Town starts bonus program to help bring in new-hires

By Jeff Kearns

In a new effort to keep warm bodies behind desks and behind the wheels of its police cruisers, the town is upping the ante in the recruitment game by offering $1,500 bonuses to employees who refer new hires to the town.

The two departments that have had the hardest time staying fully staffed are planning and police, both of which have been plagued by tight employment markets and several defections to other cities or the private sector.

According to Town Manager David Knapp, the police department's staffing woes were the major impetus for the new incentives.

"It's a continual struggle, and it's going to be this way for the next several years because Los Gatos makes a dandy training ground for officers," says Knapp.

Knapp says police departments all over the state are having trouble staying fully staffed, and that the problem is compounded by the 15-month training period new cops have to go through.

That's why bigger police departments like San Jose's tend to prey on smaller cities, Knapp says. In the last year and a half, three Los Gatos officers have been lured away by the SJPD.

The department has 43 sworn officers (one of which just started Monday), but two officers will be retiring soon, and two more will be will be added in the next three weeks, which will leave the department with just one spot to fill. But the department will also need to fill the two new motorcycle officer spots that will be created July 1 when the new fiscal year begins.

The Planning Department, where business is booming, is also struggling to hang on to its planners.

The department is operating with five out of six planner positions filled (plus one intern), but three planners have left the department in the last year. In addition to the position the department is trying to fill right now, it's soon going to have another spot to fill: the Town Council budgeted a new planner in the 1999-2000 budget.

In the Building Department, senior building inspector Bill Bruckart left last week to take a position with the city of Campbell. And in the engineering department, two plan check engineers and an assistant civil engineer have also jumped ship recently.

Although Planning Director Lee Bowman retires at the end of this month, his replacement, Community Development Director Paul Curtis, has already been hired.

The new Employee Referral Program was approved by the Town Council June 7. Town employees get $750 if one of their referrals is hired, and another $750 after a probationary period if the new hire is still working for the town. The town has a total of about 170 employees.

According to Police Chief Larry Todd's report to councilmembers, officers with the San Jose Police Department get a week off if one of their referrals is hired, and Palo Alto city employees get $1,500.

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