Suffolk officials prepare for layoffs

Suffolk County officials are scrambling to protect critical services as they prepare to issue layoff notices to 422 workers by month's end.

Lawmakers, department heads and aides to County Executive Steve Bellone are meeting this week to try to revise the list of layoffs, which would be the largest in Suffolk's history.

Funding for the affected positions expires June 30, and notices must be mailed by April 30.

"The goal here is to do this as quickly as possible, with the expectation we can work with the legislature to get changes signed off on before the letters go out," said Deputy County Executive Jon Schneider.

The layoff list was assembled last year by former County Executive Steve Levy as he sought to obtain concessions from county unions. Dozens of grant-funded positions were eliminated, and critical departments such as the district attorney and medical examiner's office were hit hard, according to Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

"Frankly, we just thought a lot of it didn't make sense," said Deputy Presiding Officer Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon).

The legislature last year revised Levy's 2012 budget by restoring, for six months, most of the 710 positions he proposed eliminating. The upcoming layoffs do not include more than 200 jobs at the John J. Foley county nursing home, which Levy sought to cut in shutting the facility.

Suffolk is grappling with a projected $530 million budget deficit through 2013.

Levy defended his proposed layoffs, saying they were spread among union bargaining units. He added that he didn't believe many grant-funded jobs were cut.

"The hope was to never have to lay anyone off," Levy said Wednesday. Instead, Levy said, "the hope was to get unions to contribute a modest amount toward their health care."

But Legis. Edward Romaine (R-Center Moriches), a critic of Levy's layoff list, said he regretted the document was not reworked before lawmakers restored many of the positions for six months.

"I think the legislature made a mistake, because of pressure or circumstances or time, in not examining if we had to downsize, and who and where and how," Romaine said.

Schneider said the list can be reworked, but the union bump-and-retreat process -- in which senior members are demoted rather than laid off, forcing out those below them -- adds complication.

"It's like a big game of dominoes: every position you change necessitates 10 other changes," he said. "But the goal here is to work through it as quickly as possible, and again, to try to have the smallest possible impact on services."