“One of our most basic priorities is to pay our city employees for the work they perform,” Long said. “It’s outrageous that six members of the City Council disagree with that premise.”
Several council members noted that Sayegh had a track record of voting against mayors’ temporary budgets when he was on the governing body. In 2015, Davila pointed out, Sayegh was among the council members who forced a one-day shutdown of city government by rejecting a temporary budget.
“Now that he’s mayor, all of a sudden he cares about the employees?” Davila said.
The current standoff stems from a provision in state law that requires municipalities to adopt monthly temporary budgets that allow governments to operate until they adopt their annual spending plans. The council previously approved $141.5 million in temporary budgets covering the period from January through May.