What’s that smell coming from Salem?

Published 5:00 am Monday, March 14, 2011

One thing that apparently starts to go when you have been in Salem for a while is the sense of smell.

The Legislature has been discussing a proposal to move state workers to a four-day schedule to save money. Hours for most state agencies would be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Offices would be closed Fridays.

To help out our olfactorily challenged representatives, here is the executive summary: The idea stinks.

Oregonians will have less access to state services. It’s true that it might be easier for some members of the public if state offices opened earlier and closed later. But state offices could stagger employee schedules to best ensure those needs are met.

The four-day schedule might save some energy. That would only be, though, if the state could significantly cut down on heating, cooling and lighting of state buildings. The best way to maximize those savings would be for many state offices to essentially shut down one day a week. That would maximize inconvenience to the public. And that stinks.

Redmond schools did manage to save $400,000 by going to a four-day week for the 2009-10 school year. The bulk of that difference was not having to pay salaries for bus drivers and food services staff. Despite that $400,000 cost, the district switched back.

Why? The long, four-day schedule was hard on some students. Day care issues were a daymare for parents. Energy savings didn’t materialize as expected. The board found other ways to cut that stunk less for students and parents.

There are many other examples. It comes down to balancing cost savings and customer access.

The city of Bend has considered four-day weeks. It couldn’t find significant enough cost savings to justify reduced delivery of services, said Janice Grady, director of human resources.

Clackamas County government switched to a four-day schedule in 2008. We called Friday to find out how it has worked. Of course, the office was closed Friday.

But Portland State University did do a study looking at about the first six months of the Clackamas change in late 2008, early 2009. The study estimated the county saved energy costs of perhaps $580,000 a year. The change also cost the county about $120,000 a year in increased sick time and vacation usage. This year, the county has about a $571 million budget. County employees represented by unions tended to like the change. Those employees with child care or elder care issues had trouble making it work.

The PSU study attempted to take the pulse of customers of Clackamas County. It collected customer survey cards. About half the customers said their access to services was the same. Customers who used the county’s new extended hours liked that access. Once again, the only thing that can really be concluded from that is that Clackamas should have been staggering its employees to provide extended hours in the first place.

The state of Utah also switched to a workweek of four 10-hour days in 2008. According to various reports, most state workers like it. Savings have been underwhelming and any impact on productivity has been inconclusive, according to a state audit.

Deschutes County government did something different. It tried to minimize cuts in services and employee layoffs, so it cut back on hours. The county’s mental health and community development departments both went to four and a half day weeks, because of a decline in revenue for those departments. Employees essentially worked 36-hour rather than 40-hour weeks. Community development remains on that schedule. It helped avoid additional layoffs, though the county is still having to lay off workers.

Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, is the sponsor of the change in the state workweek for Oregon. And that’s reason enough to worry. He has a history of capturing a fine goal with a flawed law. You may remember Holvey brought Oregon its solar power mandate for public buildings. Central Oregon Community College is cornered by that solar law right now — unable to transfer the solar mandate to a campus where it would make sense to use solar and unable to use another form of renewable energy other than solar.

We’re not opposed to Oregon looking into what sort of cost savings might be achieved with different work schedules. It’s always a good idea to do that before a bill to mandate the change is introduced.

At best, switches like Holvey’s yield mixed results. More than likely, it would stink.