City May Move To 4-Day Week Over Gas Prices

[The Straight Story]

City May Move To 4-Day Week Over Gas Prices

POSTED: 6:05 pm EDT May 23, 2006
UPDATED: 6:19 pm EDT May 23, 2006

A Central Florida city may close for business on Fridays in an effort to save money not budgeted for a spike in gas prices, according to a Local 6 News report.

Cocoa's Deputy City Manager Wendy Widmann began to search for unique ways to cut costs when gas prices began to rise.

"Last year when we were budgeting, we had budgeted $2.20 a gallon for gas," Widmann said. "Well, guess what. The city is now paying close to $2.67 in gas."

Widmann has proposed that the city move from a standard 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. work week to a four-day, 10-hour alternative.

http://www.local6.com/news/9263242/detail.html

[Skink]

1. Why not just pay less.

:think:

[Warpy]

2. Because that is not going to happen while the dollar falls

and while demand in the rest of the world increases.

You can put low gas prices in the same category as the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, fun when we were kids but now it's time to cope with reality.

Going to 4 day work weeks makes a lot of sense, especially when telecommuting is possible.

[tridim]

3. Speaking of kids and reality

It must really suck now to be a poor high school kid who wants to cruise the strip for girls. I could barely afford it back when gas was cheap. I guess it's good that teens will be cruising less, but it just seemed like such a part of growing up. It's the end of an era.

[aasleka]

4. grrrr

It is already hard to retain city workers due to the pay comparison to private sectors. The benefits used to outweigh the difference in salaries but since the insurance companies have bent city workers over without a kiss (my benefit package is about 900$ a month in what the city and I both pay).
Yeah just pay less, have more knowledge drain. Do you really want the kind of people you WOULD retain to provide you with services? You dont really need quality people repairing or installing your water and sewer services do you? Fixing your streets or taking your 911 calls?

Pay less? GRRRRRRRRRRR

How about tax more?

Where did you think all that money that was cut from states and communities after 2000 wouild come from? If the Feds don't give it they have to make up for it.

And we had a friggin surplus..... Drives me nuts when I think about all the damage that has been done in the name of shrinking the government to a size to be able to drown in a bathtub.

[maxsolomon]

5. a first blow against wage slavery

i say go for it.