees were laid off
If you called the mayor's office Wednesday, all you heard was a recording saying "You have reached Mayor Finkbeiner's office. I'm sorry, we are unable to take your call at this time".
That's because the mayor furloughed about 240-non essential city employees to help bridge a multi-million dollar budget gap. But for folks who came to One Government Center Wednesday looking for services, all city employees are essential. "I thought the building closed around four-ish.", says Sherrill Newton, who came to the 22nd floor to file paperwork for a ministry her family runs, "But they said the whole floor was closed. It's a real disappointment. We needed it today".
Newton's husband, Raymond, agreed. "It's really tough because people have certain days to get in and take care of their business. But this was one of those days. But we couldn't take care of it because it was closed", Newton said, carrying the couple's six month old son.
The mayor, meanwhile, is still battling with the unions over plans to lay off non essential employees three more times. An arbitrator could decide whether that will happen some time before Christmas.
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