Danville council votes down 4-day work week in split vote
Oct. 16—DANVILLE — A proposal to enact a new four-day work week at the Danville Municipal Building failed in a close vote Tuesday night.
The plan was voted down 7-6. Rick Strebing, Carolyn Wands, Sharon Pickering, Mike O'Kane, Tricia Teague, James Poshard and Jon Cooper voted in opposition, while Robert Williams, Ed Butler, Eve Ludwig, Mike Puhr, Bob Iverson and Darren York were for the proposal.
The proposed ordinance, which would have gone into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, would have changed the hours of city hall from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said at a recent Public Works Committee that the plan, which would have applied to all city hall employees except for environmental and rental inspectors, also included reducing the amount of time city hall is closed for lunch, with noon to 12:30 p.m. as the new time instead of noon to 1 p.m.
"Every day, we have people come, trying to do business with us during the lunch hour, and people get often very frustrated," he said.
Changing the hours would provide extra time for people to stop by not just during their lunch breaks, but also before and after normal work hours, Williams added.
However, Teague felt that the new schedule, while potentially benefiting employees, would leave residents worse off.
"What my concern is about this is it does not serve the public; it actually takes a day away from the public," she said.
She added that data from the comptroller's office showed that Friday was the most popular day for people who chose to make payments in-person.
Lisa Beith, who retired as the director of mass transit in early 2024, expressed similar concerns during the time for public comment.
Beith said the idea had been previously been considered when she was still a department head.
"I know we're adding an hour and a half to the other four days, but ... sometimes Friday is the day you get paid, it's the only day you have to conduct your business," she said.
While aldermen suggested other alternatives, Williams told council members that, as these schedule changes have to be included in collective bargaining agreements, the city had explored almost every option during negotiations with its clerical union, including splitting shifts and having a half-day on Friday.
In the end, the union only agreed to two outcomes: keeping the schedule as is or switching to the new four-day schedule.
Williams had also hoped that the proposed schedule could help retain employees, since a hybrid schedule, while popular in today's climate, is not a "reasonable" option for the city.
"I can tell you with a certainty, some of the main people that we have lost that were in critical roles in our community, one of the reasons why they left, is because we didn't have those flexible work hours," he said.
"And I said to them, 'Would it have made a difference to you if you had four-day work weeks?' ... Our city engineer, our former comptroller and our former community relations manager have all said yes, because it would have made a difference for their family."
