The City and County have been steadily handing out “pink slips” for the last few months. Each have been laying off employees, eliminating positions through attrition, and overall trimming their staffs to balance budgets.

Government jobs are not as easy to eliminate as in the private sector. Due to the lower pay of most of these workers, employee protections have been built-in over the years. Dismissal usually involves tallying up and paying for accrued vacation/sick time, providing as much as 45 days notice, and assisting the employee with job counseling.

Our local governments are really behind the curve. The largest number of lay-offs in the private sector occurred in 2009. The affect of those lay-offs has now trickled to the government level. The good news is that the overall jobless rate is decreasing. Many of those unemployed in the private sector are finding jobs and going back to work.

While I have the utmost respect for our public servants, I understand the need to trim personnel costs. It is always one of the biggest items in any budget. People are the economy of this century and losing their skills may have an impact on services.

Yet, both Harris County and the City of Houston have tried diligently to keep public safety a top priority. The Mayor and the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Union negotiated an agreement that will prevent as many as 200 Houston Fire Fighters from losing their jobs.

The Houston Police Department has limited their lay-offs to citizen employees. The Harris County Sheriff has finally gained Commissioners Court approval for a plan that will increase the number of jailers needed and reduce overtime of deputies while placing more of them on the street.

No one likes to lose their job. Our sympathies go out to those dedicated workers who are receiving notice. Keep the faith.

Meanwhile, thanks to our elected leadership for making the hard decisions required to avoid tax increases and balance budgets.